SSN Commentary

We Need a Better Vision for Food Sustainability

Policy field

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University of Hawaii at Manoa

Originally published as: Hunter Heaivilin, "We Need a Better Vision for Food Sustainability," Honolulu Civil Beat, January 30, 2020.

In the 2020 State of the State address Gov. David Ige reminded us that change doesn’t happen overnight, and of the importance of vision to see things not as they are, but as they could be.

One such vision has been to transform “agriculture in Hawaii from large plantations … to smaller, more diversified farms that grow food for local consumption.” Now more than ever, we’re told, “local farmers have it within their grasp to make a difference in our drive toward self-sufficiency.”

I’m not so sure.