{"id":172336,"date":"2023-02-06T15:04:48","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T01:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=172336"},"modified":"2023-02-06T15:07:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T01:07:08","slug":"agriculture-farming-successes-concerns-shared-lawmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/02\/06\/agriculture-farming-successes-concerns-shared-lawmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Agriculture, farming successes, concerns shared with lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Senators
Sens. Richards, III<\/abbr>, DeCoite, Gabbard and Awa with CTAHR<\/abbr> graduate farmers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The successes and concerns of University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources\u2019<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>) Waim\u0101nalo Research Station were recently shared during a visit with state legislators.<\/p>\n

Sens.<\/abbr> Mike Gabbard, Lynn DeCoite, Herbert M. “Tim” Richards, III<\/abbr> and Brenton Awa, representing the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment, in addition to Micah-Seth Munekata of Ulupono Initiative<\/a> met with CTAHR<\/abbr>\u2019s GoFarm Hawaiʻi<\/span><\/a> program and its farmer graduates.<\/p>\n

“It was great to have so many Senate Agriculture and Environment Committee members visit with the GoFarm Hawaiʻi<\/span> staff and farmers at CTAHR<\/abbr>‘s Waim\u0101nalo Research Station,” said Janel Yamamoto<\/strong>, director of GoFarm Hawaiʻi<\/span>. “The Senators were able to connect directly with the GoFarm Hawaiʻi<\/span> team and graduate farmers to see how they are impacting the local food system and learn about challenges. Hopefully this will translate into increased support for our agricultural sector.”<\/p>\n

Initiated by Gabbard, the visit allowed him and fellow committee members to prepare for the 2023 legislative session. The meeting granted them the chance to “see the wonderful work that [CTAHR<\/abbr>] is doing in creating the next generation of trained and successful farmers,” said DeCoite.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s why we\u2019re here,” said Gabbard. “You can imagine the paperwork our staff has to consider in dealing with about 3,000 bills introduced every year in the legislature. This visit makes it real. We meet the people, we\u2019re out here on the land, so when we consider that legislation, we remember Janel, and Laura Ediger<\/strong>, and Rachel Ladrig<\/strong>. This makes it real.”<\/p>\n

Although the senators did not visit in relation to a specific bill or ask, the opportunity to have them see and connect with Hawaiʻi<\/span>\u2019s local farmers demonstrated the value of the program.<\/p>\n

Read more at the CTAHR<\/abbr> website.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Graduate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The visit to Waim\u0101nalo Research Station allowed the policymakers to connect with farmers who impact the local food system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[222,212,811,1363,9],"class_list":["post-172336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-agriculture","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-gofarm-hawaii","tag-manoa-research","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t