Local Food, Local Places

More than 100 people participated in a recent local food system planning workshop August 3rd through 5th in Kakaʻako.  An expected outcome from the “Local Food, Local Places” workshop is to produce a Local Food Action Plan. Honolulu was one of 27 cities, from over 350 that applied in 2016, to receive technical assistance for a local food systems planning Smart Growth grant sponsored jointly by federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Department of Transportation.  Honolulu’s application, which was submitted by the Hawaiʻi Community Development Authority and OʻahuFresh, was a community-driven effort that came about after the need for food planning was identified during a public “urban planning academy” series coordinated by the University of Hawaiʻi Department of Urban and Regional Planning last fall.  Many groups, including the Sierra Club, provided letters of support for the grant application, and helped to connect with interested community members.Prior to the workshops, a number of stakeholder interviews and open listening sessions solicited public input and revealed a broad range of interests and issues in Honolulu’s local food system - from food production to harvest, distribution, consumption, and waste.  Many ideas have been discussed, including community gardens, farmers markets, fish markets, food hubs, food pantries, food rescue programs, vertical farming, food trucks, community kitchens, etc.  The scope of the grant is to “boost neighborhood revitalization through local food enterprises.”  The Action Plan will focus primarily on community-level initiatives in urban and transit-oriented areas like Kakaʻako and other neighborhoods with planned rail stations.  A thematic framework was crafted for Honolulu around three broad goals: “Transit and Community Planning: Food Access”, “Coastal Adaptation and Environmental Stewardship: Food Security” and “Redevelopment and Community Building: Food Equity”. A draft of the action plan will be circulated for comment later this year.  In the meantime, there is an online map where people can help to identify “existing assets”, “opportunities for revitalization” and “access routes” at mycommunity.sasaki.com/localfoods/.