What if 'eat local' starts at school? This was the topic of conversation at the Hawai'i Agricultural Foundation’s recent Eat Think Drink event.
The state Department of Education is looking to adopt central kitchens to increase locally grown meals for Hawai'i public school students. At Hawaiʻi Agricultural Foundation’s recent Eat Think Drink event, panelists shared about how school districts on the Mainland and Zippy's Restaurants are already using regional kitchen models to buy more local produce and meat.
“We're looking at nine regional kitchens, according to DOE's plan," Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz said. He added that the proposed facilities would help keep more money in the state and fund jobs while supporting food security and entrepreneurship.
Overall, the DOE has more than 150,000 K-12 students across the islands. Dela Cruz said to feed this amount of people, farmers and ranchers will need to scale up.
The first central kitchen site is slated for Wahiawā on Oʻahu, with potential to serve up to 20,000 meals per day. The state awarded the $28 million contract to Hensel Phelps Construction Co. for the first phase of the project.
The central kitchen in Whitmore Village is projected to cost $64 million backed by general obligation bond funds over three years.
Looking beyond just schools, Dela Cruz said, "Once this [central kitchen] is up and running, we can also supply our hospitals, our correctional facilities, and then it also helps us with disaster preparedness.”
