The state Department of Education’s Farm to School program could be getting a boost this year.
The state Legislature is moving House Bill 2083 forward, which would give the DOE the ability to incentivize Hawaiʻi public schools to locally source their meals.
This week, the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems passed along a version of the bill to do so through the department’s Farm to School program.
Under the program, the department has until 2030 to get 30% of its food ingredients from local farmers.
It would also require the department to offer plant-based meals at public high schools. The schools would develop their own guidelines and could start out by dedicating just one day every week to serving alternative meals.
Quincy Coullahan, a senior at Mililani High School, was among several students who testified in support of HB 2083.
“Even those who love the school lunches now and who love meat options support this bill very heavily because this allows school lunch to be more accessible to all students, and it ensures that all students are eating during the day and gives them the opportunity,” Coullahan told lawmakers.
Farm to School advocates say the program could promote healthy eating habits and local agriculture in Hawai’i.
Farmers and agriculture stakeholders have called the DOE the state’s “largest restaurant,” referring to the 100,000 meals it serves daily, and say it has the potential to boost local farmers.
Bobby Pahia, a kalo farmer on Maui, testified in support of the bill.
“We need to have culturally appropriate and nutritious food in our school system and for our keiki,” he told lawmakers. “Also, as a farmer, we need to address our food security issue, and one way to address food security is by supporting the farmer.”
There is some optimism that the Farm to School program will get more support from the DOE following some changes in key leadership positions, although the department has stated concerns about implementing a plant-based menu.
DOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi said the department supports the idea of the bill, but said schools are not equipped to do their own meal planning for plant-based options.
He also said that local farms and vendors don’t produce enough produce.
“The (School Food Services Branch’s) assessment of the capacity of local vendors, through its 2023 Request for Information campaign, found that Hawaiʻi’s agriculture and food manufacturing industry does not yet have large-scale vendors producing sufficient plant-based proteins, made from local ingredients,” he said in a written testimony.
He said plant-based meals could possibly force the DOE to buy produce from out of state, which could reduce the demand for locally sourced meat options.
