Support a Healthy & Climate Friendly Food System
Two more good food and agriculture bills have been scheduled for a hearing. SB660 SD2 supports a healthy soils program in the DOA. This program would both provide an assessment of Hawaii’s soils, but also incentivize climate friendly soil conservation practices that capture carbon to support soil health and productivity. Healthy soils support healthy plants that are more resilient to pests and climate impacts.
SB420 SD2 will develop a much needed plan to transition Hawaii’s food system away towards greater sustainability and self sufficiency. Because our food system is so broad and complex, many interventions along the food chain from farm to table are needed.
Both bills will be heard by the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems this Friday, March 17, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. in Conference Room 325 or via zoom.
Testimony is due this Thursday, March 16th at 9:30am.
SB 660, SD2 - Healthy Soils
Establishes the Healthy Soils program within the Department of Agriculture. Appropriates funds. Requires an annual report to the Legislature.
SB660 SD2 requires the Department of Agriculture to establish a Healthy Soils Program. The program will:
Create a statewide soil health assessment with a list of practices specific to the State that are most effective in improving soil health and building soil carbon stocks.
Provide farmers with education and technical assistance to implement farm management practices that contribute to healthy soils.
Establish standards that apply to the healthy soils program and are based on the findings of the greenhouse gas sequestration task force established pursuant to section 225P-4 relating to minimum levels of soil carbon and water content and required soil health practices.
Subject to available funding, issue awards and other financial incentives to implement farm management practices that contribute to healthy soils.
Learn more: Hawaii Needs Good Soil To Grow More Food. Here’s How That Can Happen - Thomas Heaton for Civil Beat
Sample Testimony:
Please support SB660 SD2 to establish a healthy soils program. Soil is a vital and living ecosystem that provides critical functions supporting ecological, economical, and social well-being in Hawaiʻi. Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable food production, climate readiness, and diverse ecosystems.
In recent decades, we have learned a great deal about the importance of microbial life, soil biodiversity, and the capacity for soil to capture carbon. Regenerative farming practices capture carbon to enrich soil health. This mitigates agricultural climate impacts while increasing soil productivity for farming.
Much of Hawaii’s soils are severely depleted from over a century of industrial agricultural practices. If we are to meet Hawaii’s food security goals, assessing and restoring soil health is critical to increasing local food production.
SB660 SD2 is a win-win for our farmers and our local environment. Please support this important measure.
Thank you for your consideration,
Your Name, Residence
SB 420, SD2 - Sustainable Food Systems Plan
Establishes the sustainable food systems working group within the Department of Agriculture. Requires the working group to submit an interagency food systems plan, any recommendations for implementing the plan, and any proposed legislation to the Legislature. Appropriates funds to establish the working group and develop the plan and for an unspecified number of sustainability specialist positions within the Department of Agriculture.
Establishes the sustainable food systems working group within the department of agriculture. Requires the working group to submit a plan, any recommendations for implementing the plan, and any proposed legislation to the legislature.
A sustainable food system is one in which producers, retailers, members of the community, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies partner to create a vibrant and resilient local food economy that enhances and sustains the environmental, economic, and social health of the community.
Developing a more sustainable food system for Hawaiʻi represents an opportunity to create a new food economy. This would integrate the objectives of "green" job creation, sustainable economic development, land stewardship, food security, environmental protection, and climate change resiliency with community health and well-being.
For more on why a food systems plan is needed, check out the work of our partners at Transforming Hawaiiʻs Food Systems Together, the lead advocates for this bill.
Sample Testimony:
Too many families in Hawaiʻi are facing food insecurity. Our farmers struggle to access affordable land and water. Climate change poses threats to our local food production. However, a more resilient food system can address these various challenges but only if we take a coordinated approach.
We can meet our goals of increasing local food production while also diversifying our local economy. Because our food system is so broad and complex, a plan will be needed to identify how the various sectors of our food system can work together to increase local food security.
A coordinated food systems plan led by key stakeholders across our food system can help connect the dots between local food producers, consumers, state institutional purchasing, and community anti-hunger efforts. This work is critical to fixing our reliance on imports and creating a sustainable and equitable food economy.
Please support SB420 SD2 to create a sustainable food systems working plan for Hawaiʻi.
Thank you for your consideration,
Your Name, Residence/Town
