LIHUE — A bill that would have created edible landscapes in public places across the state was defeated last week in the Hawaii Senate. But the seed has been planted — momentum gained. And as 15-year-old Princeville resident Talia Abrams
LIHUE — A bill that would have created edible landscapes in public places across the state was defeated last week in the Hawaii Senate.
But the seed has been planted — momentum gained.
And as 15-year-old Princeville resident Talia Abrams promised from the start, the vision will bear fruit — at least locally.
Although disappointed with the outcome of the bill, Abrams is excited about the future after a recent meeting with Sen. Ron Kouchi and Rep. Derek Kawakami. The two Kauai legislators assured the young lady they would reintroduce the measure during next year’s legislative session.
“It is coming back,” Abrams said. “But in the meantime, they want to see that it works.”
After swiftly making its way through the House, Sen. Malama Solomon, chair of the Senate Committee on Water and Land, deferred House Bill 2177, citing legal challenges.
The measure would have appropriated funds and required the Department of Land and Natural Resources to “work collaboratively with local government and community organizations to provide sources of healthy food statewide.”
Now, the County of Kauai is working with its legislative delegation, including Kouchi and Kawakami, to establish a pilot food forest project in Kilauea.
“The potential is great,” said Kouchi, adding that the project would allow for all the kinks to be worked out.
If it is successful in Kilauea, Abrams is confident it will spread elsewhere.
“If it works the way I believe it will, then we can eventually get it all over the island,” she said.
Kawakami, who introduced the bill, said he has been impressed with Abrams throughout the process and looks forward to the Kauai pilot program, in which Abrams will play an important role.
“We are really enthusiastic about working together on this,” he said. “According to DLNR, programs are available to get this done.”
The idea is that the Kauai pilot, once off the ground, would serve as a model of how a similar program could run at the state level.
County spokeswoman Beth Tokioka said that, although she and others were disappointed in the bill’s fate, Abrams should be applauded for her huge accomplishment of having it introduced and heard this session.
“Many bills have to work through the process for several years before they are successful,” Tokioka wrote in an email. “With a successful pilot, the program has much greater chance of being adopted statewide next year.”
Carvalho, a supporter of the bill’s intent, also credited Abrams for her persistence.
“Talia’s drive and determination is so infectious, and we all feel that the food forest concept can be a great benefit and huge step forward toward our food sustainability,” he said Monday. “We look forward to working with her to get the program off the ground and show the rest of the state this can be done.”
North Shore resident and teacher Felicia Cowden, who has been working with Abrams on the bill, said there are several community organizations, including Regenerations Botanical Garden and Malama Kauai, that have expressed interest in being involved with the project. The Kilauea Neighborhood Association has also voiced its support.
In previous testimony, DLNR Chair William Aila said the department supported the bill’s intent, but did not feel it was necessary since the Forest Stewardship Program and the Kaulunani Urban and Community Forestry Program are already in place.
In his testimony March 20, however, he wrote that the DLNR would back a pilot project, which could be used as a template in other areas of the state.
