The Hawai‘i Agricultural Foundation (HAF) will host its 20th EAT THINK DRINK (ETD), Food Waste - Full Circle With Composting on Wednesday, November 16, 2022 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Prince Waikiki Hotel’s Pi‘inaio Ballroom (Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.). Presented by Central Pacific Bank and Alaska Airlines, Food Waste - Full Circle With Composting will feature Marvin Min, Senior Vice President - Hawai‘i Division from Hawaiian Earth Recycling.

Food waste is a global issue with nearly 1 billion tons of the food wasted. Every year, 30- 40% of the nation’s food supply is wasted, with Thanksgiving turkeys alone accounting for 200 million pounds. Hawai‘i also pays some of the highest food prices in the U.S., but still tosses out 237,000 tons of food per year, which equates to 26% of the available food supply. Ironically, one in every six Hawai‘i residents struggle to put food on the table and 81,000 keiki struggle with hunger every day.

Food waste not only affects us economically but environmentally. Wasted food rotting in landfills emits greenhouse gasses such as methane, which is at least 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is a major contributor to man-made climate change (Environmental Defense Fund, 2012). Also, according to the City and County of Honolulu Refuse Division, wasted food represents 23% of global agricultural land. In addition, 25% of U.S. freshwater and 4% of U.S. oil consumption goes to produce food that ends up in landfills. With the municipal landfills closing in 2028, the city not only needs to find the next dumping ground, but also needs to seek innovative ways to reduce the amount of food waste.

Min’s keynote presentation will provide an overview of how Hawaiian Earth Recycling currently recycles 20% of the waste previously dumped into Hawai‘i’s landfills and repurposes it for beneficial use for gardening and landscaping needs. Min will also discuss future plans and initiatives to address the food waste that is often dumped into our garbage disposals which is not good for our sewage system and/or trash bins.

The panel discussion following the keynote will be moderated by Amy Marvin, President and CEO of the Hawai‘i Foodbank, and will feature:
- Amy Tomiyama, President of Eco-Feed, Inc.
- Henry Gabriel, Recycling Program Branch Chief of Department of Environmental Sciences, Refuse Division
- Dexter Kishida, Food Security & Sustainability Program Manager at the City and County of Honolulu
- Poni Askew, Co-Founder of Hawaiian Vinegar Company

TICKETS ARE $95 TO JOIN THE LIVE, IN-PERSON EVENT

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: $85 UNTIL THE END OF OCTOBER!

A limited number of tickets are available for $85 and includes dinner by Executive Chef Jeremy Shigekane and two (2) drinks from a selection of beer and wine. Guests will be served the following dishes by Executive Chef Jeremy Shigekane that features Shepard’s pie, grilled eggplant, quinoa and long bean salad, chickpea cake, pickled farm vegetables and black sesame tartelette. A vegetarian dish will also be available.