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Reference Information
See below the library of studies, surveys, plans, tables, graphs and other reference documents and infographics related to Hawai'i Island's agriculture and food system.
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Go Kuleana
Studies & Reports
Youth Programs that include work at Pi'ilani Farms in Captain Cook, Hawai'i.
Hui Malama I Ke Ala Ulili
Studies & Reports
Hamakua-based non-profit serving youth and community in the area. Includes educational programs for youth.
4-H and Hawai'i Farmers Union United
Studies & Reports
East Hawai'i and West Hawai'i 4-H do not have listed current programs available but would be a venue for youth agriculture learnings, and Hawai'i Farmers Union United, which has chapters in all counties, has an apprenticeship program that appears to be open but only on Maui.
An Economic Analysis of the Jones Act
Studies & Reports
2017
Economic analysis of Jones Act with increasingly small numbers of large open water American-made vessels, vastly changed trade agreements and world power distributions, new technologies and new modes of production of ships than in the 1920s (when the Act was drawn). Argues that non-continguous states and territories (Alaska, Hawai'i, Puerto Rico, Guam) are most vulnerable to Jones Act tarriffs, in part because there are not as many options for transport of goods (i.e. rail, pipeline, etc.) and in part becuase their concerns were never heard during formation of the Act (as they were not yet states). p.19: 98% of the products shipped to Hawai'i are carried by water. "Former US Representative Ed Case (D-HI) reported that Hawaiian ranchers chartered 'a weekly 747 out of Keahole Airport to get their cattle to the mainland because that’s cheaper than Jones Act shipping.'" p.20 statistics show that Jones Act vessel operating costs are more than double the costs of foreign vessels, due to labor costs (5.5x the cost of foreign labor) and outdated crew size requirements, when American ships were operated by steam boiler and turbines that necessitated constant attention. States that over 25 years of compiled data by economists show that the Jones Act has been harmful to producers and consumers; p. 27 on Hawai'i: paper states unequivocably that the Jones Act has harmed Hawai'i's economy by not allowing them to operate with cheaper foreign vessels.
Jones Act, Pro and Con
Studies & Reports
2019
Arguments for and against Jones Act. For: Stabilized, on-time shipments. Prohibits undercutting by foreign vessels. Homeland security - no need to monitor and oversee foreign-controlled, foreign-staffed vessels in US waters. Economic boone for Hawai'i (Matson and Pasha). Against: Creates shipping monopoly. Adds to high cost of living (imports). doubles to triples costs of exporting goods to Pacific and Asia (exports). retards development of industries in Hawai'i (limits kinds of ships available to producers in Hawai'i. Retards development of port infrastructure in Hawai'i, creating high-risk situation during emergency or crisis.
Food Security in Hawai'i
Studies & Reports
2013
Claims Jones Act effects not proven
Increased Food Security and Self Sufficiency Strategy
Studies & Reports
2012
"The economic impact of food import replacement is significant. Replacing just 10% of the food Hawaii currently imports would amount to approximately $313 million. Assuming a 30% farm share, $94 million would be realized at the farm-gate which would generate an economy-wide impact of an additional $188 million in sales, $47 million in earnings, $6 million in state tax revenues, and more than 2,300 jobs."
Economic Impacts of Increasing Hawaii's Food Self-Sufficiency.
Studies & Reports
2008
Tabulates economic benefits of import substitution (sales, earnings, state tax collections, jobs), with the note that increasing local production alone would generally be unprofitable unless the Hawai'i consumer was willing to spend more on the same produce/good and/or the county/state intervenes with supporting programs for local farmers.
Food Security in Hawai'i
Studies & Reports
2013
Claims import substitution capital benefits to state and consumers remain unproven, as barge shipping is relatively cheap and Hawai'i farmers/farms cannot compete with continent prices even including packing and transport. .
Masters Thesis: Supply chain- Local Avocado
Studies & Reports
2007
Study of barriers and opportunities around import substitution for Hawai'i's Avocado supply. Imports in 2007 totaled 2 million pounds (Haas) and calculations of production estimated at 800,000 pounds with 49% wastage. Barriers proved to be lack of coordination between growers and buyers including preference; lack of consistent and quality supply from growers; idifficulty of consumers to differentiate between local and shipped avocados. Also shown (p.106) was a general reluctance to join cooperatives without a guarantee of higher revenue.
