Ahia, Noelani

Ahia, Noelani

Office Seeking: Maui Council Member (Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū)

Party: Non-partisan
Website: VoteAhia.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?

Food insecurity is a devastating reality right now for many people on Maui, and a crisis like the recent pandemic or an any number of different potential environmental catastrophes could cut off access to our imported food. The irony is that these island were 100% food secure for some 2,000 years. And that is where the remedy lies. We must return to traditional ahupuaʻa food systems. That begins with returning the wai (water) so our mahi’ai have what the need to mālama the ʻāina and produce and abundant supply of food for the people. Kānaka Maoli understand the physical and spiritual neccesity of feeding the people and we must center our Kānaka Maoli mahiʻai if we want to actualize real food security into our future.

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

I fully support the newly created Maui County Department of Agriculture! This is a step in a positive direction where the people who actually grow food for the people of or Maui can have some agency in how agricultural will be practiced on Maui for generations to come.

I also am a big supporter of the Maui Food Hub. This is a powerful initiative that grew out of necessity when the pandemic began and it was 100% community driven. The people have the drive and the relationships to make so much goodness happen in terms of food protection and as a council member, I commit to supporting the people in there mālama ʻāina practices in every way I can.The people can feed themselves but the County must make sure the resources are available and not being stolen as they have historically been. The county must allow traditional practices to flourish without interference.

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

Actual Farmers need tax breaks and massive amounts of support. I’d rather my tax dollars go to supporting people who actually love the land and put that aloha into the mea kanu (plants) that feed the people.

As many folks discovered during the pandemic, having a seed bank is critical. We need to encourage all residents who are able, to grow some food. It doesn’t have to be much. But the time and attention given to growing food changes our perspective and deepens our pilina (relationship) to ‘āina. We also need to make sure the County is cultivating our first plants and using them in ways that not only are culturally appropriate, but they give us the opportunity to embody that ali’i.

Please indicate your position on the following policies:

  1. Creating County funding mechanisms to support DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks. SUPPORT

  2. Increasing local food procurement for Maui County schools. SUPPORT

  3. Increasing Farm to School initiatives including school gardens. SUPPORT

  4. Pursuing County Farm to Food Bank Funding. SUPPORT

  5. Developing regional organic waste and composting services. SUPPORT

  6. Restructuring the Department of Water Supply and Department of Wastewater to encourage strategies for conservation, efficient water use, storage, and growing water resources. SUPPORT

  7. Increasing the budget for the Maui County Department of Agriculture. SUPPORT

  8. Offering subsidies to local farms that have shown the ability to sustain production. SUPPORT

  9. Supporting policies that allow for increased affordable housing for farmworkers. SUPPORT

  10. Improving policies around hunting and utilizing invasive protein sources. SUPPORT

  11. Funding updated shared processing facilities, including slaughterhouses and food hubs. SUPPORT

  12. Implementing new inspection policies to reduce the spread of invasive species. SUPPORT

  13. Establishing local control of water resources through a Maui County Community Water Authority, with the ability to establish regional community boards. SUPPORT

Please elaborate on any of your above positions here.

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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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