East Maui community food assessment

Designing a Food System from the Ground Up

This story was originally published in the summer issue of Pōʻai Pili, the Kaupō Community Newsletter. For the original story, check out Pōʻai Pili here.

Keiki in the māla (garden) at Hāna School

The East Maui Community Food Assessment was a community-based research and planning project led by Hāna nonprofit, Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke. Beginning in 2019, this project set out to answer the question: “How can we increase and reaffirm food security in Hāna and the greater East Maui?” 

Following consumer, farmer and producer, and market and distribution research, as well as in-depth interviews and community discussions with keiki, ʻohana, other local nonprofits on Maui and across the pae ʻāina, educators, and agricultural stakeholders throughout East Maui districts, Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke put together an assessment of our current food system. 

We are happy to share with all of you the East Maui Community Food Assessment here: hanabuild.org/eastmauifood. 

Collectively, we identified consumer preferences for locally-grown and sourced foods, supply and demand trends, and challenges ʻohana, farmers and producers, and local suppliers face when it comes to accessing, cultivating, and distributing more of these locally-grown and sourced foods. 

This research project has already begun to evolve and community-based solutions are taking shape. 

In partnership with Hāna High and Elementary School, where keiki from Koʻolau to Kaupō attend, Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke has a plan underway to implement a Garden to Cafeteria Program. Produce grown and harvested on campus, by youth of varying ages, will be used in cafeteria meals! 

Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke will also launch an East Maui-specific farmer and entrepreneurship development training program to kōkua our young Native Hawaiians in pursuing farming careers.

Community voice has been integral throughout the East Maui Community Food Assessment project. Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke is grateful to the hundreds of community members, from keiki to kūpuna, who contributed to every phase of this project. Mahalo nui iā ʻoukou. 

As we look ahead and continue implementing collective solutions to increase and reaffirm food security, we understand and acknowledge the importance of expanding on the community-based data collected so far. If you or your ʻohana have not already, please share your manaʻo through our East Maui Food Choices survey: bit.ly/EastMauiFoodChoices. This survey is specifically focused on gathering information related to the prevalent subsistence lifeways unique to Hāna and the greater East Maui. We ask for you to share about your food choices, most importantly the foods you consume that are self-grown, gathered, hunted, or shared without the exchange of money. 

If you have any questions about or feedback on the East Maui Community Food Assessment or the plans that are underway, please reach out to us at kokua@hanabuild.org.