The Maui Nui Food Alliance and Kamehameha Schools Maui hosted the Maui Nui 2022 Food Summit, Collaboration, and Stewardship: Growing Resilience on Friday, October 21, 2022. Over 80 residents from Maui, Molokai and Lānaʻi – including farmers, ranchers, food retailers, educators, public health professionals, and representatives from the Department of Health and the Maui County – participated in the event at the Kamehameha Schools Maui campus.
Farmers and ranchers, who supply Kamehameha Schools Maui with local produce and proteins, opened the Food Summit with a Mahiʻai Showcase during registrations. The Food Summit’s breakfast and lunch were both 100 percent locally sourced from Hawai’i, with ingredients from Kūpaʻa Farms, Maui Food Hub, Common Ground Collective, ʻOkoʻa Farms, Mahi Pono, Noho’ana Farm, Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative, Haleakalā Creamery, Maui Nui Venison, and Lopes Farm. The local menu was crafted and sourced by Kamehameha Schools Maui’s Culinary Team and Maui Sust(ʻĀINA)bility Team.
The event was moderated by Hōkūao Pellegrino, Sustainability & ʻĀina-Based Learning Designer and Facilitator for Kamehameha Schools Maui. The recently appointed Maui County Director of Agriculture, Rogerene Kali Arce, gave the keynote address at the Summit, sharing her vision for the Maui County Department of Agriculture, which was formed in July 2022.
Food Summit participants worked in groups to identify local food system challenges and solutions. Ideas from the working groups will help to design the Maui County Food and Nutrition Security Plan next year. Stay updated with the Food and Nutrition Security planning process by subscribing to the Maui Nui Food Alliance newsletter here.
The afternoon of the Summit focused on Farm to School, with presentations from Kamehameha Schools on their Poi for the People and Nā ʻOno o ka ‘Āina Farm to School Programs, and a panel discussion on Farm to School: Getting Local Food into Local Bellies. The panel discussion featured Farm to School leaders Bonny Davis of Kamehameha Schools Maui, Havilah Mills of Grow Some Good, Kristina Cacpal of Maunaloa Elementary School and school garden, and Dennis Chase of the Hawai‘i Farm to School Hui. Presenters discussed the barriers that prevent locally sourced foods from reaching Maui County’s schools’ cafeterias and the potential solutions to improve school nutrition with local produce, starches, and proteins.
Maui County Mayor Mike Victorino closed the 2022 Food Summit by launching Project Locavore’s 2022 Eat Local Maui Challenge, a community-based initiative to celebrate by eating a completely local diet for 7 days.
The Maui Nui 2022 Food Summit event program can be found here. The food summit was made possible with support of the Hawai‘i State Department of Health SNAP Ed Program, an Equal Opportunity Provider.
Follow the Maui Nui Food Alliance on their website mauinuifoodalliance.org and on Instagram at @mauinuifoodalliance to stay updated about next summer’s Maui Nui 2023 Food Summit. If you have any questions, please email mauinuifoodalliance@gmail.com.
