2014-3 Report to AC on Commercial Kitchen

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other common support services and facilities, and have access to business mentoring, marketing skills training, and product promotion programs. The Pahoa Community Certified Kitchen Project: The non - profit Malama O Puna (MOP) is partnering with the local business Pahoa Feed & Fertilizer (PF &F) to create a community certified kitchen that would be available to local farmers looking to develop and market value -added products, food producer entrepreneurs, local families preparing for major events (such as first birthday luaus), local nonprofits seeking a venue to prepare food for fundraising events, and a site for large -scale food preparation in the event of a natural or man -made disaster requiring evacuation of residents. It is hoped that an additional benefit of this project will be to protect agricultural lands by making farming more economically viable. PF &F already owns the land and has plans to convert a single family residence into a community certified kitchen with affordable rates. MOP has acted in an advisory capacity, has written grant proposals, and will be assisting in developing the kitchen. A sidebar of the facility will be educating kitchen users about food safety and certified kitchen protocols, options for bulk purchasing, marketing and merchandising, and other support services as mentioned in the PCDP. PF &F had the project approved by the Windward Planning Commission as a bona fide agricultural use that conforms to its agricultural zoning, and they also paid for a drainage study. We previously received grant funding from County R & D which paid for electrical, plumbing, architectural and ventilation plans so that the structure could be renovated to the kitchen use. Recently we applied for two grants: from R &D we applied for $7,242 from the "Targeted Funding for Value -Added Facilities that Promote Agricultural Products Grown on Hawaii Island ". This would pay for the Architect's stamp, the necessary permits from the Planning Dept. and the Health Dept., and development of a website that would, initially, share our vision and outreach to interested parties, and, later, help with marketing of the products made in the kitchen. The second grant proposal is to the County Non - Profits grants which, among other things, support economic development. We are asking for $24,250 to implement the infrastructure requirements of the Environmental Health Branch, i.e., the actual renovation work of electrical, plumbing, septic, ventilation and re- flooring. If both grants are awarded, the kitchen could be up and running within a year. I have been attending meetings with Dean Bruce Matthews of the UH School of Agriculture whose focus has been on encouraging greater agricultural production and processing of foods for local markets. At these meetings the lack of available certified kitchens in the Puna District