What is the Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network?

The Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network is composed of people with a passion for local and sustainable food on the island of Hawai'i. They grow food or want to learn more about how to grow food, and many just like to eat fresh, locally grown food. Some sell, buy, distribute, or provide support for the sustainably-grown food system. Some are working to feed those in our community who are in need. The HawaiiHomegrown.net website is the network's information, educational and marketing hub, providing individuals and organizations on Hawai'i Island with vital resources and interactive tools to further cultivate their sustainable food communities.

Learn more about our mission, history and organization

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Why "Homegrown"? Why not just "Hawai'i Food Network"?

Hawai'i Island currently has a food economy based upon petroleum-fueled agriculture and long-distance transportation. We import about 85% of our food from the U.S. mainland and other countries.

"Homegrown" means originating here, sustainable on this island, in three different ways:
First, it means food grown at one's home, where one lives. This is the freshest food and the strongest basis for personal and community food security because it is self-reliant and does not require petroleum-fueled transportation systems.

Second, this island is our home. Anything that can be grown in the State of Hawai'i can be grown here. But some foods grown on windward side don't grow well on leeward side, and vice-versa. Some foods grow better makai than mauka. So the foods you and I can't grow where we live can be bought (or bartered) from someone growing it somewhere else on our island. This provides Hawai'i Island "homegrown" food self-reliance.

Finally, it means grown without imported chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It means using "homegrown" resources found on this island and recycled from the natural environment in order to build healthy soils and produce healthy fresh food.

We believe that sustainability starts with homegrown.

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What is unique about the Hawaii Homegrown Food Network?

There are many groups on Hawai'i Island supporting a local and sustainable food economy (see for example, our Supporting Organizations). There are hundreds of farms and growers, and scores of wholesalers and retailers. Many of these stakeholders have been unaware of each other's existence, activities, knowledge, background, and community roles. The Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network creates a place for these stakeholders to meet each other and work together, unified in a common purpose: the reduction in imported, petroleum-dependent foods and farm inputs, and the growth of our local, sustainable food community.

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How can I benefit from the Network?

The HHFN website provides educational information and many resources for the site visitor, including an up-to-date calendar of events, featuring local agriculture and food workshops, classes and conference events; sustainable agriculture website links; CSA's and community gardens; farmers market links; books and publication reviews; reports of recent local food events; and announcements from members about products, services, and events.

Join the Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network! Members can post new events and announcements, can contribute reports, and can interact with other members with marketing inquiries, comments, ideas and questions.

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How can I help with local and sustainable food security on Hawaii Island?

Here are a few suggestions. If you don't yet have food growing where you live, you might want to find out more about annual and perennial gardens. Even if you don't have a yard, you can grow a large portion of your fresh food in containers in a very small area, such as a lanai. See Resources. You can also look to join a community garden.

What you're not growing yourself, buy "locally-grown" at a nearby farmers market or natural food store or participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Learn to appreciate foods that were grown throughout Polynesia and grown and eaten locally by Hawaiians. Learn to save seeds. Learn how to compost, mulch, and conserve water. Volunteer to help out with local or school gardening projects and grassroots groups in your district promoting sustainably grown food. When eating out, be sure to frequent restaurants that serve local and sustainably grown food.

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I'm confused about the terms "local," "sustainable," "organic," "unsprayed," etc.  Help!

Good question!
Here are a few commonly accepted definitions:

• Conventional: These food crops or products are grown using petroleum-based chemical pesticides, herbicides and/or fertilizers. These crops and products may be grown locally or imported. In Hawai'i, all of the pesticides and fertilizers are imported. Conventional growing is not sustainable since it has many external costs we will eventually have to pay for such as high CO2 emissions per food calorie grown, soil erosion, and pollution of soil and water with chemicals.
• Local: We take this to mean grown on Hawai'i Island. Others may have narrower definitions, such as grown in one's neighborhood, ahupua'a (traditional Hawaiian land division), or district. Locally grown food crops and products may be conventional, certified organic, organic, no-spray, sustainable, or some combination. Just because it's local does not mean it's sustainable.
• Certified Organic: These food crops and products are legally certified by a US Department of Agriculture accredited certifying agency as having been produced with strict organic practices. In Hawai'i the main accredited certifying agency is the Hawai'i Organic Farmers Association (HOFA ). Certified Organic food products are grown or produced on Hawai'i Island, and they are also imported from the mainland and internationally. Just because it's organic does not mean it's sustainable.

• Organic but not certified: Some small local farms with sales less that $5,000/year follow strict organic practices but choose (usually because of costs) not to be certified. They must be approved by HOFA, and they have the legal right to call their food products "Organic," but not "Certified Organic."
• Organic: You may see produce and especially fertilizers that use the word "Organic," but are not really certified or do not follow strict organic practices. Most of these are illegal, and some agribusiness companies have found legal loopholes. Buyer beware! Such produce is usually locally grown, but the fertilizers are imported from all over the world. Look very closely for the Certified Organic label.
• "UnSprayed" or "No Spray": You may see this tag in the produce section of your retail food outlet. It implies that the food crop was grown without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. It is best to check with the produce manager of the store, or better yet find out which farm the produce came from and learn what growing practices that farm uses. Just because it's "No-Spray" does not mean it's sustainable.
• Sustainable: Food crops and products that are grown sustainably must be locally-produced, using organic practices, without imported soil amendments, fertilizers, or pesticides, whether petroleum-based or Certified Organic.

