Fair & Sustainable Food Systems

HAPA’s Policy Advocacy & Organizing Work

As a part of our policy & organizing work, HAPA is both leading and supporting various bills that seek to rectify injustices and unsustainable practices in our food system. Hawaiʻi is a unique state because it has established a state statute that seeks to increase locally consumed food production and procurement to 30% by 2030.* Presently, Hawaiʻi imports 85 - 95 percent of its food supply, leaving Hawaiʻi incredibly food-insecure, and vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and other climate disasters.

 Not only are food system issues related to the public welfare and health, but to address our carbon-fueled food system is to address many of our climate and resiliency issues; food (and water) are common-ground spaces fertile and ripe for transformative action. Whether you are new to your civic-political kuleana or a tenured kūpuna in the movement, we invite you to join us in advocating for a more fair and sustainable food system.

 We make it easy to engage by providing timely and actionable legislative alerts. You can learn more about the policies we're championing or supporting this session; and you can sign up for our alerts below! 

We have 6 priority areas:

Food Equity 

Pesticide Protections

Support for Food Producers & Regenerative Practices

Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK)

Food System Planning

Good Food Procurement

2024 Fair & Sustainable Food Systems Policy Agenda 

About:

Our current food system is broken by design, supporting increasingly consolidated corporate profits at the expense of public and environmental health, climate and workers. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Transforming our local food system can address some of the most intractable problems facing our local communities. Because our food system is so broad, touching upon every facet of our lives, there is no one silver bullet solution. Policy advocacy is one tool in our toolbox for creating change. HAPA supports a broad food and agriculture policy agenda that seeks to uplift a variety of complimentary solutions along our food system. We seek to provide a comprehensive food systems policy agenda and timely, actionable legislative alerts for key bills moving through our legislative session. HAPA uplift priorities of our partners working across various facets of the food system in one place to provide actionable alerts for engaging in food systems policy advocacy. 

Our FSFS Priority Areas: 

Food Equity 

Policy Leads: Hawaiʻi Appleseed, Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute (HIPHI), Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network (HCAN)

About: HAPA supports food security programs to address rising hunger rates in Hawaiʻi. The ending of certain federal and local benefits coupled with increasing cost of living has led to increased local food insecurity. Increasing funding for local food security along with other measures to boost procurement of locally grown food can support local food producers and food insecure residents alike. 

Universal School Meals

Hunger should never be a barrier to learning, yet many food insecure students are missing meals and cannot thrive in the classroom. Universal free school meals will provide breakfast and lunch to all public school students and will help to improve health and learning outcomes. 

DA BUX

DA BUX is a triple-win solution. It doubles the purchasing power of a SNAP dollar when used to buy Hawai‘i-grown produce; it supports local farmers by increasing the customer base, and keeps dollars in the local community. This bill dedicates $2M in state funding, which can be matched by federal funding.

Addressing the SNAP/Hunger Cliff 

As pandemic related and other benefits have ended food insecurity is rising in Hawaiʻi. State funded food benefits to supplement SNAP (or other anti-hunger programs) can help alleviate hunger. 

Farm to Food Bank 

Establishes the Hawaiʻi farm to food bank program and Hawaiʻi food assistance program special fund to alleviate food shortages in the State.

Pesticide Protections

Policy Leads: HAPA

About: HAPA was founded in 2014 to respond to community concerns about pesticide drift from agrochemical test fields. Data from the first year of mandatory restricted use pesticide (RUP) usage reporting (2019) revealed concerning rates of application of certain highly toxic pesticides. To better assess health and environmental risks and provide proactive public health protections the following measures are needed.

Improved Disclosure Of Restricted Use Pesticides (RUP) 

Hawaiʻi needs more geographically specific reporting of pesticide use to accurately assess current risk. California requires reporting within a square mile of application. This level of specificity will allow for credible public health/epidemiological studies to be conducted. 

Increased RUP Buffer Zones

Epidemiological studies have revealed that exposure to certain pesticides drifting from over ½ mile can harm human health, with children being amongst the most vulnerable.  Certain pesticides are more prone to drift to others. Reporting data has revealed some of the highest rates of application of highly drift prone and carcinogenic pesticides adjacent to residential areas in Hawaiʻi. Increased buffer zones around schools and other sensitive areas provide common sense public health protections for keiki.

