How did Hawai'i go from being able to grow and provide food for about nine hundred thousand people sustainably to having to import somewhere around 90% of our food? When did it become a good idea in this modern era of innovation and technology, to use chemical poisons to such an extent that our food, land, water, plants, and animals are all being poisoned? This has made Hawai'i extremely vulnerable and we must fix that.

No Convincing Required To Get People To Eat Clean Food.

     I want you to think about that for a minute. It doesn't matter if you eat meat or only veggies, if I came up to you and said, here, you can eat the meal on the right which is organic and free and clear of poisons and GMO's or you can eat the meal on the left, which has GMO's, poisons have been sprayed on them to kill pests and the GMO ones have insect poison built into them. Which would you choose?

     The vast majority of us would choose the clean organic meal. I'm sure some don't care and that's ok. But when it comes to our agriculture here in Hawai'i what we place onto our food before it hits the dinner table, goes into the air, it goes into the soil, it goes into the water, gets absorbed by plants and micro-organisms, it ends up in our water, it ends up in our oceans.

     That is why this matters so much. There are ways and methods to grow food sustainably which do not involve poisons and chemicals that affect EVERYTHING. And yet the producers of those poisons claim no responsibility to the affect their chemicals have on the people and the environment. So first and foremost we must deal with this issue because it affects all.

     Here is what we need to do in order to create a more sustainable Hawai'i and to clean up our food:

  • Increase investment in local food production, yesterday.

  • Reclaim agricultural lands as well as prevent any development on those lands whatsoever. 

  • Create major incentives for non GMO small farms and organic farming to kick start the industry in Hawai’i.

  • Encourage and incentivise crop rotation farming for each island.

  • Reduce our imports of food to 10% and increase our food production to 90%

  • Mandate that supermarkets prioritize purchasing local fruits and vegetables before importing them.

  • End pesticide use as we know it and apply other effective methods that do not poison our lands, air, water and people.

  • Protect our agricultural produce better by working to eradicate invasive species.

  • Restore and put to use as many of the ahupuahas as possible across the islands

  • Mandate green rooftops wherever practical.

  • Begin the process of establishing vertical farms and indoor farms across the state.

  • Prevent any landowner, corporation, business, or individual from redirecting water to prevent others from using.

     This is no easy task. And it isn't a simple issue. But the fundamental facts do not change: we are poisoning ourselves and everything around us with our standard practices. 

     If we don't get serious about what needs to be done to clean up our food supply and to increase our resiliency by growing the vast majority of what we eat, Hawai'i's people and economy will always be dependent and vulnerable.


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Friends of Ernest Caravalho

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Honolulu, HI, 96817

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