CTAHR Avocado Industry Analysis: Supply
Studies & Reports
2007
Thorough analysis of local avocado industry in Hawai'i (O'ahu, 2005-2006) including seasonal supplies, demand by varieties, and wastage (fruit that never reaches market); costs of production; types of farms (acreage, full-time/part-time, lease/own land); current revenue, and suggestions for replacing imports with local supply. Suggestions include needing increased coordination between growers and buyers (to meet preference and availability demands), coop formation to increase potential of small farms/landholders (which are the majority of Hawai'i farms) tofacilitate meeting of regulatory standards and also increase bargaining power, and marketing of Hawai'i-grown product for local consumption and export.
CTAHR Avocado Industry Analysis: Buyer's Preferences
Studies & Reports
2008
Testing of Buyer's Preferences on O'ahu among general market consumers and local chefs. Findings included different ratings of local varieties by both groups but preference for Hawai'i avocados over mainland Haas variety. Suggestion for State support to assist small farmers in creating cooperatives in order to consistently supply market with qulity and quantity of local avocados.
Hamakua CDP
Studies & Reports
2018
Hamakua CDP 4.3.4 County Action Policy 29: Update the County of Hawai'i's property tax reduction programs to ensure that the public tax incentives for agricultural land uses result in public benefits and promote agricultural land use and production; HCDP 4.9.3 County Action Policy 53: Provide a property tax credit for landowners for the perpetual conservation of taro systems on private land, and for owners and lessees who enter into long term (20 years) agreements to rehabilitate taro systems to active use.
FEDERAL USDA Agriculture Regulations
Guidelines
2020
General Regulations and Directives, USDA
FEDERAL FSMA Final Rule on Produce Safety
Guidelines
est. 2016
Federal/FDA produce safety rule establishing minimum standards for growing, harvesting, packing and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption. Established 2016 and in effect in 2020 with modifications for farm size.
FEDERAL GAP, GroupGAP, and GHS
Guidelines
2015
Federal/USDA agricultural marketing services program promoting volutary audit /certification of farm's Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices. Allows produce (fruit and vegetable) to be sold to Federal programs (including schools). GroupGAP safety program allows smaller farmers to hui together to afford a group certification/audit.
FEDERAL EPA Approved Rules for Hawai'i State
Guidelines
EPA regulations under 1) Clean Water Act, 2) Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 3) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 4) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Clean Air Act; 5) Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act.
STATE HDOA Administrative Rules, Agriculture
Guidelines
Hawai'i Administrative Rules related to Agriculture, with links to current/pending proposed rule changes.
STATE DOH Food Safety Code
Guidelines
2017
State regulations applying to food production and food safety.
STATE HDOA Pesticides Branch
Guidelines
2019
Pesticide Use Regulations, Hawai'i State
COUNTY of Hawai'i Planning Dept Zoning Ch 25
Studies & Reports
2020
See Article 5 (25-5-50 through 25-5-87) re: agricultural zoning regulations; see 25-2-75 and 25-4-17 for Agritourism regulations; see Article 8 (25-8-1) for district zoning maps, Hawai'i County. Also relevant Planning Department regulations could include Chapter 6, Businesses, Chapter 11, Housing, Chapter 10, Erosion and Sedimentation Control, Chapter 29, Water Use and Development. All available here.
SB2572
Studies & Reports
2018
$250,000 from General Funds of State of Hawai'i to DOA to establish an import substitution grant program (FY2018-2019) to encourage Hawai'i farmers to identify and grow food and nonfood products to phase out imports by 2027.
Ag Innovation Center - Collaboration Session Report
Studies & Reports
2022
Report from the Charette process held in Hilo with stakeholders to discuss value added processing needs
HUPC: Better Together
Studies & Reports
2018
Glut of crops. Aggregation of crops, Processing (labor availability and costs). Desire for co-packing option/facilities to reach economy of scale.
Mac nut glut leaves isle farms in rut.
Studies & Reports
2006
Independent producers left with glut of product after multiple good seasons in a row; becuase of limited processors/processing facilities, little choice in how to sell farmed and ready product.
