HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0325.018 2016-2018 P I P WPR6
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From: Deborah Scrivens <debscrivens14@gmail.com> ;
Sent: Wednesday,June 21, 2017 10:40 AM �
21 Witt 5
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Testimony encouraging passage of,amendment to Bill No.47
Aloha,
My husband and I farm in Hakalau. We spend most our time raising food and promoting sustainable agriculture on'The
Big Island. We have encountered many obstacles to creating a sustainable, local food supply and we work diligently to
overcome these challenges. We believe the amendment to Bill 47 that is being considered will help remove an obstacle
to sustainable agriculture.
We are mainstay volunteer organizers and supporters of our local farmers market,which recently became a Hawaii non
profit business league;the Hakalau Famers Market and FoodShare.
We are very supportive of the amendment that Valerie Poindexter has introduced,to allow farmers markets to be
established at five more County Parks.
My entire forty year professional career was in national,county and regional parks. From what I understand about parks
on this island,farmers markets would be a compatible use of the parks.
I began attending the farmers market at Hakalau Veterans Park in 2009. The farmers market was not only compatible
with Hakalau Veterans Park, it was THE weekly event that knit this community together. No question about it! That is
where neighbors got to know each other and formed positive bonds. And we never failed to leave the park as clean or
cleaner than we found it.
There is an idea called the Triple Bottom Line- healthy economy, healthy ecology and social connectivity form the basis
of a healthy and sustainable culture. Skillfully promoted and handled,farmers markets can and do increase social
connectivity. At least that has certainly been the case in Hakalau. The band plays, people eat and talk together, kids
play, everyone shops and exchanges news and ideas and knowledge,and week after week, neighbors get to know each
other better. Should a natural disaster hit,these connections and trust and familiarity prove invaluable.
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Farmers have so much on their plates,to try to put food on other peoples plates. Creating healthy produce is an
accomplishment in itself, requiring time, money, skill, experience and knowledge. And once produced, it must be loaded
and transported to market,and then it must be sold to the consumer. This amendment can help move that market
closer to home, reducing transportation costs and greenhouse gases.
I could go on but will not take up more of your time. Thank you for your consideration of my testimony.
Deb Scrivens
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