At the start of the 2022 legislative session in January, the Hawai‘i Farm to School Hui identified 18 bills that were directly relevant to farm to school, including initiatives around school gardens and farms, food education, and local school food.
Our advocacy involved sending action alerts to Hui members and submitting written and oral testimony via the Hui Coordinator, who also mentored the Hawai‘i Youth Food Council Policy Committee to become active advocates for the first time this session!
Among these bills were the Hui’s two top priority policy initiatives this year:
- Fund a School Garden Coordinator position within the Hawai‘i Department of Education (HIDOE) Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design (SB2182); and
- Fund a P-20 Agriculture Education Coordinator position within the University of Hawai‘i (HB1844).
Years of partnership building and collaboration with public-private partners led to the development of these priorities. These two positions are key to implementing the Hawai‘i Farm to School Program (established within HIDOE via Act 175 (2021), and fulfilling the recommendations of the UH System Report to the 2019 Legislature on a Coordinated Framework of Support for Preschool Through Post-Secondary (P-20) Agriculture Education in Hawai‘i (DC149, 2019).
We are excited to announce SB2182 a bill to fund a School Garden Coordinator within HIDOE through their conference committees, and now are en route to the Governor!
For more information contact Olivia Whittemore at Olivia@hiphi.org or Roella Foronda at Roella@hiphi.org.
