Food Systems Accelerator

• Kahumana Food Hub co-creates farm-based communities through providing housing, employment, food and supportive services to those most marginalized, while also connecting farmers, customers and markets in Hawaiʻi’s food economy through CSA operations and farm hub partnerships. (Oʻahu)
• ʻElepaio Social Services strengthens West Oʻahu ʻohana through Indigenous food sovereignty and access to ancestral foods. (Oʻahu)
• Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi tackles food security, farmer viability, and community sovereignty through conservation, food production, and cultural practice, showing how food systems can heal both ʻāina and people. (Oʻahu)
• Island Harvest Inc. grows macadamias, limes and ʻulu in North Kohala, using organic and sustainable farming methods that eliminate the use of potentially harmful chemicals and reduce the use of off-farm inputs, and support building healthy soils, producing quality products, and reinvesting profits back into the community. (Hawaiʻi)
• MetroGrow Hawaiʻi utilizes hydroponics in a controlled environment to provide quality agricultural products for institutions, restaurants and consumers, to help diversify the local agricultural economy and operate sustainably and in harmony with the unique environment of Hawaiʼi. (Oʻahu)
• Agricultural Stewardship Hawaiʻi connects farmers, ranchers and food producers across Hawaiʻi with resources they need to thrive, offering one-to-one support to help take on projects that directly benefit farm and food businesses and maintain the vitality of agroecosystems. (Paeʻāina)
• Hawaiʻi Farmers Union & Foundation advocates for the sovereign rights of family farmers, ranchers, and fishers to create regenerative and sustainable agricultural communities that benefit the people of Hawaiʻi through education, cooperation and legislation. (Paeʻāina)
• Kaialāhui Foundation / Hawaiʻi Taro Farm empowers Hawai’i’s farming community to enhance food production and distribution through education, collaboration and advocacy. (Maui)
• O.K. Farms emphasizes community and responsible land management in Hilo through growing tropical fruits and crops for wholesale distribution, hosting a food hub with a weekly CSA program, providing educational agricultural tours and dedicating land to conservation. (Hawaiʻi)
• Onomea Farm Hub builds the capacity of farmers and small food businesses to create value-added products and reach markets, through providing shared infrastructure such as certified kitchen access, co-op stocking and packing, marketing support, and event/educational spaces, in Pepeʻekeo and Pāpaʻikou. (Hawaiʻi)
• Vibrant Hawaiʻi serves as a community intermediary, rooted in Hawaiʻi island and working across the state, mobilizing resources, building cross-sector networks, and supporting solutions led by the people most impacted. (Paeʻāina)
• Kahaluʻu Kūāhewa is actively restoring the largest intact portion of the Kona Field System by reactivating community and elevating the collective of aina, community and culture. (Hawaiʻi)

The Hawaiʻi Food Systems Accelerator Cohort 7 started in January and will culminate with a final presentation event this fall.