Ones access to locally grown foods is food security. Hawaiʻi relies mostly on imported goods, over 90% of our food is imported. Meaning only 10% of our food is locally grown. By increasing Hawaiʻi's capacity to produce and sell local food can help lower the risk of Hawaiʻi's vulnerability. A sustainable food system can support both traditional farming practices while creating new economic ideas to market. In ancient Hawaiʻi our kupuna were able to live 100% sustainable. They farmed and fished and used all possible resources. The people worked together and coexisted to survive.
Throughout the month of November our class was directed to record everything that went into our bodies. Along with what we ate we also had to record whether or not it was processed or organic or locally sourced. It definitely was a challenge to remember what I ate and remember to record it. Looking back I realize that I eat a lot of processed and non-organic foods.
Self Sustainable Ideas
Some steps Hawaiʻi can take to be more self sustainable would be allowing their communities access to un used land so that they can open gardens of locally produced foods. This helps improve Hawaiʻi's food security by lowering its percent of imported goods because people will have easier access to locally grown food. This also can help lower the risk of contracting diseases because the source of your food can be easily traced.
Aquaponics System
Our aquaponic farming system is when fish waste is converted naturally into nutrients that are then fed to the plants by water. After the plants absorb the nutrients from the water it releases it back into the system. It’s a win win situation, plants get nutrients and the fishes have a clean tank. An important benefit of aquaponic farming is that the plants grow faster and have a higher plant density. Some other benefits of aquaponic farming are using less land, water, and fertilizer which creates less waste. By using less land there is less fallow crops and crops are able to be certified organic without concern for past use. Aquaponics requires 2% of the water used for traditional farming. Currently we are growing romaine lettuce