Food Security
& Sustainability
Over 28% of Oʻahu residents are food insecure.
Our mission is to ensure all residents have access to nutritious, affordable food while promoting equitable community-based food systems that strengthen local economies, protect the environment, and build long-term resilience for Oʻahu.
Key Projects
Oʻahu AgExplorer
Developed in collaboration with Oʻahu Resource Conservation and Development Council, this new mapping tool provides useful information to help producers plan and enhance their farming practices, including information about elevation, hazards and risks, land use, rainfall, and soil characteristics. Simply draw an area on a map of Oʻahu and generate your report.
Food Access Micro Summits
To better understand how the City can support access to healthy and affordable food, community meetings were held in Waiʻanae, Kalihi, and Waimānalo in partnership with the City's Office of Economic Revitalization. Findings from these and future summits will inform the development of Citywide food system development plan that advances food security, self-sufficiency and sustainability.
Oʻahu Compost Project
The now-completed Oʻahu Compost Project diverted over 30,000 pounds of commercial food waste from restaurants in Chinatown to Hawaiʻi’s first in-vessel composting unit, closing the biological resource loop and creating high-quality compost for local farmers.
Hawaiʻi Food Garden Fund
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute have launched the Hawaiʻi Food Garden Fund in partnership with the City to establish 1,000 edible gardens to increase food sovereignty. This program builds upon similar efforts in 2020 with CARES Act funds, which implemented edible gardens in public housing complexes.
Oʻahu Good Food
The Oʻahu Good Food Program uses the purchasing power of the City and County of Honolulu, large organizations, and the hospitality industry to support local farmers, ranchers and growers.
Food Access Map
Food access is a key dimension of food security. This story map walks through important factors affecting food access on Oʻahu, from federal nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC to the location of emergency food assistance programs (e.g. food banks) and community and school gardens. Tools like this help us plan for a more affordable, accessible, and equitable island food system.
Our role is to dig deep into systemic food issues and work with the community to develop local policies and programs that ensure food equity and sustainability on Oʻahu.
Partners
