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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 550 Draft 01 2012-2014 4oJMtr os.... ... COUNTY OF HAWAII -• �' / • STATE OF HAWAII ,tE RESOLUTION NO. 550 14 A RESOLUTION TO PROMOTE AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY BY NAMING NOVEMBER AS BUY HAWAII ISLAND PRODUCE MONTH. WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would benefit Hawai`i Island farmers through increased sales; and WHEREAS, money spent on Hawai`i Island grown produce would have a ripple effect on employment in the community and benefit the Hawai`i Island economy; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would encourage Hawai`i Island residents to eat more fresh and more nutritious locally grown produce; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would allow residents to malama (support and care for) local farmers through food expenditures; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would promote an increased sense of community and lokahi (by working together, achieving more); and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would promote kuleana (personal responsibility) for our Hawai`i Island farmers; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would increase consumer awareness of what fruits and vegetables are grown on Hawai'i Island; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would encourage increased consumer preference of Hawai`i island produce; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would also promote consumer awareness of the quality of our food and health of our soil; and WHEREAS, a Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month would encourage farmers to increase growing fruits and vegetables for local consumption; and WHEREAS, consumption of Hawai`i Island grown produce would reduce the opportunity for harmful invasive species to reach Hawai`i Island; and 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 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that restaurants, grocery stores, farmers markets, and roadside stands on the Island of Hawai`i are encouraged to promote November as Buy Hawai`i Island Produce Month. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall forward copies of this resolution the Honorable William P. Kenoi, Mayor, County of Hawai`i; the Director of Research and Development; the Executive Director of the Hawai`i Island Chapter of the Hawai`i Visitors and Convention Bureau; the President of the Hawaii Tourism Authority; the Chairperson of the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture; the Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; the Chair of the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Agriculture; the Chair of the Hawai`i State House Committee on Agriculture; Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, Kona—Kohala Chamber of Commerce. Dated at Kona , Hawai`i, this 15th day of October , 2014. INTRODUCED BY: COUNCIL EMBER, COUNTY OF HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL ROLL CALL VOTE County of Hawai`i AYES NOES ABS EX Hilo, Hawaii [OFF X FORD X I hereby certify that the tbregoing RESOLUTION was by ILAGAN X the vote indicated to the right hereof adopted by the COUNCIL of the KANUHA X County of Hawaii on October 15, 2014 X KERN ONISHI X ATTEST: POINDEX hER X WILLE X YOSHIMOTO X 8 0 1 0 Reference: C-1078/Waived AWESC COUNTY CLERK CHAIRPERSON & PRESIDING OFFICER RESOLUTION NO. 550 14 3