To grow our food in a truly sustainable manner we can learn the principles and practices of permaculture systems, biodynamic systems or pre-contact Polynesian growing systems, in which the nutritive and biotic resources of the land are constantly recycled and replenished.

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I would like to post an announcement, but I'm not a Member. Why do I have to become a Member?

By becoming a member you ensure that you are a real person and not an automated computer posted distracting messages. That makes our lives easier as site administrators. Moreover, joining the Network is a way of supporting your local food community by saying, "Yes, I'm in!" even if that is the full extent of your participation.

Craig Elevitch

Network Director

Craig has been working for Hawai‘i Island resource self-sufficiency since 1989. His internationally recognized publications have guided thousands of readers in becoming more proficient in ecological food production, agroforestry, and reforestation. Craig edits The Overstory, a monthly agroforestry journal with over 8,000 subscribers in over 180 countries. He led the Traditional Tree Initiative (2002–06), a project to educate extension agents, farmers, ranchers and landowners about native and traditional trees of the Pacific. He has presented numerous workshops and field days in sustainable agriculture, with over 2,500 farmers and resource professionals participating since 1993. His books include Agroforestry Guides for Pacific Islands (2000), The Overstory Book: Cultivating Connections with Trees (2004), Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands: Their Culture, Environment, and Use (2006), and Specialty Crops for Pacific Islands (2011), all of which promote diverse agricultural systems that produce abundant food, fiber, medicine, and other important resources. He is currently directing Hawai’i Community-Based Food Security, a professional development project for perennial food systems (2011-2014) and is co-director of“Ho’oulu ka ‘Ulu—Revitalizing Breadfruit, a project to restore breadfruit trees and other important traditional crops in Hawaiian landscapes.

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Pedro Tama

Communications Director

Pedro is a small farmer, editor, community networker, and former environmental activist. He founded and was Director of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project. 

He was also editor of the Siskiyou Journal, a monthly bioregional report of local culture, environmental issues and organizations. He has extensive experience coordinating regional sustainability conferences which bring together a broad range of stakeholders.

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Sonia R. Martinez

Farmers Market Correspondent

Born in Cuba, Sonia has always been drawn to tropical climes and cuisines. Her passion for food and cooking led her to own and operate kitchen gourmet shops and cooking schools first in South Carolina and later in Florida. After moving to Hawaii in 1994, she and her son operated a B&B, cooking school and gourmet shop in Honomu for several years. She has been a food writer and columnist since early 1999, contributing to several island newspapers and a Honolulu fishing periodical. She is currently a contributing writer for Edible Hawaiian Islands, The Hamakua Times and Gather.com, where she has served as a Food Correspondent for two years. Her cookbook Tropical Taste is now in its second printing. Sonia founded Freecycle Big Island in 2004. With almost 3,000 members, the group is instrumental in helping keep our landfills from filling up with usable items by giving them a second and sometimes third chance at life. Recently she started the Abundance - Hawaiian Sust 'AINA ble Lifestyle page in Facebook, which now has over 500 members and whose mission it is to find the best markets, farms, food and sustainable life on the Big Island. She moderates several special interest and cooking groups on the Internet where she is known as foodiesleuth or the cubanwahine. You can keep up with Sonia's food and gardening adventures in her website http://www.soniatasteshawaii.com and http://foodiesleuth.gather.com.

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Andrea Dean

Special Projects Coordinator

Andrea is a Socio-Eco-preneur who works with communities, businesses and non-profits on initiatives that enhance island economy, environment and community. She works on a wide range of business and community projects and her services include project management, training, facilitation, feasibility studies, grant writing and management, communication and community education initiatives. Andrea's current projects include the creation of a Hawaii Island chapter of BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) and the North Kohala Eat Locally Grown Campaign—both initiatives aimed at growing a local, sustainable economy.

Her business and non-profit clients have included Volcano Island Honey Company, Varroa Mite Steering Committee, Hawaii Island Economic Development Board, Maui Film Festival, Waimea Community Development Plan Committee and the Kona Earth Festival. Andrea is also a writer, speaker, podcaster and occasional performance artist with a focus on telling Hawaii's sustainability stories. Her writing has been published in many Hawaii-based magazines including: Honolulu Weekly, Ke Ola Magazine, Innov8 (the go! in-flight magazine), Honu Guide, and Hawaii Island Journal.

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Webolution9

Website Developers

Robin and Alex of Webolution9 surpassed all expectations in leading the challenging, complex and exciting development of this website. We hope site visitors will see how easily they can access the abundant sustainable food resources found on Hawai'i Island—a testament to Webolution9's expertise.

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During the past several years, our Hawai‘i Island communities have become increasingly concerned about creating ecologically and economically sustainable, local food systems. There is a growing movement of educational, cultural, and commercial local food activities throughout Hawai‘i: new local-only farmers markets; school, home, and market gardens; campaigns for local food in retail markets; local food restaurants; agricultural workshops; and numerous other activities.