Reclassify Neonics As RUP

Neonicotinoids (“neonics”) are reported to be the largest class of insecticides used globally and are linked to pollinator declines. Vital for a healthy food system, 1 in 3 bites of food is attributed to pollinators. Increasingly a body of research is also finding harmful human health impacts. Because they are not classified as “restricted use pesticides” (RUP) in Hawaii, we have no data on the extent of their use locally or ability to study the potential impacts. 

Support for Food Producers & Regenerative Farming Practices 

Policy Leads: Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United (HFUU)

About: Less than a percentage of Hawaiʻi’s budget is dedicated to supporting our agricultural sector. Yet, at the federal level industrialized and extractive farming practices are heavily subsidized. Investing in a regenerative and equitable local food production can help to diversify our local economy, support our local food production goals and manage our agricultural lands for abundance. (Policy agenda in development)

Transportation Cost Reimbursement

Establishes a Local Agriculture Transportation Cost Reimbursement Incentive Program to be administered by the Department of Agriculture to reimburse eligible producers for a portion of the producer's costs to transport agricultural commodities.

Food Manufacturer Tax Credit

Establishes a food manufacturer tax credit. Defines "qualified taxpayer" as a manufacturer that produces value-added processed, agricultural, or food products.

Agricultural Investment Program

Creates an agricultural investment program to support farmers.

Healthy Soils Program

Create a statewide soil health assessment with a list of practices specific to Hawaii and that are most effective in improving soil health and building soil carbon stocks; Provide farmers with education and technical assistance to implement farm management practices that contribute to healthy soils; Establish standards that apply to the healthy soils program and are based on the findings of the greenhouse gas sequestration task force relating to minimum levels of soil carbon and water content and required soil health practices; and subject to available funding, issue awards and other financial incentives to implement farm management practices that contribute to healthy soils.

Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK)

Policy Lead(s): TBD

About: Traditional and customary Kānaka Maoli practices manage Hawaii’s natural resources for abundance. Efforts to reactivate, restore, protect and perpetuate loko iʻa, loʻi kalo and nearshore fisheries provide the blueprint for feeding our local communities sustainably. Yet despite the many benefits (increasing local food production, ecological services, perpetuation of cultural practices) efforts to restore these systems still face barriers. HAPA supports our partner-led efforts seeking to advance and perpetuate traditional and customary practices.   (Policy agenda in development)

Streamlining Fishpond Restoration

Appropriates funds to the Board of Land and Natural Resources to create a standard lease application and programmatic environmental impact statement to streamline the process of leasing government-owned Hawaiian fishponds, prioritizing community co-managed organizations and projects.

Kalo Farmer Tax Incentives 

Our kalo farmers face a myriad of challenges from the high cost of land in Hawaiʻi to increasingly unpredictable weather conditions due to climate change. Providing financial incentives for kalo farmers is an important step towards supporting indigenous food ways and food security for Hawaiʻi. 

Food System Planning

Policy Lead(s): Transforming Hawaiʻi’s Food Systems Together

About: A coordinated food systems plan led by key stakeholders across our food system can help connect the dots between local food producers, consumers, state institutional purchasing and community anti-hunger efforts. This work is critical to identify and advance solutions to fix our reliance on imports and to create a sustainable and equitable food economy. 

State Food Systems Planning 

Establishes the Sustainable Food Systems Working Group. Requires a report to the Legislature before the Regular Session of 2025

Good Food Procurement

Policy Lead(s): Hawaiʻi Farm to School Hui, HIPHI

About: Despite goals of sourcing 30% locally grown food by 2030, Hawaiʻiʻs local procurement goals are lagging. Increasing state institutional procurement of locally grown or raised food represents a major new market to bolster Hawaiiʻs agricultural sector. Farm to School procurement also provides students with nutritious, culturally appropriate food to support learning outcomes.

Farm to School

Authorizes the Department of Education to establish a recognition program to incentivize schools to submit to the Department a plan for the school to reach the local farm to school meal goal of thirty percent of food served in the school to consist of locally sourced products by 2030. Requires public high schools under the Department of Education to provide plant based meals as an option under the school meals program.