January 7, 2014 (West Hawaii Today)—Almost two years since it was completed, The Kohala Center’s Health Impact Assessment on Hawai‘i County’s Agriculture Plan has garnered national attention and helped produce meaningful effects on the local food system.
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January 5, 2014 (West Hawaii Today)—Kahaluu Beach Park got some tender loving care Saturday morning as Big Island residents and visitors worked together to fix damage and clean debris left in the wake of recent warning-level surf.
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December 25, 2013 (Big Island Weekly)—If your goal in 2014 is to join the many knowledgeable farmers on the Big Island helping to increase our self-sufficiency, you’re in luck. A new Farmer Training Program on the Big Island, Ku I Ka Mana (KIKM), was hatched in 2012 thanks to funding from the USDA and matching monies from the County of Hawaii. Now, two 16-week cohorts are “in the books” with about 25 families having participated. To get in the field, apply for the third session by January 10 – it is slated to kick off Friday evening, January 31, in Honoka‘a.
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December 18, 2013 (Big Island Now)—Ku I Ka Mana, a beginning farmer-rancher training program administered by The Kohala Center, is accepting applications from prospective students for an 18-week course conducted in Honokaa beginning Friday, Jan. 31.
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November 20, 2013 (Big Island Now)—A Big Island non-profit center will be the recipient of a federal grant designed to help cooperatives and small businesses serve rural citizens and their communities. Laulima Center, a component of The Kohala Center, will receive $200,000 under the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program.
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October 27, 2013 (West Hawaii Today)—The 10th annual West Hawaii Fall Seed Exchange is scheduled from 4 to 5 p.m. Friday at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook. The exchange is an excellent opportunity for farmers and gardeners to get together, network with one another, share growing information and trade seeds, huli and cuttings.
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October 23, 2013 (Hawaii 24/7)—The 10th Annual West Hawaii Seed Exchange is Nov. 1-3 at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook. This year the garden’s traditional event also includes an Arbor Day celebration, tree giveaway, expert advice, and a program for students.
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August 29, 2013 (North Hawaii News)—Kaiser Permanente Hawaii announced it will donate $27,000 in grant funding in support of The Kohala Center. The grant from Kaiser Permanente to The Kohala Center will provide food safety certification and offer the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Program in Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island elementary schools. This initiative will provide food safety certification of high-need schools and will benefit approximately 700 students. In addition to the Kohala Center donation, they also granted the University of Hawaii Foundation a $50,000 grant, for a total of $77,000 to the two organizations.
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August 2, 2013 (Ag Professional)—There are roughly 100,000 global plant varieties endangered in the world. Extreme weather events, over-exploitation of ecosystems, habitat loss, and a lack of public awareness threaten future plant biodiversity. Conservation techniques, such as the creation of seed banks and seed exchanges among farmers, gardeners, and even nations, play an important role in preserving ancient, heirloom varieties of important food crops.
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July 27, 2013 (West Hawaii Today)—A new website, Waipuni Kahalu‘u, brings together indigenous Hawaiian knowledge and Western research science to share information about an ahupua‘a from the coral reef to the high mountain forests. It teaches users about the natural process contributing to the fresh water supply in the Kahalu‘u region, as well as explores the impacts of climate change and development on the ecosystem.
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