Kohala’s Hawai‘i Institute of Pacific Agriculture: Growing an Interest in Food Farming
By Ma‘ata Tukuafu
At the UH Hilo Commencement Ceremonies held in May 2017, the numbers of graduates in various fields were impressive. However, a disturbing trend surfaced, with only 18 graduates completing a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and fewer than 60 new nursing degrees being awarded. Yet more than 75 students graduated with a Bachelor of Arts or Doctorate of Pharmacy. Food production and farming, such an important part of our lives when it comes to daily living, is apparently not the trendiest of professions with our younger generations.
This is where a non-profit organization like the Hawai‘i Institute of Pacific Agriculture (HIP Ag) becomes such a valuable resource to our community, and to our current and future food production. Committed to educating and empowering the next generation of young farmers, HIP Ag offers a variety of programs designed to engage Hawai‘i’s youth in sustainable agriculture and land stewardship. Set atop land in Kapa‘au, near the Halawa Gulch and Cemetery, HIP Ag’s rows of kale, swiss chard, lettuce, taro, basil and diverse Polynesian crops grow bountifully in the rich North Kohala soil.
HIP Ag is the brainchild of Dashiell (Dash) Kuhr and Erika Shickle, who have made North Kohala their home. In their quest to live healthy and full lives, their dream is to share nutrition, health and well-being with others.
“We want to inspire others to care for the earth…care for the people and to share this knowledge with their communities,” says Dash, who has had this vision since 2008. “We want to create access [for others] to food security and health in their own backyards.”
In 2008, Erika and Dash began permaculture farming at Uluwehi Farms in North Kohala with work-trade interns and local high school students. They helped develop organic gardens on two acres plus a 15-acre orchard, which in turn became a teaching tool and a thriving community space. Realizing how important it was to connect with the youth, “who are Hawai‘i’s most precious resource,” Dash says, he and Erika founded the Hawai‘i Youth Agriculture Program (HYA), a non-profit under the North Kohala Resource Center.
Many elementary through high school students benefitted from touring the Uluwehi farm, learning where their food is grown, and how to cook or use the produce they harvested. Erika and Dash visited students in the local schools to make presentations, and created after-school programs to educate students on how choices in the food we eat and how we grow it can impact our health and our lives.
In late 2011, HYA became HIP Agriculture to reflect their commitments to their new 7-acre Halawa Campus property and to their revised educational mission. Since then, Dash says more than 100 people have been through their residential program. Hundreds of schoolchildren have benefitted from the knowledge HIP Ag shared with them, and their annual Kohala ‘Āina Festival fundraiser drew more than 2,000 people in 2016. By bringing together like-minded people, HIP Ag has succeeded in creating a nurturing community, both necessary and beneficial in these current times of change.
Sustainable agriculture is a term used frequently, but what does it really mean? The US Department of Agriculture defines sustainable agriculture: to make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and to satisfy human food needs. It is a way to enhance environmental quality and the natural resources on which agricultural economy depends, and to sustain the economic viability of farm operations. The members of HIP Ag have successfully accomplished all of this with their years in operation and continue to contribute to the overall community with their vision and commitment.
Youth Education
Maylan Ackerman is a Food Corps Member and a garden teacher for kindergarten to fifth graders at Kohala Elementary School. She says HIP Ag has been working with the school for several years now, giving nutrition lessons and teaching the students through the 21st Century grant program. Maylan’s students have been on tours to the Halawa campus, learned about animal husbandry, gardening and how the farm processes food, as well as the business side of farming. HIP Ag teaches creativity to the students which Maylan says is very useful in the farming industry.
“I think one of my favorite things we did at the end of summer was harvest kalo from the garden with our summer kids. HIP Ag took the kalo and cooked it, and set up a whole station to show the kids how to pound their own poi,” Maylan says. “I’ve really heard only positive things from the kids. A lot of the kids grew up here, but now they are learning about true Hawaiian foods. It’s one thing to teach them, but when they go to a real farm actually growing the food and processing it, they get to see in real time how their food is being prepared.”
