Honolulu, Hawaiʻi – On Tuesday, October 29, 2024, Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chair Senator Donovan M. Dela Cruz (Senate District 17, Portion of Mililani, Mililani Mauka, portion of Waipiʻo Acres, Launani Valley, Wahiawā, Whitmore Village), Senate Committee on Education Chair Senator Michelle N. Kidani (Senate District 18, Mililani Town, Waipiʻo Gentry, Crestview, Waikele, portion of Waipahu, Village Park, Royal Kunia), and House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems Chair Representative Kirstin Kahaloa (House District 6, Hōnaunau, Nāpōʻopoʻo, Captain Cook, Kealakekua, Keauhou, Hōlualoa, Kailua-Kona) attended Hawaiʻi Agricultural Foundation’s event Eat, Think, Drink 27: Regional Kitchens - Transforming Ag Through Strategic Investments.
Senator Dela Cruz and Representative Kahaloa were included on a panel of State and industry leaders in local food production to discuss the significance of the role of regional kitchens in sustainably feeding Hawaiʻi and its students.
As keynote speaker, Senator Dela Cruz presented on the State’s initiative, Nourishing Hawaiʻi’s Future, to increase local food production and create locally sourced meals for students through regional kitchens.
“The answer to both reducing our dependence on imported food and feeding our students locally is the concept of a regional kitchen,” said Senator Dela Cruz. “Building a future based on resources already in place and using them to create a tangible system of local agriculture, regional kitchens, and Department of Education (HIDOE) schools is a feasible solution that will create food security and contribute to economic development.”
Regional kitchens are facilities used to produce meals or individual ingredients before they are sent to different locations to serve to consumers. This model has been successfully adopted through school districts in Washington and California and has already been implemented similarly by Zippy’s Restaurants’ centralized kitchen in Waipiʻo.
Strategic investments in regional kitchens have shown to help local farmers to scale production by increasing market access and leveraging the power of public procurement.
“Regional kitchens are facilities that utilize local farm products to prepare meals for our public schools. This model moves locally grown and raised products from our farms, to processing facilities, to the regional kitchens, and lastly to our public schools, that incorporate these ʻono grinds on our keikis’ plates. Students will be nourished when they can eat food grown from their communities,” said Representative Kirstin Kahaloa.
A highlight of the event included a menu created by four HIDOE alumni, now chefs, and current students using locally sourced ingredients.
“Including HIDOE in the process provides nutritious school meals for our keiki while securing local food production,” said Senator Kidani. “It was wonderful to see alumni now as skilled chefs contributing their creations and showcasing locally grown ingredients alongside our current culinary students. Working with alumni to serve healthy, local meals will fuel our students’ success in the classroom and have a lasting impact.”
According to the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, an estimated eighty-five to ninety percent of Hawaiʻi’s food is grown, processed, and imported from the continent, which is then delivered to school kitchens. This current food service model provides food that is more costly, less fresh, and far less sustainable.
HIDOE’s meals program currently serves over 100,000 students a day – or about 18 million meals per school year.
“The Department of Education continues to work toward our goal of incorporating at least thirty percent locally sourced foods in school meals by 2030 and fifty percent by 2050,” said HIDOE Superintendent Keith Hayashi. “We are very grateful for the opportunities this event provides our students to learn from alumni and professionals in the food and agriculture industry.”
A link to Senator Dela Cruz’s presentation can be accessed here.
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