Talk Story: Sustainable Farming

THE FUTURE IS LOCAL

TALK STORY

ON SUSTAINABLE FARMING

SEPT. 22nd, 2024

 2 to 4:30 pm at Kea’au Community Center

STORY AND PHOTOS BY RAYDIANCE JOY GRACE

Talk story with Mayor Mitch Roth and  District 5 Council Member

Matt Kanealii Kleinfelder 

Everyone was invited to take this opportunity to engage with our local government officials to shape our small farm future in Puna and maximize government support for local food resiliency.

This was the first meeting that I attended between representatives and their constituents where everyone present genuinely respected each other’s opinion.  Both speakers, Mayor Roth and Council Rep. Kanealii Kleinfelder, were on the same page revealing pertinent information to help the farmers in the room with their questions and needs. Being an empath, I could feel the sincerity coming from both men expressing that they are earnestly doing everything in their skill set and power to help the farmers get their needs met. Each farmer, farming organization and interested participant introduced “themselves,” who they are, their farming operation, their needs, recommendations and concerns.

Common questions that arose during the afternoon addressed the needs of the farmers:

*Where will I find the money I need for the operational costs of running a farm? *Where can I apply for grants for housing workers and equipment replacement especially at the federal level?   *How can I foster better and more efficient communication with county officials? *How can I change the regulations to allow farmers to put locally grown food into school cafeteria lunches and on the shelves of local and corporate grocery stores, e.g., Safeway?   *How do I manage biological control of invasive species, both animals and plants? *How do I educate young people to want to become farmers? *How do I find an available workforce of trained workers who know how to work?

One farmer described the current workforce that shows up when he advertises locally for farm help. “They show up with no shoes or inappropriate foot gear, raincoats, or drinking water. They get tired early and can’t complete the work day.” Mayor Roth and County Council member Matt Kanealii Kleinfelder from District 5 addressed these and other questions. In this talk story circle, some of the questions were answered as time permitted, and the other questions will require another talk story opportunity.

MAYOR MITCH ROTH  

Mayor Roth advocates for young Hawaiian adults to have access to the resources that would keep them here, motivate them to want to work on farms and educate them to use farming as a springboard to other professions. While running on a platform of sustainability, he is involved with the Office of Sustainability, Climate and Resiliency (OSCAR), which specifically works with farmers to obtain agriculture grants. In addition, Mayor Roth works with the Dept. of Research and Development with food system specialists, Sara Freeman, and Glenn Sako, an agriculture specialist, who also serves the farmer’s needs. 

SARAH FREEMAN

Sarah Freeman has been the Food System Specialist and Food Access Coordinator for the County of Hawai’i Department of Research and Development since October 2019. She is partially funded by USDA SNAP-Ed and is tasked with working with partners to address systemic barriers impacting healthy food access. In her role, she works with partners to increase collaboration and identify funding for community-initiated projects that improve Hawai’i’s agriculture and food systems. The Hawai’i County Agriculture and Food Systems Team includes Glenn Sako; Agriculture Specialist, Anna Ezzy; Agriculture and Research Specialist, Leslie Nugent; West Hawai’i Food Systems Network Specialist, and Daesha Tobara; Food Systems VISTA.  

 For more information contact: Sara Freeman 808 961-8582  Email: [email protected]

 COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE MATT KANEALII KLEINFELDER FROM DISTRICT 5

Councilman Matt informed the farmers, “If something important needs to be done and concerns the community, the farmers can partner with a non-profit and then reach out to their representative to ask for discretionary funds. There is a budget for community funds to be made immediately available.”  Furthermore, Matt has secured federal funding for Hawaii Acres Community Center for a commercial kitchen which will allow farmers to produce & package products to ship to the mainland.  Matt also mentioned that the Hawaii County of Parks and Recreation has a liaison, Maurice Messina, the Director, to work with farmers to have farmer’s markets in specific parks. 

