KC3 (draft)

Local Grown Food

Hawaii's people need to buy local, in order to support local farms. Over the years, local farms have been closing, because they don't make enough money to sustain. Mainland companies have been taking over local markets and dominating our economy. Local farms on Hawaii have not been able to make enough money to stay alive. When local people buy local food they not only help themselves but help the community. It allows more money to stay within the island’s economy. And helps keep the bond between the farmers and the customers strong. Hawaii's farms are struggling, because people in Hawaii aren't buying locally grown foods.

Local grown food tastes so much better than imported foods. In the local grown industry food takes so little time between the farm to the shelves. No preservatives are needed because of the short journey. "Studies show that food produced organically can be nutritionally superior to those grown conveniently." The advantage of buying fresher and more organic food, is undoubtedly better for you. By eating non-chemical contaminated food, you keep all of the chemicals out of your body. Local food may cost a few more cents, but that’s only small price to pay for better quality. Buying locally grown food benefits you, and the farms around you.

3-5 days that's as long as we would last, if couldn’t receive food from barges. Hawaii needs more small bio-diverse farms. Hawaii needs more small farms because according to a Canadian Research Advocacy (ETC) “70 percent of the food the world consumes every year is grown by small-scale rural and urban farmers, while industrial farming, which gets most of the attention, land, and R&D dollars, actually produces only about 30 percent of the world’s food. This means that all Hawaii needs are more small farms, not big corporations. Everyone should support our local farms instead of the mainland ones. One Island Hawaii has found that "Hawaii imports merely 85% of it's food from the mainland." That only leaves about 15% to be grown locally on the islands and this can be changed if people on Hawaii can help increase the 10% to 100%. If more farms up-rise then maybe Hawaii could one day sustain itself totally.

If people in Hawaii bought local a little more often, the chain reaction would be huge. If just 10% of imported food changed into local food it would have a positive impact on Hawaii. 2,300 jobs would be available, and that might get some homeless off of the streets and into homes. Also, $313 million dollars would be kept in the islands economy, allowing for more money on other import things. Hawaii has 280,000 acres of agricultural land, but it belongs to early plantation barons, and Hawaiian royal families. Rather than split up their land to 10 acres or less and sell it, they rather sell their land in huge proportions. Now if they somehow changed their minds, and aspiring farmers bought some of the land, it could be the start Hawaii needed to becoming sustainable. Having local farms and buying local really is only beneficial to the people and the farms, and is a matter that needs to be taken seriously.

Without the people, our local farms will not be able to be sustainable, and either will our island. Local farms are the the keys that will help Hawaii out, local farms will open up jobs, grow our economy, produce healthier food and help Hawaii become independent. Hawaii’s farms are really having it hard, all because the people in Hawaii don’t buy locally grown food. Just remember that when you buy local food instead of imported food, you can smile because you are helping Hawaii in ways that you may not be able to see right now, but will when the time is right.