Leaders of the Hawaii Public Health Institute, the University of Hawaii at West Oahu's Sustainable Community Food Systems program, and other members of Transforming Hawaii's Food System Together, will host the second annual Food Systems Summit on Dec. 14-15.
The summit brings together policymakers and elected officials, food system experts and community organizers to discuss and prioritize public policy related to the state's food and agriculture system. The event takes place at the University of Hawaii at West Oahu in Kapolei, with networking and opening activities on Dec. 13 at Ka WaiWai Ma Moiliili in Honolulu.
"The annual Hawaii Food System Summit brings together stakeholders from across the Islands to collaboratively discuss and evaluate food and agriculture public policy," Albie Miles, an organizer of the event and associate professor of Sustainable Community Food Systems at University of Hawaii at West Oahu, told Pacific Business News via email. "Our goals are to raise awareness of pressing agri-food issues, understand policy ideas being presented in the upcoming legislative session, develop collaborative working relationships with lawmakers, and ultimately, craft a common vision and strategy for promoting a healthy, equitable, culturally-appropriate, resilient and sustainable food system for Hawaii."
One of the topics of conversation will be food system resilience and disaster preparedness. About 90% of food in Hawaii is imported, according to a report from the Department of Business Economic Development & Tourism in cooperation with the state Department of Agriculture.
Organizers expect the event, which is closed to registration because it has reached maximum capacity, to have about 150 attendees, according to representatives of the summit. However, the summit will be live streamed on Facebook by Oiwi TV.
The agenda for the first day of the summit includes an address from Dr. Meaentte Benham, chancellor of the University of Hawaii at West Oahu, and a discussion of strategies for progress, led by state Sen. Mike Gabbard, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, and Rep. Cedric Asuega Gates, as well as remarks from Dexter Kishida, deputy to the chairperson of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. The agenda for the second day includes an address from U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda. The complete agenda is available online.
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