The Thirty Percent Project: Recent Episodes
Paula Daniels
Deep dive conversations about efforts to have a 30% Good Food System by 2030, centered on Hawai'i and its Aloha Plus Challenge. Explore these systemic issues and solutions with us, and consider their relevance to all regions.
Marisa Castuera Hayase oversees a $150 million grant portfolio of grant making for The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, in Hawai'i, Baltimore, Pennsylvania and Israel. In this interview, Marisa explains the value of community-driven philanthropy that prioritizes long-term systemic change over short-term interventions. She emphasizes the deep interdependence between food systems, housing, and the workforce, advocating for ownership models where those most affected by issues lead the solutions. By focusing on "ʻāina-based" organizations—those that view land stewardship as a critical component of healthcare and economic resilience—she illustrates how supporting holistic programs can successfully address chronic health conditions while fostering intergenerational community well-being.
With a family and current history in Hawai'i, she draws on the Hawaiian concept of kīpuka: areas of vegetation spared by lava flows that become starting points for natural regeneration.
For more info on Marisa: https://www.pbshawaii.org/marisa-hayase-a-leaders-journey/
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation: https://hjweinbergfoundation.org/
Marisa's essay, posted to LinkedIn on October 28,2024 about the Weinberg Foundation's 250 acre land grant to Ma'o Organic Farms
The organizations mentioned by her in the interview:
In Hawai'i (in alphabetical order)
Lahaina Community Land Trust https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/
- The August 15, 2024 episode of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" -- worth watching for even more than its endorsement of the Lahaina Community Land Trust: https://www.youtube.com/live/j8DxdibHibU
- More coverage on Lahaina Community Land Trust is here: https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/new
'Elepaio Social Services of the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Center: https://webdev.wcchc.com/Services/Page/Elepaio-Social-Services
Hawaii Farmers Union: https://www.hawaiifarmersunionunited.org/
Hawai'i Food Bank: https://hawaiifoodbank.org
Hawaii Food Basket: https://www.hawaiifoodbasket.org/
Hawai'i Good Food Alliance: https://www.hawaiigoodfoodalliance.org
Ma'o Organic Farms (also mentioned in other episodes, including episode 1 with Kamuela Enos): https://www.maoorganicfarms.org
In Pennsylvania
Commission on Economic Opportunity: https://www.ceopeoplehelpingpeople.org/snap
National
Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders: https://www.agandfoodfunders.org
The TV episode about the Tovaangar of Los Angeles: City of Ghosts TV Series, Episode 4 (on Netflix, runtime 18 minutes
Article on same - https://newsfromnativecalifornia.com/a-city-map-of-tongva-ancestors/
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Ben Lazarus
Project support (content editing and sound assistance): Lizzy Liathaud
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Logo: Reiko Quitevis and Sue Woodard
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Celeste grew up in Kailua, Oʻahu and returned to Hawai’i after her global education and work experience. She is now the CEO of Hawai’i Green Growth, the keeper of the Aloha + Challenge dashboard, where the 30% local food target is displayed and monitored. Celeste has an impressive history with international climate goals and is a Pacific Rim leader in engaging progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).
She previously served as the Director for Environment and Climate Change at the National Security Council and National Economic Council in President Obama’s White House, where she helped shape the Administration’s climate and energy policies, including the SDGs. Prior to joining the Obama administration, Celeste served as a diplomat in Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Germany. She also held positions at the U.S. Mission to the UN, served as the Climate and Energy Advisor to the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and worked for the City of New York.
Celeste explained how Hawai'i is ahead of the US itself, as well as any other US state, in terms of reporting on their progress on sustainability goals, including the 30% local food target. Hawai'i is a UN local 2030 hub, thanks to her efforts. She agrees that Hawai'i can become an example for the world -- especially if the state can successfully grapple with the dynamic tensions surfaced by needs such as housing, energy, water, employment -- all on a charismatic, very remote island archipelago. Hawai’i’s metric based reporting model is spreading through the island nations of the Pacific, Caribbean and elsewhere, inspiring communities of practice.
We discuss how some form of community investment vehicles might be applicable to food system infrastructure, and she brings us a powerful example of engaging island youth - who have a specially ingrained knowledge of how systems work. Having grown up in Hawai'i herself, Celeste is definitely a systems thinker. I liked her view that sometimes you have to "make the challenge bigger so we can see the outlines of a solution", and I really appreciated her sense of urgency. As she put it: we're simply out of time to negotiate any further. "We don't have all the solutions, but we are certainly trying to paddle in the right direction on this and learn," she said.
For more information:
Hawai’i Green Growth
Local 2030 Islands Network
East-West Center
TEDx Talk by Celeste Connors, “Think like an Islander to Save the Planet” (November 2021)
In this episode, we feature Davis Price and Keoni Lee, in conversation about their efforts towards creating a sustainable and regenerative food system economy in Hawaii. Davis, an attorney and Native Hawaiian cultural advocate, and Keoni, an entrepreneur and impact investment strategist, share insights on community-based economic development, structural food system issues and the importance of traditional indigenous knowledge.
Among the systemic issues discussed is the high cost of living, causing displacement and dislocation of Native Hawaiians to the continent. The episode dives into historical context, and practical steps towards making agriculture a viable livelihood, including legislative efforts like the U.S. Farm Bill. The conversation highlights the importance of integrating traditional Hawaiian values and practices with contemporary strategies to address current economic and environmental challenges.
This discussion encourages a rethink of modern economic systems toward more sustainable, equitable approaches rooted in indigenous knowledge and community resilience. Join the conversation to learn how these initiatives aim to bridge the gap between culture, history, and sustainable development in Hawaii.
For more info:
‘Āina Aloha Economic Futures
Hawai’i Investment Ready (where Keoni Lee is CEO)
‘Oiwi TV (founded by Keoni Lee in 2007)
NDN Collective (where Davis Price is Hawai’i Regional Director)
Kumano I Ke Ala (their vision: "to elevate indigenous knowledge to revitalize traditional food systems to save the world")
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Content structure, edits and sound edits - Mackenzie Olivo (2024 graduate, University of Hawai'i School of Communications and Information)
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Logo: Reiko Quitevis and Sue Woodard
Dr. Kirsten Oleson, is an ecological economist at the University of Hawaii- Manoa, and head of the Oleson Lab. We discuss the valuation of ecosystem services, the potential for a climate smart food label, and the systemic changes needed in Hawaii's agricultural sector to fulfill a statewide vision of a sustainable food system
The conversation covers the complexity of quantifying nature's benefits, alternative indicators to the GDP for measuring wellbeing, and the idea of integrating true cost accounting into public policy approaches to food systems upgrades, which could bring into play - at around 30% - a holistic approach to food systems that prioritizes environmental and social values over industrial-scale efficiencies.
At the close, are excerpts from Robert F. Kennedy's famous 1968 speech regarding the GDP and, in his own words and voice, how it "measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
For More Information:
The Oleson Ecological Economics Lab within the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
The Hawai’i Genuine Progress Indicator page at the Hawai’i Dept of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, which was developed based on a report by Kirsten Oleson and others
Climate actions centered on Indigenous knowledge can improve resilience (Press Release November 14, 2023 ), regarding a chapter in the Fifth National Climate Assessment to which Dr. Oleson contributed
Ocean Tipping Points, a collaborative research project for which Dr. Oleson is a case study lead
The full text of the speech that Robert F Kennedy Sr gave on March 18, 1968 at the University of Kansas, which included the famous paragraph regarding the GDP (at the JFK Library site)
And a link to an essay and audio recording of the GDP excerpt in the Robert F Kennedy Sr speech, at the site of the Center for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity, a research organization core-funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council and the Laudes Foundation
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Ben Lazarus
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Logo: Reiko Quitevis and Sue Woodard
Kamehameha Schools is the largest private landowner in Hawai'i, and owns about 115,000 acres of agriculture land in the Islands. With Leanne Kami, we discuss their local food systems strategies, support for local farmers through flexible contracting and other means, the re-introduction of traditional Hawaiian foods such as poi, and ongoing projects that integrate cultural heritage with modern agricultural practices aimed at enhancing food security and sustainability in Hawaii. Kamehameha Schools is also enrolled in the Good Food Purchasing Program.
Leanne Kami was born and raised in Pāhoa, on Hawaiʻi Island, and resides in Panaʻewa with her husband and two sons. Leanne joined Kamehameha Schools in 2015 as a Senior Communications Specialist and served as Land Asset Manager for four years before joining the Sustainable Industry Development team in 2021. Leanne’s kuleana (responsibilities) include supporting Kamehameha Schools’ goals and strategies towards strengthening food systems and increasing agriculture production in Hawaiʻi. As owner and manager of Kohana Farms since 2010, Leanne also has first-hand working knowledge of agriculture.
Before joining Kamehameha Schools she was the Executive Director of the Hawaii Future Farmers of America Foundation, and is a founding member of the Hawaiʻi Island Agriculture Partnership. She has a longstanding passion and dedication to increasing food security and resiliency of Hawaii's ʻāina and its people.
Stay tuned for closing thoughts on her favorite Hawaiian word: pilina.
For more info:
Kamehameha Schools (ksbe.edu)
Our food systems initiative | ‘Āina Pauahi | Kamehameha Schools (ksbe.edu)
Videos about Kamehameha Schools partners and projects mentioned:
Poi For the Pēpē
FarmLink Hawaiʻi
Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative
And about Leanne's farm:
Kohana Family Farms
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Ben Lazarus
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Logo: Reiko Quitevis and Sue Woodard
My family, the Daniels family, is from Maui. It is hard to put the words together to express all the feelings, to find a place for all the thoughts.
The beginning phrase of an oli (chant) by revered Edith K. Kanāka'ole is: E hō mai ka ʻike mai luna mai e -- grant us wisdom from above. In Hawai'i, this chant is offered at the start of an event or small gathering to focus the energies on the kuleana (responsibility) being undertaken.
Lāhainā has burned, its recent incarnation gone. Lāhainā was once an area of spring-fed wetland ponds with extensive groves of large canopy 'ūlu (breadfruit) trees. Lāhainā was once the historical seat of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and the home of my ancestors.
As we mourn the loss of lives, property, and recent history, let us also seek wisdom from above on the way forward, in best support of a grieving community. E hō mai ka ʻike mai luna mai e -- grant us wisdom from above.
Ways to support Maui in this time:
Hawaiʻi People's Fund: https://hawaiipeoplesfund.networkforgood.com/projects/200566-maui-aloha-the-people-s-response-fund
Hawaiʻi Workers Center: https://www.hawaiiworkerscenter.org/donate/ (Make in the notes section: “Lāhainā Fires” for the donation.”)
Ka Lāhui - Lāhainā Relief Fund: paypal.me/wedchi
ʻĀina Momona: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/kokuamaui
Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement, Alaka'ina and Kakoʻo Haleākalā: https://www.memberplanet.com/campaign/cnhamembers/kakoomaui
Hawaiʻi Community Foundation Maui Strong Disaster Relief: https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong\
Aloha United Way: https://ignite.stratuslive.com/auw/get-involved/donate/mauirelief
Maui Food Bank: https://mauifoodbank.org
Maui Humane Society: https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/donate-olx/?formID=mainButton
Maui Mutual Aid: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=Y7J26SYUJFQU8&fbclid=IwAR1DOrh7OKiSxLsOmCLso8Z6nP8MMbj0XZ5Dna30S74RR82TtZB7dphr2p4
Maui Red Cross (Indicate Local Red Cross): https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/
Punanaleo o Lahaina: https://tr.ee/PJ8dBSI72U
Kuleana is “a uniquely Hawaiian value and practice which is loosely translated to mean ‘responsibility.’ The word kuleana refers to a reciprocal relationship between the person who is responsible, and the thing which they are responsible for.” (from Hawaiian Word of the Day, Hawaii News Now).
In this episode, we talk about kuleana and politics with Anne Frederick, Executive Director of the nonprofit HAPA, and with Thomas Heaton, reporter for the Hawai’i news publication, Civil Beat.
Politics. The work of the executive and legislative branches of any level of government is of itself a system that greatly influences all other systems. It is where, in the best of circumstances, broken nets come to be mended; where policy gaps are filled, where outdated systems are updated. Whether it works as well as it could is the subject of much scrutiny, as it should be. But whether it works well or not, it is a absolutely necessary to making any change happen.
Anne Frederick’s organization, HAPA (Hawai’i Alliance for Progressive Action), engages deeply in state legislative politics. It was founded in 2014 around the issues of food justice and pesticide use. HAPA also founded the Kuleana Academy, a political training and accelerator program focusing on building capacity in community leaders on issue-based, political, or electoral campaigns.
