Kaua‘i is an island furnished with natural resources, year-round warm weather, fertile soil and bountiful rain. What better recipe could be concocted for maintaining a sustainable food industry? Glenn Hontz, coordinator and director of the Food Industry Program at Kaua‘i
Kaua‘i is an island furnished with natural resources, year-round warm weather, fertile soil and bountiful rain. What better recipe could be concocted for maintaining a sustainable food industry?
Glenn Hontz, coordinator and director of the Food Industry Program at Kaua‘i Community College, already thought of the idea long ago; well before oil prices were increasing and our reliance on imported food reportedly grew to nearly 90 percent.
He envisioned a new way of life for Kaua‘i and has since developed the Community Gardens Project, which involves a major alteration toward food self-sufficiency on the island.
“Kaua‘i no longer has a well-functioning local food production industry, instead it has a food importing industry,” said Hontz. “With transportation costs rising, many products will soon be more expensive to ship than to produce. It is truly necessary that we rebuild our local food industry, from bottom to top.”
Despite the recent decline in oil prices, Hontz, along with others involved in the project’s Planning and Coordination Group, believe it is only temporary and the moment has now arrived for the island to learn as a community how to cultivate its own food.
“It’s a lot worse than people are making it out to be,” said Ben Sullivan, renewable energy advocate. “People believe the recession is separate from the energy crisis, but they’re actually the same thing.”
Sullivan recently became involved with the Community Gardens Project and is excited to be part of an idea he believes is long overdue.
“We are completely reliant on outside sources and there’s no need for it. There’s a lot of knowledge here, we just need to rekindle it and reproduce what we already have,” said Sullivan. “Our first and foremost priority is food.”
A major goal in the plan is to develop a network of community gardens in all seven districts of Kaua‘i and Hontz has enlisted experienced individuals in farming and gardening from across the island to help see it through.
“We need to make more creative use of our farmers by engaging them to train new farmers and home gardeners. Together we can grow the food we need,” said Hontz.
One of the gardeners providing training and individualized technical support for the Community Gardens Project is Tom Legacy, an experienced organic gardener for over 38 years.
“We have chosen to grow our vegetables organically for the project, without any chemicals, because what good can those be for the ‘aina? We can still grow beautiful food without all of that,” said Legacy. “We’re also all about getting people to realize what’s happening with the economy and are motivating them to start their own gardens, whether in their backyards, in the community, or as a farm.”
He is part of a professional team of experienced instructors teaching a series of 10-session seminars called “Growing Food” that take place every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at KCC.
“Students can learn the benefits of growing their own food, including nutritional benefits, cost benefits, less dependence on importing and the benefits of working together as a community,” said Legacy. “What’s great about it is that we are all learning from each other; master gardeners and first time gardeners, it doesn’t matter.”
Other instructors include Dr. Colleen Carrol, a practitioner in edible landscaping, Dr. Hector Valenzuela professor of organic horticulture at the University of Hawai‘i and Paul Massey, founder and manager of Regenerations Botanical Garden.
“The seminar is interactive and responsive to what students what to know,” said Hontz, explaining what individuals can expect from the program. “If they want to know why their asparagus isn’t growing properly, they can ask the instructors to find out why.”
Another on-going training program which is affiliated with the project is called “Successful Gardening” and is also conducted at KCC. The course is taught by Kelly Ball and Midori Frost, both professional organic farmers, every Wednesday and Saturday and is an interactive course where students learn how to start their own home or community garden by cultivating and harvesting a wide range of organic vegetables at the college’s 10,000 square foot garden.
To pull everything together, Hontz will be instructing a Business Management course that begins on Jan. 14 which will teach students the leadership skills needed to “revitalize the island’s food industry”. He is recruiting participants from business and community-based organizations around the island to play an active role in the course.
Future training sites for programs such as these will include Kekaha, Kalaheo, Kapa‘a, Anahola and Princeville, and some are already underway in Moloa‘a and Kilauea.
Together with the training and restructuring of land use on Kaua‘i, Hontz believes Kaua‘i can eventually establish food sovereignty.
“This is a movement to provide the training and assistance needed to create a network of community and home gardens that empower residents to grow the food they need for good health and to reduce their dependence on the nutritionally inferior quality of much of the imported food,” said Hontz. “It is truly a movement by the people and for the people and will restore a sense of local pride in our ability to take control of our own destiny. The benefits will not only be economic as we reduce our rising food costs and create a local food economy, but will provide health benefits as we begin to eat more wholesome locally grown food.”
For more information, call Hontz at 246-4859.
• Coco Zickos, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com
