RES 550 Draft 01 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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WHEREAS, by buying locally grown food, Hawai`i Island residents are being proactive to preserve green open space, which in turn promotes other sectors of the Hawai`i Island economy including tourism; and WHEREAS, by supporting Hawai`i Island farmers today, residents are helping to ensure that there will be profitable farms tomorrow, which is a matter of importance for food security and sustainability; and WHEREAS, the County of Hawai`i Agricultural Development Plan (2010), Section III "Food Self-Reliance and Security" states: "Local food systems provide farmers with a greater degree of control over the price of their products and consumers with more say over the selection and variety of food they find in stores. By contrast, industrial food systems compromise the market power of farmers and consumers, and provide middlemen distributors with an inordinate amount of control over food variety and price. Industrial food systems inflate the retail price of food products while squeezing the profits of farmers. Any program that brings farmers closer to consumers, such as farmers markets, CSA's, and promotions like the Buy Local, It Matters campaign, will tend to move Hawai`i Island closer toward a more robust local food system."; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawaii Island Produce Month would be consistent with the Hawai`i County Food Self-Sufficiency Baseline 2012 study, to wit "Practice Buy Local in County food purchasing"; and WHEREAS; a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would be consistent with"Adding Value to Locally Grown Crops in Hawai`i" by Craig Elevitch and Ken Love, in terms of source designation and source identification of produce with local farmers and regional farmers on Hawai`i Island; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would be consistent with the Hawaii County General Plan regarding Goals for Agriculture, including to "Preserve and enhance opportunities for the expansion of the Hawai`i Agricultural Industry Hawaii General Plan 2005 (as Amended) page 279 Chapter 14 Agriculture 14.2.2 (c) "Goals"; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would be consistent with the Constitution of the State of Hawai`i Article 11, Section III, which in pertinent part provides: "The State shall conserve and protect agricultural lands, promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency and assure the availability of agriculturally suitable lands"; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII that the month of November is Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that residents and tourists are encouraged to only buy Hawai`i Island grown produce during the month of November. 2