State Renews Farm to School Commitment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2021
MEDIA CONTACT
Kirsty Gallaher
Communications Director, Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute
STATE RENEWS FARM TO SCHOOL COMMITMENT
Hawaiʻi celebrates Farm to School Month and establishment of formal program in the Hawai‘i Department of Education
(HAWAIʻI) - Farm to school programs enhance the total well-being of students, families, schools, and community food systems and comprise three core elements: 1) school gardens and farms; 2) experiential education; and 3) school food improvement through local procurement.
On July 2, 2021, Governor David Ige signed Act 175 (2021) into law, establishing the Hawaiʻi Farm to School Program within the Hawaiʻi Department of Education (HIDOE). The purposes of this program are to:
Improve student health;
Develop an educated agricultural workforce;
Enrich the local food system through the support and increase of local food procurement for the State's public schools;
Accelerate garden and farm-based education for the State's public school students; and
Expand the relationships between public schools and agricultural communities.
This law also establishes a Farm to School Coordinator position within HIDOE, and sets a goal that by 2030, thirty percent of food served in Hawaii’s public schools will be locally sourced.
Each October, schools and communities are encouraged to celebrate Farm to School Month in Hawaiʻi, established in perpetuity via Act 10 (2017). This year’s National Farm to School Month theme of “Our Food, Our Future” centers on amplifying youth leadership around six community values – economic and environmental justice, health, racial equity, workers’ rights, and animal welfare – for a racially just food system.
Check out the Hawaiʻi Farm to School Resources Hub for lots of Hawaiʻi-based resources for developing, expanding, and sustaining high quality farm to school programming in Hawaiʻi!
The Hawaiʻi Farm to School Hui is a statewide network formed in 2010 to strengthen Hawaii’s farm to school movement through extensive public-private partnerships on behalf of Hawaii’s keiki, ‘āina, and community food systems. Hawaiʻi Farm to School Hui is a program of the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute. Learn more at hiphi.org/jointhehui.
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RESOURCES
Hawaiʻi Farm to School Resources Hub
Hawaiʻi Farm to School Hui website
