A group of leaders in food security will come together for the next installment of the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation’s Eat Think Drink series.
Titled Nutrition Security and Our Local Food Producers, the event will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 19 at the Prince Waikiki.
The event will include an address by keynote speaker Michel Nischan, a James Beard Award-winning chef who also is a food equity advocate, followed by a panel discussion featuring local leaders. The talk will focus on nutrition security as it relates to vulnerable populations, and how to support local food producers.
“When addressing food security, is providing reliable access to affordable food enough?” HAF said in a statement announcing the event. “As important as providing enough food is providing the right food – local, fresh and unprocessed.
“The discussion will examine our food systems and the changes that need to be made so that nutritious, healthful, fresh foods are accessible while also reducing our need for food imports,” the statement continued. “With diet-related diseases like diabetes and obesity driving the highest hospitalization and death rates, it is imperative that we begin to make systematic changes to reverse this trend.”
The panelists include Alicia Higa, interim executive director of Elepaio Social Services and director of Health Promotion at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center; Sharon Hurd, chair of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture; Kilikina Mahi, director of advocacy and strategic partnerships at Hawaii Foodbank; and Jennine Sullivan, executive director of The Pantry by Feeding Hawaii Together. The panel will be moderated by “Phil” Augustus Acosta, the executive director of Aloha Harvest.
This marks the 21st installment of the Eat Think Drink series, which HAF introduced in 2016 as a way to raise awareness about food issues.
Ticket pricing starts at $85, and includes dinner prepared by chef Jeremy Shigekane.
For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
