On Saturday, October 18th, I attended a great workshop organized by agroforestry advocate, author and photographer Craig Elevitch. Craig’s latest endeavor is the Hawaii Homegrown Food Abundance project. Craig and a number of other people (myself included) will eat entirely from their own property for one year to demonstrate that we can provide an abundance of food to support ourselves on a typical family homestead.
The subject of food self-sufficiency is very much of interest to Big Island residents. Craig is the rock star of food self-sufficiency, at presentations island-wide about the Hawaii Homegrown Food Abundance project often 100+ people show up to hear him speak. Saturday’s event, entitled Hawaii Island Homegrown: Food Self Reliance Workshop was focused on very practical how-to information about growing an abundance of your own food. Presenters included Nancy Redfeather, owner of Kawanui Farms and Program Director of the Hawaii Island School Gardens Network, Tom Baldwin, Uluwehi Farm, Ben Discoe, Ahualoa Egg Farm, Bonnie Perata, organic farmer, Melani Bondera, Kanalani Ohana Farm, and Ken Love, Hawaii Fruit Growers Association. 
Dirt First! was the theme of Nancy Redfeather’s presentation on increasing soil fertility. Tom Baldwin taught us about plants with “staying power” and Craig gave us some “Leaves to Live By,” in his presentation about perennial leaf vegetables. As a person who has been known to kill even the heartiest garden plants- I am all for perennial left vegetables and have edible hibiscus, chaya, manioc and Okinawan spinach growing in my yard. Although not enough, I learned at the workshop. In order to really eat from my yard, I need to plant a lot more of all of those things- like 75 more of each plant! While I am a bit plant challenged, I do have a good time with chickens.
Ben Discoe and Bonnie Perata both gave great presentations about chickens. Bonnie shared her hard won experience with chicken tractors and Ben focused on non-imported food sources for chickens. At lunch we broke into interest groups and I was very happy to have a seat at the chicken table. All of my chicken questions were answered by Ben & Deb Discoe and my fellow participants. And we couldn’t help sharing some funny chicken stories. I must admit I get more pleasure out of watching the chickens (because they make me feel really smart) than I do out of eating the eggs. As Nancy Redfeather says, “Grow what you love to eat first.” I love to watch chickens, not eat them, but close enough. Ken Love is known as the “tropical fruit guy” and presented on Fast and Furious Fruits. The variety of fruits that you can plant for home use or market in Hawaii is really astounding and Ken has done all the research for you! Melanie & Colehour Bondera are like a modern version of the American pioneers (only the hearty, survival qualities we admire!) They grow and make their own jams, meads, chocolate and organic Kona coffee. Growing food or buying local food is one thing, learning what to do with it is another. Melanie reviewed some food processing methodologies with us such as- canning, drying and freezing.
Craig Elevitch is currently in the fund raising phase for The Hawaii Homegrown Food Abundance project. The demonstration sites will serve to generate data for community education about food self-reliance. We all know that about 85% of our food is imported and there is only about a weeks worth on food inventory in our stores at any given time. While government can play a key role with incentives and legislation to reduce our dependence on imported food, we can also solve the problem at the individual and community level.
The goals of the Hawaii Homegrown Food Abundance project as stated on the website are to:
1. educate community and school groups about our food security, local agricultural production, diversifying farm and garden markets, and nutrition and what we can do to improve them;
2. research and demonstrate the feasibility of providing most of a family’s nutritional needs and partial or full income without reliance on imported fertilizer, chemicals, or other inputs; and
3. produce a manual for import-free homegrown food abundance for consumption and sale in Hawai’i.
I feel so fortunate to be a part of such a vibrant sustainability oriented community. My own community in North Kohala is also very pro-active, the Sustainable Kohala coalition keeps local self-reliance on everyone’s agenda.