The first part of this episode is an interview with Anne in the middle of a busy legislative session, which found her team organizing community and stakeholder engagement on a suite of bills, which we’ll discuss. You’ll hear about their particular focus on land use and tax incentives to level the playing field. She was hopeful that a number of bills they were advancing would succeed.
As it turns out, they didn’t. So to reflect on what happened to food system bills, I invited Thomas Heaton, a reporter at the news publication Civil Beat, to join us in the second half of this episode. Civil Beat is a non-profit online investigative journalism publication founded by Pierre Omidyar. The food system coverage is funded by one of Omidyar’s other projects, the Ulupono Initiative. Thomas is a New Zealand native who came to Hawai’i by way of his interest in the food system, developed during his global experience in reporting.
An explanatory note on one of the topics: we discussed the unexpected demise of a bill to provide state matching funds to a program we speak of as “Da Bux '' which is Hawai’i’s way of describing its Double Up Bucks program. In some states, the program is called Market Match. Each state has their own version of the program, which is based on the federal Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP; also known as Market Match, Double Up Bucks, Veggie Voucher). GusNIP is a farm bill program, which provides people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP; colloquially known as food stamps) up to $10 in vouchers at participating farmers’ markets, when they use their benefits to purchase fruits and vegetables.
Every time I think of this important program, which provides multiple benefits in creating affordable access to healthy produce while providing market opportunity to small local farmers, I think of the time about 10 years ago when Gus and I shared a beer and oysters at an old bar in Boston, where he spoke enthusiastically about what was then only an idea of his, at the time. A few years later, it became law, due in large part to Gus’ strategic wizardry, fantastic charm and impressive experience as a former USDA undersecretary. And, no doubt, because of his passionate commitment to fulfilling his sense of kuleana to small farmers and struggling families throughout the United States.
For More Info:
About HAPA:
The HAPA website
- More about Anne Frederick and her team
-Anne’s 2023 Legislative Session Debrief (includes info on the Da Bux program, discussed in the episode)
-Civil Beat coverage of a report by HAPA on pesticide use on Hawai'i farms
About Thomas Heaton and Civil Beat:
-More about Thomas Heaton, here
-The Hawai'i Grown section of Civil Beat, with many of Thomas Heaton's stories here
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Rob Pera
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Logo: Reiko Quitevis and Sue Woodard
The Hawai’i Food Hub Hui serves as backbone for about 14 food hubs in Hawai’i, supporting about 1300 farmers, and moving around $14 million in local food from farm to fork. Which means, they are serving about 20% of Hawaii's farmers, and moving about 20% of their agriculture economy.
Our guest Dr. Saleh Azizi runs the food hub hui as an initiative of the Hawaii Good Food Alliance, which in turn is run by our guest Harmonee Williams, who is Executive Director of The Hawai'i Good Food Alliance, a group of "community leaders who share in the production, aggregation and distribution of food to re-build thriving community food systems."
Food hub support has been an initiative of the US Dept of Agriculture since 2009. There are about 250 food hubs throughout the United States. They are considered critical infrastructure for regional supply chain resilience, and were particularly important during the early months of the COVID pandemic, when highly globalized supply chains proved to be as attenuated and fragile as a spider web - in other words, they can hold up well enough until there's disruption. The shorter supply chains, which we discuss in this episode, are more able to absorb shocks to the system, able to pivot and can be more nimble in matching supply and demand.
We talk about the definition of food hubs, their business models, their economic development role, and how they fit into the vision for Hawai’i’s food system.
For more info:
The Hawai'i Good Food Alliance website
The USDA Local Food Hub Directory for food hubs throughout the US
A Food Hub Resource Library from the Wallace Center at Winrock International
Findings of the National Food Hub Survey by the Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University
Regional Food Hub Resource Guide (USDA, 2012)
Credits:
- Sound Production: Keola Iseri of the University of Hawai’i, West Oahu
- Sound editor: Rob Pera
- Logo design: Sue Woodard, and Waipahu High School student Reiko Quitevis
- Sound creation and theme music: Waipahu High Schools students Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal
Josh Stanbro developed and led the Office of Climate, Sustainability and Resilience for the City and County of Honolulu as its first Chief Resilience Officer. Josh is now in Washington DC and is Deputy Director of the Policy Lab with Elemental Excelerator, a global nonprofit accelerator for climate tech which was founded in Hawai’i.