HIP Ag’s current program manager is Lauren Rutolo. Working on an internship, Lauren is one of the educators in the youth education program. She states that Dash and Erika have set out to make farming and agriculture more attractive to the younger generations. Farming can be a strenuous and time-consuming career that often doesn’t yield as much money as other professions. Yet when young students experience the ‘āina (land) and food production from passionate educators, one never knows how truly deeply they may be affected.
Lauren believes the youth education tied in with the Hawaiian culture brings the local students back to their roots. For students who are not originally from Hawai‘i, the experience of being on the ‘āina can be enlightening and offer a glimpse into the world of truly living sustainably. The outdoor classroom is absolutely necessary in our increasingly complicated world, inspiring youth to lead healthy lives.
HIP Ag offers after-school programs, class field trips, in-class presentations and a hands-on approach to youth on their Halawa farm and campus.
Residential Farmer Training/Internship Program
This six-week internship program is held in the spring and fall each year, and offers a full immersion into the agricultural lifestyle. Students live on the Halawa Campus and are taught a variety of topics: homestead farming, permaculture, soil fertility, beekeeping, plant medicine, community living, Hawaiian arts and culture, making food from harvests, and the business side of farming. Dash says, “The goal of this program is to give a bunch of tools to the interns who then go back into their own communities and make an impact. We want to see people take action and with crises unfolding in the world, this is a way to empower leadership.”
Interns are taught how to make compost, plant seeds, transplant, harvest produce and herbs, meal preparation and how to market and sell yields at local farmersʻ markets. Planting, nursery management, caring for chickens, ducks and dairy operations are just some of the daily activities interns may expect to engage in. They learn to serve the community and HIP Ag asks that all future interns arrive ready and willing to participate in all aspects of the farm and community life. The Spring Internship for next year will be from March 16 to April 19, 2018.
As a past intern in 2013 and now current farm owner at Kumakani Farms, Jeremy Graves says HIP Ag has done an amazing job with their farming system. “They have acres of healthy food plants and what they do fits in with the traditional Polynesian farming system. They bring so many people through, and they are good at what they do,” says Jeremy. “This farming career has been an elevator ride for me, and I’m excited to see where it’s going.”
Interns who take the knowledge from HIP Ag’s programs start small, within their communities first, while learning to collaborate with neighbors, then extend out to a greater community. Jeremy works with many in the North Kohala Community, including HIP Ag, and says everyone working together adds so much value to the farming tradition.
An intern for six weeks and an apprentice for six weeks, Katie Carbonara has returned to her New England home. Among many things, she learned to process turmeric root into powder and worked with different superfood plants like cacao, coconut, and kalo. “It was hands-on from start to finish,” says Katie, “and after learning so much, I hope to bring that experience to my own community.”
Community Events
Throughout the year, HIP Ag will host classes and workshops open to community members. Working with cultural practitioners as well as experts in various fields, they have been able to teach natural building, poi making, cooking and nutrition as well as various forms of sustainable agriculture. Also host to the Kohala ‘Āina Festival, HIP Ag’s annual event is a Makahiki celebration and a fundraiser to continue growing the local food movement. With a lineup of excellent musicians, educational booths, children’s activities and local foods available, participants are able to come together and celebrate the true definition of a sustainable farming community.
It takes passion and dedication to approach food-growing sustainably, and Dash and Erika have proved that it can be done. “It’s amazing we have to hold courses to teach people to live from the land, humans have become that disconnected,” Dash says. “We are constantly planting seeds of knowledge in our students, but we don’t know how and when they will germinate. Sometimes it takes years, but the movement has momentum, and soon I think many local youth will rise up and farm.” ❖
Contact Hawai‘i Institute of Pacific Agriculture: hipagriculture.org.
