Owner and stewards of a 38-acre parcel of agricultural land above Kona Community Hospital in the ahupuaʻa of Kanāueue, KUA is an 12-year-old organization that is deeply committed to preserving rich South Kona ecosystems while ameliorating the impacts of climate change through regenerative agriculture. From KUA’s perspective, the primary response to the increasingly unpredictable environmentally reality on a tropical island is locally-owned organic food self-sufficiency. In reducing dependence on fossil-fuel based imports and in adapting agricultural practices to local climactic conditions, farmers, residents, and chefs can grow and make products that support personal livelihoods and broader community economic resilience and self-determination.
KUA’s West Hawaii Community Kitchen project emerged as a critical community need in 2014, and in 2015 we were successful in obtaining the first of two Grants-in-Aid (GIA) from the Hawaii legislature to support the majority of costs associated with its construction. The 2800-square-foot facility, now 80% complete, features two side-by-side kitchens, two walk-in refrigerator/freezer units, classroom and meeting space, and three offices. KUA conducted a market research study of local farmers and food entrepreneurs in 2015 that detailed the types of products people wanted to produce in the kitchen, which informed decisions about what equipment the kitchen should feature.
Fundraising to support the completion of the kitchen is ongoing.
When the kitchen facility is complete and operational, successfully supporting a vigorous local food system that connects and sustains our community while reducing our community’s dependence on fossil-fuel based imports, KUA’s next goal is to focus on developing regenerative agriculture projects on our land that are grounded in Hawaiian culture, protective of our local ecosystems, and closely integrated with the community kitchen facility.
It is well established that regenerative agriculture and local food systems can play a key role in combating climate change. Replacing the dominant agriculture system that produces copious greenhouse gas emissions with practices that result in climate change mitigation, as well as food security, climate resilience, biodiversity and soil health, is particularly critical in Hawaii, where regenerative agriculture can increase biodiversity, enrich the soil, improve watersheds and protect reefs, provide for pollinators, is resilient to climate instability and results in improved health and vitality for our island community.