Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 5, 1 Mei 2021 — Sharing Food is Part of our Culture [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Sharing Food is Part of our Culture

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By Andreana Dudoit Reyes

"I ola no ke kino, i ka mā 'ona o ka 'ōpū: The body enjoys heahh when the stomach is well filled." - 'Ōlelo No'eau

Ē Ē ■ ■ ui, how you?" "Eh, eome inside, Ē Ē I I go eat!" is the usual exchange of greetings when visiting a home I I in Hawai'i. Sharing food is an I I important part of our culture, playing a key role in connecting 'ohana and eommunities. These cultural practices contribute to our overall heahh and wellbeing. However, the steady rise of Hawai'i's cost of living (food costs in Honolulu increased by 5.6% in 2020), the significant number of people without a livable ineome (including 40% of all Native Hawaiian families), and other factors limit access to food, especially nutrient-rich healthy foods. Food insecurity across Hawai'i is an ongoing

puhlie heahh eoneem. Feeding America reports that one in six people in Hawai'i were food insecure in 2020, up from one in nine in 2019. Most alarmingly, Hawai'i ranks second highest in the nation for food insecurity among children, with one in four children falling into this category. This is not just a transient problem. Adequate nutrition is critical to the overall development of children and food insecurity is directly linked to their heahh, educational, and behavioral outcomes. Lili'uokalani Trust (LT) began exploring food security with a focus on loeal food systems and sustainable agriculture in 2019 and co-hosted a panel of experts on this topic at a 2020 impact investing event. When COVID-19 hit Hawai'i, the stay-at-home orders and the decimation of the tourism industry left many unahle to secure food and other basic needs. In response, LT joined with other Hawai'i organizations to address this crisis, networking to ensure kamali'i and 'ohana had access to food. In 2020, LT teammates collaborated in 285 food distributions across Hawai'i whieh collectively distributed over 80,000 food boxes and nearly 46,000 prepared meals with an estimated value over $7.4 million. A total of 77 of those distributions were whh Ham's Produce and Seafood through the USDA's Farmers to Families Program. In 2021, LT continues to partner with Ham's Produce and others to support food distributions. LT also contin-

ues to promote systems change, working with other partners in the 'Ike 'Ai hui to use modern and traditional knowledge to understand and transform the food system of Hawai'i toward sustainability, climate change resilience, human heahh, and aloha. As your means allow, please support the effort to ensure no child suffers from hunger or malnutrition by donating time, money or food to feed the hungry and supporting sustainable loeal agriculture for loeal consumption. ■ Andreana Dudoit Reyes isfrom Ho 'olehua, Moloka'i and is the strategic initiatives manager at Lili'uokalani Trust. Herinterests are enhancing social equity and the overall wellbeing of Hawaiians. She is a past beneficiary of the trust and believes that every kamali'i ean reach their full potential and achieve theirdreams with the appropriate resources and support.