Keith-Agaran, Gil S. Coloma

Office Seeking: State Senator, District 5 (Wailuku, Waihe‘e, Kahului)

Party: Democrat
Website: gilkeithagaran.com

Food security is defined by the USDA as "access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life." How will your platform address food insecurity in Maui County?

We need to support farming by ensuring farmers have access to productive soils, adequate water and a market for their crops and livestock. We updated a number of laws this past session, including extending Important Agricultural Land incentives and tax credits, updating our information on soils, piloting additional food hubs.

Local fruits and vegetables, and locally raised livestock, should be important parts of local diets.

The state budget includes pilots for central kitchens for our public schools, including Molokai and rural Oahu—these facilities will be able to process local produce purchased from local farmers in compliance with FDA food safety requirements (a substantial limitation on the ability of schools and other public agencies, who purchase a lot of food, to buy more food locally). Schools often serve as the main source of nutrition for many children in our community, so we should increase the amount of food available at our schools (including efficiently using as much assistance from the federal government as we can). We can also expand the farm to school initiatives that have been successfully piloted at certain schools. We also created and funded a position to spearhead expanding school gardens.

We need to expand access for local residents to federal food programs. Supplemental Nutrition (SNAP)/food stamps and related programs will continue to be an important of the safety net in Hawaii. The current Department of Human Services director reported during the pandemic that over 18,000 more eligible residents (the number may be larger now) joined the SNAP rolls.

Similarly, the Double Up Food Bucks program which matches the purchase of locally grown produce dollar-for-dollar, offers SNAP users a coupon or voucher that doubles their purchasing power when they purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables. The program is a practical measure to support local farming.

Please list any initiatives you have supported in Maui County to increase food access and food production that you are proud of:

See above

Hawaiʻi imports roughly 85% of our food supply. How will your platform address increasing local food production?

See above

Please indicate your position on the following policies:

Creating County funding mechanisms to support DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks. REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION
Increasing local food procurement for Maui County schools. SUPPORT
Increasing Farm to School initiatives including school gardens. SUPPORT
Pursuing County Farm to Food Bank Funding. REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION
Developing regional organic waste and composting services. SUPPORT
Restructuring the Department of Water Supply and Department of Wastewater to encourage strategies for conservation, efficient water use, storage, and growing water resources. REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION
Increasing the budget for the Maui County Department of Agriculture. OPPOSE
Offering subsidies to local farms that have shown the ability to sustain production. OPPOSE
Supporting policies that allow for increased affordable housing for farmworkers. SUPPORT
Improving policies around hunting and utilizing invasive protein sources. SUPPORT
Funding updated shared processing facilities, including slaughterhouses and food hubs. SUPPORT
Implementing new inspection policies to reduce the spread of invasive species. SUPPORT
Establishing local control of water resources through a Maui County Community Water Authority, with the ability to establish regional community boards. REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please elaborate on any of your above positions here.

I marked a number of items as needing more information mainly because those will be up to the voters of Maui County or their local elected officials (Mayor/ County Council members)— for example, I believe the proposal for a Maui County Water Authority will be on the ballot and if approved and a lease obtained by the Authority from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, will need to be implemented by the next Mayor and funded by the Council and tax payers.

Are there other issues, County-wide or within your own residency area, about food security that concern you, and how do you plan to address these issues if elected?

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