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We're All About the Food!
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Tuesday, August 28th, 2018
*** Haleakalā Chapter's 96th Consecutive Meeting***
HAIKU COMMUNITY CENTER
Doors Open 5:30 PM • Opening Circle 6:00 PM
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In this issue:
- August Meeting Agenda
- Farm Apprentice Mentoring (FAM) Update
- FAM Assist Admin. Position
- Permaculture Design Certification & Advanced Workshop (October)
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Aloha Kākou,
It’s been quite a week here on Maui and I sincerely hope that everybody is safe from the elements this weekend. In addition to those hit hard by high winds and rain, our deep condolences go out to James Simpliciano and all the others whose properties were devastated by brush fires this week.
Our next meeting is Tuesday, August 28th at the Hã‘iku Community Center. Doors open at 5:30. We will be starting promptly at 6pm.
This month we will be highlighting some of the resources available to our farmers. Our first speaker will be Hannah Lutgen, who is a Conservation Specialist with the Maui Soil and Water Conservation Districts at the USDA-NRCS Kahului Service Center. NRCS, as many of you may already know, is a rich resource for anybody who needs to manage erosion and other land-related issues.
Kyle Wong, our second speaker, is a Junior Extension Agent at CTAHR’s Cooperative Extension Service and a specialist in sustainable agriculture. CES is an invaluable resource for anybody who farms for a living and Kylie will explain how to tap into that.
I will be giving you an update on some of the exciting things arising from HFUU’s involvement with the Hukilike No Maui proposal for a portion of the A&B lands.
We are featuring a guest chef this month: James A’arona will be making a main dish for your dining pleasure.
Also, we will be interspersing the unraffle throughout the evening in order to allow everybody a chance to participate more fully.
Here’s the full agenda:
- 6:00p: Blessing & Dinner
- 6:00p-6:30p: sign-up for open mic (10 people, 1 min max)
- 6:45p: Open Mic
- 7:05p: President's Update: Hukilike No Maui
- 7:15p: Hannah Lutgen
- 7:50p: Kylie Wong
- 8:15p: Pau & Cleanup
Please remember to bring your potluck dish. Entrée’s are encouraged.
This should be a great meeting and I look forward to seeing you all soon.
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| It Takes A Village to Grow a Farmer! |
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| FAM 2018 graduates with Mayor Arakawa, Council member King, FAM Director, Phyllis Robinson, and UH-Maui College Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET) Director, Karen Hanada |
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The future of family farming looks bright for the new graduates of the Hawaii Farmers Union United - Farm Apprentice Mentoring (FAM) program, as they plan, grow and harvest on farms dedicated to environmentally and culturally conscious agriculture from Waihe’e to Hana.
 FAM graduates Lehia Apana and Brad Bayless (left) came to the program with the goal of learning how to turn their Wai’ehu property into a producing farm. Apana said, “As a hobby-level grower, the FAM program has given me the tools and confidence to take things to the next level so that I can grow food for my family and community.”
“It isn’t just about helping future farmers, it’s also about creating a more secure food system in Hawai'i. Really, anyone who eats food is benefiting from this program,” she said.
Mayor Arakawa, spoke to the apprentices about his own experiences as a farmer in Kula for many years, as he, FAM Program Director, Dr. Phyllis Robinson, and UH Maui Office of Continuing Education & Training Director Karen Hanada presented eighteen graduating FAM Apprentices with Certificates of Professional Development, from UH Maui College, Office of Continuing Education and Training on Wednesday June 27, 2018. Maui County Council member, Kelly King gave the keynote address to the graduating apprentices, speaking of the role entrepreneurship can play at all levels of commercial farming, even at farmers markets. “The FAM program has a strong foundation and has shown great results this year! I'm proud to be able to support the FAM program and its sustainable vision for the future of farming," King said.
Many of the graduates came to the program with land to farm, but very little experience in farming. Strong among in them is a spirit of transitioning from their current careers and becoming part of the regenerative agricultural movement. For these new farmers, practicing regenerative and Native Hawaiian agriculture comes from a strong desire to give back to Maui Nui by protecting the “aina”, giving to the community and feeding the island.
Over 6 months, from December to June, apprentices worked with 16 experienced farmer mentors as classroom learning became hands-on on a fully functioning farm. Mentors this year included Gerry Ross of Kupa’a Farm, Evan Ryan, President of Pono Grown Farm Center, and Hokuao Pellegrino, who restored Noho’ana Farm, which has been in his family since 1848.
Bayless emphasized the importance of the mentorship aspect saying, “One of the most valuable aspects of the FAM program is that it connects future farmers with experienced local farmers, creating a vital support system that extends beyond the program itself.”
The program, which is free of cost to the participants, is sponsored by the Maui County Office of Economic Development, Kamehameha Schools-Aina Engagement Program, Lahaina Sunrise Rotary Club, The Savitt Family Foundation and The Atherton Family Foundation. The classroom trainings and Certificate of Professional Development are offered through UH Maui College, Sustainable Living Institute of Maui (SLIM).
The FAM program seeks to train and empower the next generation of family farmers on Maui by providing hands-on training in the fundamentals of permaculture principles, married with Hawaiian cultural farming, spiced up with a big dose of Korean Natural Farming (KNF). The Phase 1 curriculum utilizes a Whole Systems approach to agriculture. By learning to read the land’s features: wind and sun direction, its contours for proper drainage, knowing its water resources, its soil composition and then managing fertility with a minimum of imported amendments. FAM instructors and mentors teach propagation techniques including seed saving, weed and pest management practices without herbicides and only certified organic pesticides, and finally the business of farming which carries over and is intensified in FAM Phase 2.
Dr. Robinson reflected, “As we graduated our third FAM cohort from Phase 1, I felt a deep appreciation for all of the fine hearts and minds that helped to create the excellent regenerative farming curriculum we follow. Our Hawaii Farmers Union United network across our Maui chapters care deeply about this program and will continue to be a support to all of these new farmers as they pursue their vision. Perhaps someday FAM will be duplicated statewide. The FAM program truly is a FAMily; a circle of ongoing support as this group of 18 embark on the path of food self-sufficiency imbued with the spirit of both the “Aina” and a sense of family and community (Ohana). After all, it takes a village to grow a farmer.”
To apply for the next cohort of the Farm Apprentice Mentorship Program, interested individuals may contact FAM Program Director, Phyllis Robinson, pfierrorob@aol.com.
Interested in the FAM program? Save the date of the introductory event: Am I Ready to be a Farmer, October 4th 2018, 5:30-8:30 Class Act Restaurant, Paina Bldg. UH-Maui College.
To learn more about Hawaii Farmers Union United and FAM, visit hfuuhi.org
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Mãhalo Nui Loa,
John Dobovan
Haleakalã Chapter President
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| As always, this meeting is a locavore potluck, and we appreciate you bringing enough food for yourself and some to share, or making a generous contribution so your chapter can continue populating the amazing food table we are known for.
We want you to bring your farm fresh goodies, cuttings and seeds to swap at the produce swap table, the more we all bring, the more abundance there will be at our meetings, and the better our personal inventories of plant cultivars on our farms will be as well.
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 WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Look for the suggestion box by the door when you enter the meeting and let us know what you'd like to see happening at our meetings. Please think about topics you'd like to explore in breakout sessions at future meetings, write them down and let us know.
Mahalo to all of you for supporting this organization. We are the change we are waiting for. Let’s keep working together to make Maui the agriculture paradise it will be.
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