Costs and considerations for establishing community use kitchens in Hamakua, HI
Studies & Reports
2000
1) Community support; 2) Assessment of needs including who will use, what kinds of operations they will run/what scale (commercial, community, etc.) 3) ability of users to pay full or subsidized revenues to maintain facility; 4) assessment of long-term use of facilities by stakeholders. Lists in operation (in 2000) Hamakua Incubator Kitchen & Crafts; Honoka'a Ohana Kitchen Project. Lists solid and long-term community support as necessary to kitchen success.
Honoka'a Ohana Kitchen Project
Studies & Reports
1998
Pacific Business News Article on success for value-added products
Local Foods Through Crisis
Studies & Reports
2020
p.37, assessment of perceived bottlenecks in food chain and effective planning for self-reliant food futures.
The State of Our Starch
Studies & Reports
2020
Illustrates the connections between supply and demand with the underlying questions of cultural values, interdependence and relationship in community, and current and future economic and environmental crises. Re: Crops for value-added processing, requires evaluation of how need will be determined: by present production or establishment of systems that encourage community food security while also presenting market potentials for growers.
Slow March Forward: Hawaii's Food Production Potential
Studies & Reports
Brief column with suggestions for prioritizing root crops and investing in value-added processing as a means to increase income of farmer-entreprenuers
Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index
Studies & Reports
2020
COVID-relevant rises in food prices in Hawai'i (Honolulu Metro). Only current data available. See Table 1 for breakdown of spending on main food groups at home as well as away from home spending. Costs for all food (home and away) have risen, driven by a drastic (13.5%) increase in the price for fruit and vegetables over the year (2020) through COVID. Food already represented an above averatge expenditure for residents of Hawai'i and is the highest percentage expenditure of income (18.1%) in the U.S. See 2017-2018 Data.
Local Foods Through Crisis
Studies & Reports
2020
Includes historical shifts in Hawai'i Food availability and consumption as shaped by wartime.
The State of Our Starch
Studies & Reports
2020
Includes historical shifts in Hawai'i population preference related to immigration (resulting in rice production) and the massive decline in Hawaiian population through processes of colonization and territorialization.
Poi Consumption: Consumption of a traditional staple in the contemporary era
Studies & Reports
1981
Study including survey and ethnographic data that examines demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and other influences affecting preferences for and consumption of poi. Dated study but included here as an example of a single-crop study tracing consumption patterns (and the various factors influencing consumption) as well as recommendations for maintaining/increasing consumption through processing.
Local Food Market Demand Study
Studies & Reports
2011
No aggregated data for Hawai'i Island but includes data (disaggregated by race, age, education, and region on O'ahu) about consumer habits and desires for local eggs, milk, beef, lettucs, tomatoes, and bananas). Indicates customers prefer to access food/choose shopping location based on where they live, prefer to have local options but often cannot find them in the places they shop, and are deterred from buying local primarily because of cost (main factor) and also availability/knowledge of availability (for instance, many Hawai'i consumers believe they are purchasing local milk). Other factors mentioned were knowing what farms the produce/beef came from and labeling that shows no use of pesticides or hormones/antibiotics (beef). Executive summary here.
Local Food Market Demand
Studies & Reports
2011
2011 Baseline study highlighting desire of local (Honolulu) consumers to purchase local foods, and in some instances pay more for local product. Other findings included that point of distribution is critical (most people on O'ahu choose to purchase food from supermarkets, therefore having local food in supermarkets is critical to increasing amount of local food purchased; that inconsistent presence and quality hinders growth of market for local produce; and that consumers cannot identify local from mainland product.
County of Hawai'i Agriculture Development Plan
Plans
2010
Re: Trends in local demand p.9 brief history illuminates shifts in agricultural production as a result of colonization, immigrant labor pools (who brought with them their own preferences and practices), and (war).
Local Foods Through Crisis
Studies & Reports
2020
Re: Trends in local demand: p.35 the response of food trends to drought, warfare, (Territorial) administration, and plantation interests. Shows how food demands have been created, at points, in availability (or lack therof) of local and import supplies, and how plantation and military interests especially, through WWI and WWII, shaped food demands in the islands that persist today.
