Farm to School Past Events

 Hawaii Establishes October as Farm to School Month! 

In an effort to align state and national efforts to celebrate farm to school, Governor David Y. Ige signed Senate Bill 882 into law on April 24, 2016 as Act 10. Hawai‘i now parallels national legislation making each and every October “Farm to School Month in Hawai‘i”  to promote Public awareness of the State’s farm to school initiative  “connecting keiki to the ‘aina” through coordinated activities and resources connecting schools and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy Hawaii-grown meals in school cafeterias; improving student nutrition; lowering childhood obesity; supporting local farmers; and exposing students to agriculture, nutrition, and educational opportunities through classroom activities, farm field trips, and school gardens

 

 

 

  •  NFSN Partners Gather for 2017 Annual Meeting

The Hawaii Farm to School Coordinator traveled to Denver, CO with Hawaii’s National Farm to School Network (NFSN) lead Natalie McKinney and other National Farm to School Network Core Partners, Supporting Partners, Advisors, staff and invited guests to strengthen our connections, brainstorm, innovate, and learn to make strategic advancements to the farm to school and ECE movement.  The 2017 Annual Meeting’s agenda included digging into the NFSN 2017-2019 strategic plan, panels on national farm to school and early care and education partnerships, and learning about advancing racial equity in the food system. Check out the #NFSN2017 hashtag on social media to see highlights, and join the conversation in Hawaii with our Core Partner.  Malam Kauai’s Executive Director Megan Fox was also in attendance as a NFSN Award grantee for their Seed Change in Native Communities with Farm to School PROJECT :  Mala`ai Kula: Kaua`i Farm-to-School

Pilot – Kaua`i Island: Native Hawaiians (Hawaii)
Support an existing three-year pilot project to create a culturally relevant farm to school program at two Kaua`i schools. On Kaua`i, where 90 percent of food is imported, Mala`ai Kula is helping students build a healthier relationship with traditional food systems through school gardens and locally-grown foods in school meals.  (see The Garden Isle).

HAWAII F2S – LOCAL SUPPLY RFI

In April 2016, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) conducted a Request for Information (RFI) to gather local food production and distribution information for anticipated upcoming Farm to School (F2S) initiatives. The RFI was released with instructions to share it with farmers, distributors, wholesalers, brokers, processors, and aggregators of locally grown food (food grown within the State of Hawai’i). The purpose of the RFI was:

  • To gather direct local food supply information from farmers and distributors to develop a more specialized understanding of local food supply;
  • To better inform local food buying strategies for our schools and other institutions;
  • To better inform State entities on local food purchasing and community networking opportunities;
  • To access F2S proposal ideas from across the state.

The information gathered from the RFI will be considered in upcoming F2S program solicitations, to assist the State with future F2S initiatives such as increasing locally grown food in school food programs, and support the growth of community connections with local farms.