My plan was to talk with him about how, in the role of Chief Resilience Officer for the City and County of Honolulu, he set up the position of food security and sustainability program manager in the Mayor’s office. It struck me, as we were talking, that his path from California to Hawai’i of itself tells a valuable story of 21st Century Hawai’i. And because Hawai’i was once and hopes to again be a place of sustainable agriculture, his previous work at the Trust for Public Land and the Hawai’i Community Foundation, leading up to the Mayor’s office, tells a story worth hearing of the transformation efforts underway, and the expanding reach of the Hawai’ian Renaiisance.
From Josh we learn about the landmark case on Hawai’ian property law that inspired him to go to law school; about the sustainable agriculture projects he worked on while at the Trust for Public Land and the Hawai’i Community Foundation. We talk about the dozen good reasons to buy local; and an enjoyable part of the conversation is our discussion about inclusive, community driven governance, and how politics is like surfing.
Overall we get some info on Hawai’ian activist history, a fair amount of historical and modern land use info, and a lot of good wisdom about leadership in governing. And finally, we learn what three wishes he would have, to help Hawai’i achieve its Aloha Plus challenge goal of getting to 30% locally grown food by 2030.
Why I’m doing this podcast and what I hope listeners will get from it – as told in an tables-turned-on-me interview by my niece, Noelani.
Grab a cup of coffee for this episode, so you can pair it with a chocolate bar from Manoa Chocolate, and learn how, with some terroirs of the brand, you might also want to pair with a buttery Chardonnay.
Manao Chocolate is one of the top few largest craft bean to bar chocolate makers in the US today. It was founded in 2010 by Dylan Butterbaugh who was born and raised in Hawai‘i as a way to build a local business from an environmentally sustainable tree crop.
The story of Manoa Chocolate Company is indeed a success story of innovative, Hawai‘i based entrepreneurs committed to fair, supportive relationships throughout the supply chain in Hawai‘i and around the world, advancing a vision for how a food product can shape an ecosystem of aloha ‘āina (love of the land) to support restoration of the place they live in and love.
Tamara Butterbaugh, who owns Manoa Chocolate along with Dylan is also a chocolate sommelier. We’ve talked about the importance of the ahupua‘a - or watershed - social and environmental ecosystem, in our prior episodes; Tamara dials into it in her own unique way.
And while she’s been building out an export market for chocolate, she is also building out the local supply chain for ‘ulu, or breadfruit.
In the second half of the episode we explore how she’s working at the Hawai’i ‘Ulu Coop to get ‘ulu to all. We talk about how she’s helping to scale up ulu production in the islands, and build out value added production. “Value add”, in food business parlance, means any additional processing which adds value after the crop is harvested – including chopping it up and packaging it.
We’ll hear more about this in Tamara’s own words - about the ‘ulu coop has grown from 10 farmers to 120, and about getting ‘Ulu – as well as kalo (or taro) – into grocery stores and schools. ‘Ulu is what is called a canoe crop: the crops that the original Hawai‘ians brought with them to the islands nearly 2,000 years ago. The crop plays an important role in Hawai‘ian cosmology, and was a valued staple crop until around the time of statehood in 1959, when American processed foods began to dominate the scene. Bringing it back now closes a circle on a wheel that was broken by the twentieth century agricultural industrialization of Hawai‘i. In addition, ‘ulu is one of the only staple food crops to grow on trees; it helps mitigate climate change, and ensures a long term abundance and prosperity in the local food supply chain. The beautiful ‘ulu tree helps to sequester carbon, it doesn’t need soil tilling or weed control, and it is heat and drought tolerant. One tree can live for 50 to 100 years or more and produce hundreds of pounds of fruit per year.
What the Hawai‘i ‘Ulu coop is doing, is more than a step in the right direction – it’s a path forward for local food systems in Hawai‘i, and a model for other regions.
For more info:
- Hawaii Ulu Cooperative – Farmer-owned, ʻāina grown. There’s lots to learn on this website about ‘ulu; and you can shop online there.
