Local agriculture is facing a series of challenges, from invasive species to irrigation, and key state lawmakers have put together their legislative priorities for this session to help farming and food production.
Agriculture and food security have been a priority since the start of the legislative session last week. They were a large part of Senate President Ron Kouchi’s opening remarks.
“How do we address food security? Well, that's by growing more. How do you create more activity from the farmers? They need a market, and the (Department of Education) feeds 100,000 people a day — (it's) the largest restaurant in Hawaiʻi,” he said.
Kouchi added, “If we can get the DOE to get half of their plate locally sourced, we are going to move the needle in a huge way for our agricultural community, and we're going to have much better outcomes for our students.”
He’s talking about the DOE’s Farm to School program and how it can help both farmers and students. The program’s goal is to feed local students with locally-grown produce. The state mandated the education department to locally source at least 30% of the food it serves by 2030.
Kouchi also supported the use of farming as a fire mitigation tool, which has gained traction since the August fires on Maui.
“What is the best fire mitigation program we can have? Well, that would be having the land in active use. The problem is as the plantations have closed, too much of the land has gone fallow and is dry,” he said.
Some state lawmakers have put invasive species control at the top of their priority list.
“In my community on the Waianae coast, we've been hit hard with the coconut rhinoceros beetle. And that has been attacking a lot of our palm trees, our banana trees, our niu, which are our coconut trees, and other plants that are located on our Waianae Coast,” said Rep. Cedric Gates, who chairs the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems.
For a decade the invasive beetle had only been found on Oʻahu, but last year it was found for the first time on Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi island. The spread of little fire ants, invasive coral and even coqui frogs in recent months have also caught the attention of lawmakers.
Another one of Gates’ priorities is to legalize marijuana, a move he said has public support and would also benefit local agriculture.
Other issues with strong committee support include funding programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and DA BUX that help feed low-income families.
Senate Committee on Agriculture and the Environment Chair Mike Gabbard said his top priority is forming a sustainable food systems working group.
A bill revived from last year would gather stakeholders — including farmers, wholesalers, restaurants and representatives from the tourism industry — and address local food and agricultural problems.
It’s an important goal for stakeholders who believe food security requires synergy from those all along the food supply chain that currently doesn’t exist.
“We're just not doing enough to solve the problem, and you simply cannot fix a problem without a plan. And so that's what that bill does. It just gets everybody together and says, ‘OK, here's the situation, and let’s do something about it,’” Gabbard said.
Other priorities for the committee include using state funds and tax credits to directly support farmers.
Local farming and food organizations have similar priorities and also want to increase support for aquaculture, slaughterhouse capacity and irrigation for farmers. Dam and reservoir safety and improvement are also a focus for farming advocates.
There have been calls to support the state Department of Agriculture by better funding it and bolstering its staff. One of the department’s top priorities is keeping and adding plant inspectors to monitor invasive species.
Some also want the state to fund grant writer and meat inspector positions in the department.
