This premiere issue of She grows food focuses on The Farming Women of Ka’u. We’ll take you to this farming community on Hawai’i island that’s not only rising from the ashes of the post-sugar era recession, but is aspiring to reclaim farming and food growing for the art it truly is. Five-star finished pasture-raised beef. World-class coffee. Magazine ready veggies.
Michelle Galimba, Lorie Obra and Sokha Hester. They, like the rest of the women of Ka’u and women all over the world, are the backbones of their communities. We are stronger than we know. She grows food is here to remind us of this.
Why start at Ka’u? It’s the district on the southern tip of Hawai’i Island, the state’s youngest island. In fact, it is still forming. All that new birthing is happening in Ka’u alongside a fiercely growing community commitment to growth that is agriculturally based. No hotels, more farms. No chains, more local stores selling local produce. They are developing a new strategy for growth: growing things at the highest standards possible. In a world awash in the tide of cheap food, they have decided to grow not only real food, but really great food.
They are taking farming back to it’s original state. Much more than a science. It’s a craft. Even an art.
And not just a business either. Rather, a community effort. A responsibility. Women are leading the way of this revolution. In the next weeks and months, we’ll be introducing you to more women who will be giving you reasons to think Hawaii is on the forefront of this movement that may have began on our plates but is ultimately reconnecting us deeply to the issues of land, water, community, and food.
Please join us. Let’s build the future of our food together. From the ground up.
Aloha,
I was amazed to read your article about Farming Women in Ka’u, because that is where I grew up from. I am attending Maui UH College as a Ag major, which in 2012 fall semester I will be graduating. My intentions is to help the people of Ka’u as a farmer.
Mahalo,
Hazel Kuahiwinui