- ‘Ulu Education Toolkit Guide - STEMS² (hawaii.edu) If you want to grow your own ‘ulu, here is a University of Hawai‘i education toolkit
- View by season – Manoa Chocolate Hawaii A TV series from the owners of Mānoa Chocolate, Craft Chocolate TV provides educational info for fellow chocolate makers, chocolate lovers, and the general public on the art and process of bean-to-bar chocolate making
- Bean-to-Bar Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, Handmade in Kailua – Manoa Chocolate Hawaii You will love browsing this website for its rich info on the places and people that produce this glorious chocolate. And you can shop online for chocolate bars to be shipped to wherever you are.
- Hawaiichocolate.org - Cacao, Chocolate, Chocolatier. Website home to the Hawai‘i Chocolate and Cacao Association.
Tamara's Bio:
Tamara is a kalo farmer with a passion for natural resource conservation, sustainable business, and Hawaiian language. She graduated from Kalaheo High School in Kailua, Oʻahu and now lives in Waimānalo where she maintains a 1-acre diversified farm with loʻi kalo (taro), maiʻa (banana), ʻulu (breadfruit), niu (coconut), and kokoleka (cacao). After receiving her B.A. from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Environmental Studies: Sustainability, she became a LEED accredited professional and went on to launch a sustainability consulting practice within KYA Design Group – a local architecture firm. She later pivoted to the intersection of agroforestry and consumer packaged goods when she helped to launch Mānoa Chocolate Hawaiʻi with her husband in 2010. With over a decade of experience working in sustainable business and food manufacturing in Hawaiʻi, she is honored to serve the Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative and its member farms as their current Director of Sales.
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Keola Iseri and Rob Pera
Project support: Sue Woodard
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Logo: Reiko Quitevis, Sue Woodard
Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai‘i Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai‘i - West O'ahu
Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno.
Jonathan co-authored a book on water use on Maui called “Water and Power in West Maui”, and was on the board of the Hawai‘i State Land Use Commission for 11 years. As we talk in depth about land use in Hawai‘i over the centuries, we delve into some specifics about what changes are needed now to restore local food production to a meaningful percent, from conservation easements to land trusts to mindsets, and more.
We pegged our discussion of the history of land and power in Hawai‘i, to the generational markers of my family -- the Daniels family of Maui.
Mentioned:
- Jonathan’s book, Water and Power in West Maui
In addition:
- Jonathan Scheuer’s bio
- The Civil Beat Editorial Board Interview: LUC Chair Jonathan Likeke Scheuer (June, 2022)
- Public Trust Presentation at Hawai‘i State Land Use Commission (May 14, 2022)
- Hawai‘i Public Radio Interview regarding Scheuer's book on water rights in Maui (2021)
- What Does Sustainable Yield Sustain? What (and Who) is Left Out? (2021)
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Other music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Sugar Cane Train”, “Makapu‘u Pali”, “Kolekole”, “Waolani Dusk 3”, “Waimea Hale”, “Waolani Dusk Original” by Pacific Sounds
Logo: Reiko Quitevis, Sue Woodard
Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai‘i Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai‘i - West O'ahu
Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno.
Mahina Paishon-Duarte is co-founder and chief executive officer of Waiwai Collective, a regenerative urban oasis, a kīpuka, for creatively growing community, culture, and commerce. As a social entrepreneur who has also led several educational and cultural organizations, her vision and mission are one and the same––to catalyze positive, lasting change for Hawaiʻi in one generation. Most notably, Mahina is the founding executive director of Paepae o Heʻeia, the first modern Hawai‘ian fishpond that created ground-breaking ʻāina-based education programming for students from preschool through post-doctoral levels. She gained public sector experience as a policy program manager with NOAAs Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, as well as head of school for both Hālau Kū Māna and Kanu o ka ʻĀina public charter schools. Today, Mahina is a part of the ʻĀina Aloha Economic Futures movement to address long-standing socio-economic inequities that the COVID-19 pandemic underscored; and to bring to life a resilient economy through our core value of ʻāina aloha—a deep and abiding love for Hawaiʻi’s communities and natural environments.
In our conversation, we discuss: radical aloha; what it means to have ‘āina based thinking; her recent appointment by the Governor of Hawai‘i to the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, and their strategic plan for regenerative tourism; and, the need for a governance structure, such as a food policy council, to help achieve Hawai‘i’s goal of increasing local food production.
Mahina graciously accepted my request to begin our conversation with a pule (aspirational chant).
