Inception of the Hawaii Homegrown Food Network

Pedro (left) and Craig (right) in the early planning stages of the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network, sitting at a local food restaurant, Holuakoa Gardens in Holualoa, North Kona, Hawai‘i.

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In October, 2008, Craig is in the midst of presenting a series of popular workshops called the "Hawai'i Island Food Self-Reliance Workshops." The workshops cover a variety of topics having to do with homegrown food: annual gardens, perennial fruits and vegetables, traditional Hawaiian crops, raising animals, preparing and preserving food, etc.

We start the Network with a simple conversation about the excitement generated by the workshops and the growing food security movement on the island. We both realize that that it is difficult to find information about local and sustainable food on the island. Where and when are the next workshops? Where can we purchase or sell local, organic produce, fresh from the garden? What organizations are working toward similar goals?

We already have a huge infrastructure for production, distribution and sales of imported food. The vision of the HHFN is to build local capacity to produce food sustainably on Hawai'i Island.

As we begin to discuss the possibilities in frequent conversations at our local farmers' market, we realize the enormity of the task at hand: to build local food communities that can replace the huge commercial infrastructure that we currently rely upon. Despite the size of the task at hand, we decide to start small, as adjunct to Hawaii Island Homegrown Food Abundance/Self-Reliance, a project of Agroforestry Net, a 501c3 organization directed by Craig. Our first endeavor is a monthly newsletter and calendar of local and sustainable events. Read the next blog for details about how we developed the newsletter.