Growing up in Hawai’i we have a saying, “He moku he wa’a, he wa’a he moku” – “An island is like a canoe.” Like a canoe the Hawai’i island chain is terrifyingly isolated with limited resources. Miles from the nearest port the people here depend almost entirely on imports. If these supply lines are destabilized the amount of food to feed the entire population of Hawai’i would last only days. Yet this situation is now linked to the Continental US supply chain dilemma. Over the past several months much like Hawai’i food supply lines between states are severely delayed and reduced. This is a result of vulnerable, highly centralized food sources hundreds to thousands of miles from families and communities impacted by simultaneous natural disasters. This system operates well only during times of peace and prosperity, but the pandemic, hurricanes, expansive forest fires, and sudden frost has revealed its fragility. This comes in addition to nations hoarding their otherwise shared resources. This inspired us to seek decentralizing and localizing production solutions enabling communities to survive destabilizing global events.
Hawai’i’s delicate resource management also extends to the challenge of plastic recycling and reuse. The “islands of plastic” off our coast in the pacific gyres threaten not only us but every person who consumes seafood. The plastic may not be the responsibility of any one state or country, but left unsolved the food toxicity this introduces could heavily impact all of them; economically, medically, and socially. Our collective survival depends on maintaining our beautiful blue canoe carrying us from one collective human experience to the next. For us, not just as individuals but us as people, communities, and future generations, this means ensuring our planet is habitable and clean.