In 2008 and 2009 project co-director Craig Elevitch presented a one-year series of food security workshops on Kaua‘i, Maui, and Hawai‘i. They included four all-day Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Self-Reliance Workshops in Kona, Kohala, Puna and Ka‘ū districts of Hawai‘i Island, sponsored by the Hawai‘i County Resource Center. These workshops demonstrated a great demand for more information, knowledge, support and connection with the burgeoning sustainable food community on Hawai’i Island. Yet there existed no functioning network that linked these widespread activities for the purpose of sharing the accumulating knowledge and experience that was being generated by that community.

The Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network contributes to filling that gap. It grew out of a series of food security workshops, and with publishing the monthly Hawai’i Homegrown Food Network e-mail newsletter beginning in April 2009. It sought to answer the question “How can Hawai‘i Island feed itself?” and facilitate the implementation of those solutions, by providing a forum for the many activities and stakeholders that comprise our local sustainable food community.

Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Board

Leslie Apoliona, North Kona Land Asset Manager for the Kamehameha Schools Land Asset Division.

Andrea Dean, Organizer, planner and facilitator.

Craig Elevitch, International author/editor, agroforestry educator and workshop organizer/presenter.

Barbara Gerrits, Manager, Holuakoa Gardens and Cafe, slow food restaurant.

Auntie Shirley Kauhaihao, cultural practitioner and farmer (native, food, and craft plants), active in many community organizations.

G. Pedro Tama, Editor, publisher and community networker.

Advisors

Project advisors have extensive experience in sustainable local food in Hawai‘i and represent a broad range of locations and interests. They play an advisory role, supporting project activities with periodic consultation and feedback.

• Bruce Mathews, professor of Soil Science, UH Hilo
• Deborah Ward, retired UH CTAHR extension agent and farmer, Kea‘au
• Geoff Rauch, director of Know Your Farmer Alliance and farmer, Kapoho
• Hector Valenzuela, vegetable crops extension specialist, UH Manoa
• Jerry Konanui, mahi 'ai and educator, Pahoa
• Joe Kassel, naturopathic physician and farmer, Holualoa
• Ken Love,tropical fruit horticulture and marketing specialist, Captain Cook
• Lyn Howe, director of Know Your Farmer Alliance and farmer, Kapoho
• Mary Lynn Garner, Konawaena High School teacher and farmer, Kealakekua
• Nancy Miller, marketing specialist and manager of Keauhou Farmers’ Market
• Roen & Ken Hufford, Honopua Farm, managers, Hawaiian Homestead Farmers Market, Waimea
• Ted Radovich, crop specialist, Sustainable Farming Systems Laboratory, UH Manoa

Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Hawai'i Organic Farmers Association

Our mission is to protect the life of the land and the health of our communities through education about organic land care practices. Developing and strengthening certified organic farms enhances Hawaii’s many fragile ecosystems and provides a base for a sustainable local economy.

Hawai'i SEED

Hawai'i SEED is a statewide non-profit coalition of grassroots groups composed of farmers, doctors, scientists, lawyers, concerned citizens, and Native Hawaiians working on five islands to educate the public about the risks posed by genetically engineered organisms. Hawai'i SEED is dedicated to promoting diverse, local, healthy and ecological food and farming that supports real food security for the Hawaiian Islands.

Hawai'i Tea Society

Hawaii Tea Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization composed of tea-enthusiasts and tea-growers in the State of Hawai'i.

Hawai'i Tropical Fruit Growers

Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG) is a nonprofit organization was incorporated in 1989 with the primary purpose of promoting the interests of any and all aspects of tropical fruit in the State of Hawaii. HTFG is dedicated to tropical fruit research, education, marketing and promotion.

Know Your Farmer Alliance

Know Your Farmer Alliance (KYFA) is a grassroots educational and activist group of farmers, gardeners and others interested in ecological food production and local self-sufficiency on Hawai'i Island. Please check the items under the "news" column to view the new direction this organization is looking to move towards.

Kona Coffee Farmers Association

Our mission is to promote and protect Kona coffee farmers economic interests in 100% Kona coffee, to protect the Kona coffee heritage, and to seek greater legal protection of the Kona coffee name.

Kona County Farm Bureau

A non-profit organization representing the agricultural community of North and South Kona districts, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Its membership is dedicated to improving the quality of life on farms, ranches, and their rural communities.

Kona Outdoor Circle

A community based volunteer organization whose mission is to keep Kona clean, green and beautiful by protecting, preserving and enhancing the environment for future generations.

North Kohala Food Forum

An event sponsored by the North Kohala Community Resource Center to support local food production and consumption.

Slow Food Hawai'i

Slow Food U.S.A. is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. Animal breeds, heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables to handcrafted wine and beer, farmhouse cheeses, other artisanal products part of our cultural identity. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our tastebuds as our guides, Slow Food U.S.A. believes that our food heritage can be saved.

Sustainable Kohala

Working to assure a secure & sustainable future for North Kohala in five areas: water, food, energy, jobs & health care.

Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu project