STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1128

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 767

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred H.B. No. 767, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE FARM TO SCHOOL PROGRAM,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Move the Hawaii farm to school program from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Education;

(2) Establish a programmatic goal for the Department of Education that at least thirty percent of food served in public schools shall consist of locally sourced products by 2030; and

(3) Create an annual reporting requirement.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education; Department of Agriculture; Ulupono Initiative; Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; Hawai‘i Public Health Institute; Local Food Coalition; Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, Inc; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Hawai‘i Primary Care Association; University of Hawaii West O‘ahu Food+ Policy Internship 2021; Hawai‘i Seed; Pono Hawai‘i Initiative; Hawaii Meats, LLC; Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action; Kauai Climate Action Coalition; Climate Protectors Hawai‘i; Our Revolution Hawaii; Foresight/Policy Analysis; Apollo Kauai, Zero Waste Kauai; and eighty individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committees find that the primary reason for the creation of the Hawaii farm to school program in 2015 was to improve the health of the State's keiki by encouraging consumption of fresh, locally grown foods, both for their nutritional content and to promote healthy behaviors at an early age. Your Committees further find that setting a target goal of providing a fixed minimum percentage of locally sourced food in public schools can bring the farm to school program closer to achieving tangible results for the health of Hawaii's students, including an increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and the potential to minimize diet-related diseases in childhood, such as obesity and diabetes. This measure is a necessary step to determine a baseline for how much food is currently locally sourced in order to begin monitoring any movement to fulfill the goal of thirty percent.

Your Committees note that in order to achieve the goal of thirty percent of food being served in public schools by 2030, the Department of Education should employ multiple strategies, such as geographic preferences in procurement, inclusion of food hubs, and other localized strategy.

Your Committees have amended this measure by removing institutions other than public schools from the farm to school program.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Agriculture and Environment that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 767, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 767, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Agriculture and Environment,

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair

________________________________ MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair