Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 12, 1 December 2020 — Cultivating Hawai'i's Food Systems [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cultivating Hawai'i's Food Systems

A collaborative new initiative hopes to pave the way to a more sustainable anel resilient food system for Hawai'i By Eel Kalama The C0VID-19 pandemic has exposed Hawai'i's food insecurity and highlighted the need to develop a more resilient and diversified economy. Toward that end, a project to "system map" the islands' loeal food system is slated to be completed in December, with many loeal entities participating in the project. "Systems mapping is a way of showing complex relationships, networks, and causes and effects," said Brandon Ledward of the Kamehameha Schools Strategy and Transformation division. "A food system is the whole value ehain from growing, to processing, to distribution, to marketing, to purchasing, to preparing, to consuming and hnally to disposing." The mapping project is a result of the "Transforming Hawai'i Food Systems Together" initiative, whieh is a eollaborative effort to build statewide capacity and a more robust and sustainable food system, especially in times of crisis. This project harnesses the momentum from the COVID-19 pandemic, documents lessons learned, articulates policy and planning recommendations, and sets the stage for catalytic action. Kamehameha Schools and Lili'uokalani Trust have facilitated the workshops for the project, whieh began in May. This work is being supported and organized by an advisory group with representatives from various sectors such as the Hawai'i Puhlie Heahh Institute, Hawai'i Food Industry Association, Pili Group/Under My Umbrella, Chef Hui, the University of Hawai'i, various counties (Maui, Hawai'i, O'ahu), various state agencies (Department of Agriculture, the Department of Education), Mālama Kaua'i, Sustainable Moloka'i, island-based food alliances, and other community organizations and food/ ag businesses. Hawai'i's food system is complex. It's made up of producers, processors, distributors, consumers and waste managers, to name a few. The actions and beliefs of diverse stakeholders such as farmers, chefs, parents, and policymakers create dynamics that result in the system we have today. The term "food system" is used frequently in discussions about nutrition, food, heahh, community eeonomie development and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a populahon: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of

food and food-related items. It also includes the inputs needed and outputs generated at eaeh of these steps. A food system operates within and is influenced by social, polhieal, eeonomie, and environmental contexts. It also requires human resources that provide labor, research and education. "The goal of the project is to catalyze collective action to transform our system. We want our food system to drive community wellbeing, eeonomie vibrancy and ecological resiliency. To achieve this desired state, we want to make loeal food healthy, accessible and affordable to Hawai'i communities," Ledward said. "The first step in this process is creating a systems map - a visual representation of how Hawai'i's food system works. With this in hand, we ean look for leverage points, or opportunities for collective action where small-scale investments ean have out-sized impacts." Investing in a more resilient community-based food system for Hawai'i is an opportunity to create new elements of the agricultural economy that integrate sustainable eeonomie development, climate change resilience and biocultural restoration with community heahh and wellbeing. The map is a eolleehon of personal stories from diverse stakeholders across the food system. It provides an overview of key dynamics (cause and effect relationships) that ean be improved or realigned to produce better overall results. But in the end, the map is only a tool. It requires people and organizations willing to change their behaviors

and investments to produce better collective results. "Given the widespread, and growing, interest in Hawai'i's food system, we hope the map will bring together diverse stakeholders to invest in improving critieal, high-leverage areas such as agribusiness viability. With these interventions we hope to see an increase in loeal food production, supportive infrastructure and policy, and a more resilient diversified economy for Hawai'i, one where agriculture is prominent," Ledward said. "This map is a foundation to build productive conversations. You cannot make meaningful change if you do not understand the complexities of the food system." This collective work will be consolidated and shared out to all meeting participants, as well as located in a publicly accessible site for anyone to use as they desire. "Food system transformation is not easy, but it's long overdue," Ledward said. "COVID-19 exacerbated food insecurity and highlighted our need for a more resilient and diversified economy. "Now more than ever, there is a groundswell of support to redesign and elevate our food and agricultural system. Created from the individual stories of diverse stakeholders in our food system, the map helps us to see where change is needed most and how to address issues through a eombination of direct and indirect efforts. "Again, the map is simply a tool. The rich conversations that accompany it and that lead to personal and institutional commitments will be the catalyst and fuel for change." ■

What is a community food system?

A food system indudes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a populalion: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items. It also includes the inputs needed and outputs generated at eaeh of these steps. lllustration: Courtesy