For more info on Mahina:
- Transformational Change with Mahina Paishon Duarte (Seminar, July 2022)
- Indigenous Centered Economies: Leading the Way (TED Talk, November 2021)
- An Open Letter To The Millionaires And Billionaires Of Hawaii (Civil Beat, July 2020)
Mahina’s suggested reading:
- From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Revised Edition)
by Haunani-Kay Trask (1999, University of Hawai’i Press) - Kaiāulu: Gathering Tides
- By Mehana Blaich Vaughan (2018, Oregon State University Press)
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Other music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Waialua By Night” by Pacific Sounds
Logo: Reiko Quitevis, Sue Woodard
Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai'i Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai'i - West O'ahu
Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno.
Dr. Noa Lincoln is Associate Professor in Indigenous Crops and Cropping Systems at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and the Principal Investigator of the Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory. He is also a farmer and works with his wife on an ‘ulu (breadfruit) farm on Hawai‘i Island, as part of the Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative which they founded.
We have a wide ranging and deep dive discussion about: the distinction between European and Hawai‘ian cosmology in relationship to earth; the impacts of foreign investment in Hawai‘i; the true value of community based agriculture; the benefit of cooperative and collaborative farming enterprises; and the need to reconfigure the social, finance, land use and hard infrastructure from the legacy of large scale, export based plantation agriculture to more localized infrastructure; and, we brainstorm some policy interventions as we touch on global economic issues and biocomplexity.
In other words, we get right to the nub of the matter. And it starts with the remarkable story of why his current position at the University of Hawai‘i was created.
For more info:
- Dr. Noa Lincoln’s bio
- Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory
Dr. Noa Lincoln’s laboratory website, including publications and other sources) - A social network analysis of individuals and organizations engaged in local food production and food access in Hawai’i
- Hawai’i ‘Ulu Cooperative
An ‘ulu (breadfruit) cooperative on Hawai’i island, founded and managed by Dr. Noa Lincoln’s wife, Dana Shapiro
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Makapu‘u Pali”, “Waialua By Night”, “Kolekole”, “Kaaawa Ranch” by Pacific Sounds
Logo: Reiko Quitevis, Sue Woodard
Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai‘i Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai‘i - West O‘ahu
Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno.
In this inaugural episode, we have the benefit of an illuminating conversation with Kamuela Enos, the director of the newly formed Office of Indigenous Innovation at the University of Hawaiʻi. Before that, Kamuela was director of social enterprise at MAʻO Organic Farms. Born and raised in Waiʻanae, he comes from a family of cultural practitioners and farmers committed to sustainable agriculture. A vocal advocate for innovative educational approaches that serve all learners, Enos has turned his lived experiences into a successful post-secondary academic career. He has an undergraduate degree in Hawaiian Studies and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
With Kamuela, we delve deeply into the refreshed perspective he brings on the layering or infusion of valuable ancestral practices into modern society. We discuss the importance of being rooted in a respectful relationship with the earth; and, his experience working with Maʻo Organic Farms and its mission to bring health and economic empowerment to the local community, through a re-connection to community based and sustainable farming practices
We begin with a chant well known in Hawaiʻi called E Ho Mai. This oli, or chant, is often used at the beginning of an event or special gathering to help focus energies and properly receive wisdom.
For more info:
- The University of Hawaiʻi Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity
- “$1M for UH center to advance Indigenous innovation to improve NHPI health” by University of Hawaii News
- Maʻo Organic Farms
- PBS Hawaiʻi Interview on Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox (April 2018)
Credits:
Created, produced, and hosted by Paula Daniels
Sound engineer: Keola Iseri
Project support: Sue Woodard
Theme music: Caryssa Shinozawa
Other Music: "Monomer" by Leroy Wild, “Kamaniki”, “Sugar Cane Train”, “Makapuʻu Pali” by Pacific Sounds
Logo: Reiko Quitevis and Sue Woodard
Thanks to our sponsor, the Hawai'ʻ Institute for Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawaiʻi - West Oʻahu
Thanks also to the students at Waipahu High School for sound creation (Caryssa Shinozawa, Landon Guzman, Syd Sausal) and graphic design (Ashley Alfaro, Erika Pagtulingan, Reiko Quitevis); and their teachers, Noelle- lili Edejer and Sky Bruno.