Email: [email protected] Phone: (808) 961-8311 option 1

GARY ROSENBERG

Another key player at the meeting was Gary Rosenberg, who lives in Kurtistown and calls Eden Farm his home. His ideal is to build a model he calls a “private commonwealth” that will benefit the community of the planet. He believes we are in a major paradigm shift in the world, and we need a plan to address climate change through private money and training young people in entirely new jobs. These jobs are designed to help the community transition to a global future based on the local production of food, materials, and energy! He is asking Mayor Mitch and Councilman Matt for cooperation in getting government obstacles out of the way so wealthy individuals on this island can fund these educational centers. “Ultimately, if we can see climate change not as a problem but as a solution, we can save the planet,” stated Gary Rosenberg.

ROMEO  GARCIA, FORMER PRINCIPAL OF LAUPAHOEHOE SCHOOL, CURRENTLY ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT CONNECTIONS SCHOOL IN HILO

Gary further explained, “The Connections School in Hilo has a 40-acre farm that is working on creating a regenerative agriculture program for the students with my help. After the students, those who were suffering from emotional trauma visited Eden farm and interacted with the 600 free-range animals and organic farming, they experienced the beneficial effects of peace and calmness.” Based on these successful day trips, Gary and the teachers at the Connections School want to implement a program at their farm that will be organized by the Oasis Collective. The Collective includes Mago Smith, a member of a group of young people currently working at the Mountain View Elementary School dedicated to transitioning their 9-acre farm into a food forest and regenerative land system to establish a community resiliency hub.

Gary Rosenberg shared that “Bill Steiner, Richard Ha, Noah Lincoln, a founder of the Ulu Cooperative, are all working together to create an alternative education plan for workforce development in regenerative agriculture in Hawaii. The plan incorporates obtaining county grants to train young people and send them to work with individual kapuna to start and maintain regenerative gardens. Their labor combined with the kahunas’ knowledge would gather the small gardens into an aggregate or collective to form a small farm future for the island of Hawaii”.

NICKI  O’BRIEN AND PARTNER LYMAN HOUGHTON

Adding to the farmer’s experience at the local level, Nicki O’Brien, treasurer, and membership coordinator for the East Hawaii chapter of the Hawaii Farmers Union United said, “I am becoming a farmer having just completed the “Go Farm” farming training program with her partner, Lyman, for 7 months, which primarily trains new farmers and farmers that want to advance their skills. It is a deep dive into how to create a market garden to produce food to sell. Participants have access to the combined knowledge of all the members on all the islands who know how to get grants and other kinds of funding for business plans. All the tools you need to be a sustainable, organic farm are taught as expressed in their mission statement!” If you want more information about the farmers’ union:

Hawaii Farmers Union United:

 HFUU.org or [email protected] 

“GOFARM Mission Statement: Our mission is to enhance Hawaiʻi’s food security and economy by increasing the number of sustainable, local agricultural producers. We do this by offering those with an interest in agriculture a combination of knowledge, experience, and support to reach their full potential.” Contact GoFarm Program  [email protected].

BOB BOGLE, DIRECTOR OF FOOD PRODUCTION AT HAWAIIAN SANCTUARY

 Another participant in the “Talk Story” afternoon, Bob Bogle is an advisor who sits on the Board of Directors of Hawaiian Sanctuary, a Tropical Farm Retreat Center. “We study and promote permaculture! I train new students in the many different aspects of what is permaculture and how to live in a growth-focused community. We are also looking for grants and funding for our many different programs based on sustainability and food sovereignty”.

MAYOR MITCH ROTH AND COUNCIL MEMBER MATT KANEALII KLEINFELDER

  In their closing remarks, both Mayor Roth and Council Member Matt expressed their gratitude for not hearing the usual complaints about how bad the county is in implementing actions to the questions and concerns of the farmers. There was genuine gratitude expressed by everyone for the help that they were receiving from the County officials!