2010 Hawai'i County Agriculture Development Plan: Health Impact Assessment
Studies & Reports
2012
See p.50-52 for recommendations to increase local consumption. Suggestions include to utilize funds from USDA's Fresh Fruit and Veg Program (FFVP) to expand farm-to-school purchasing without the complexities of National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs procurement/food prep measures; 2) modify Act 175 SHL 2009 to remove barriers to procurement of local produce by HDOE and other State agencies; 3) Make detailed school food program expenditures publicly available for analysis; 4) work with culinary experts to incorporate locally produced foods in lunch and breakfast menus; 5) pilot at least one salad bar in an HDOE school complex; 6) encourage independent private and charter schools to increase amounts of fresh, locally grown food in their lunch programs, and 7) convene a working group to facilitate implementation of Farm-to-School and other institutional buying programs in Hawai'i County.
County of Hawai'i Agriculture Development Plan
Plans
2010
Re: Increasing Local Consumption, See p. 25, Section C Food Self-Reliance and Food Security. "Any program that brings farmers closer to consumers such as farmers markets, CSA's, and promotions like the Buy Local, It Matters campaign, will tend to move Hawai'i Island closer toward a more robust local food system (26)." Along with closer farmer-consumer connections, promotes expansion of local processing and branding initiatives (i.e. Mountain Apple Brand) and support locally-based food distributors.
2010 Hawai'i County Agriculture Development Plan: Health Impact Assessment
Studies & Reports
2012
A Health Impact Assessment detailing the potential impacts of increasing local commercial food production, promoting farm to school procurement, and supporting school, community, and home food production. Numbers/details of current production amounts/costs in home gardens is unknown. HIA findings include analyses of Native Hawaiian health and impacts of separation from land (which is always already a social disruption) and its economic and health consequences, and recent historical conditions where plantation laborers would also rely on home gardens to afford living and eating. Opportunities seen in expansion of school and community gardening programs by the HDOE and University of Hawai'i to educate families about growting and preparing fresh food.
County of Hawai'i Agriculture Development Plan
Plans
2010
Update of the 1992 County Ag Plan. p.26 Front yard and home garden able to grow 'ulu, mango, avocado, banana, uala, and distribute through informal community exchange. See also Appendix F, Section III C. which suggests home production in Hawai'i County, with a year-round growing season and majority of residents with a yard, can significantly increase access of people to food. Stakeholders expressed concern about potential connections between home gardening and rat lungworm.
2010 Hawai'i County Agriculture Development Plan: Health Impact Assessment
Studies & Reports
2012
A Health Impact Assessment detailing the potential impacts of increasing local commercial food production, promoting farm to school procurement, and supporting school, community, and home food production. Some potential bottlenecks are through legislation (cf. Act 175 SHL 2009) which makes DOE and State agency procurement of local produce difficult; safety and ability of existing DOE and state agency kitchen staff to process and serve fresh local produce; modifications of USDA and DOE fund expenditures (and full and detailed disclosure of current expenditures.
Local Foods Through Crisis
Studies & Reports
2020
p.37, assessment of perceived bottlenecks to food chain and effective planning for self-reliant food futures.
Island of Hawaii Whole System Project: Phase I Report
Studies & Reports
2007
Re: Locally-produced content p)13 Main barriers noted - 1) lack of distribution infrastructure, inhibiting food-producers at all scales to get their food to consumers and 2) lack of connection between supply and demand, where consumption preference data is not transparent to farmers (and therefore farmers have little real way to assess mismatch in product), and where small farmers have trouble supplying food of consistent quality and quantity, and 3) price of local food, increased by varible costs of inputs and production. See p.41 Figure 16: Barriers for Local Food in System
County of Hawai'i Agriculture Development Plan
Plans
2010
Re: Bottlenecks p.13: Hawai'i market and conditions are different than mainland market and conditions and yet Hawai'i models the ag sector off U.S. mainland sector. This difference is exemplified in looking at crops like kalo, for which there is no equivalent on the U.S. Mainland, products like milk, where small-scale, hyper local operations are not practiced, and beef, for which the technology of Mainland slaughter does not match size and breed of steer here. To develop new island-specific systems or borrow from other island systems, local foods can replace imported foods and generate millions in capital earnings, revenues, and jobs. Identified potential changes include small scale processors to purchase, wash, sort, label, can, butcher, and distribure local production, and to develop a distribution model that can equal real-time communications and on-time deliveries as large-scale U.S. distributors.
FOOD SECURITY AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY: VOICING THE REALITIES OF HAWAI‘I’S SMALL FARMERS WHO PRODUCE FOOD FOR LOCAL CONSUMPTION
Studies & Reports
Saleh Azizi's Thesis on food security and the role of food hubs.
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