Bill Text: HI HB1279 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Agricultural Food Production.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-11-30 - Carried over to 2018 Regular Session. [HB1279 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2018-HB1279-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1279 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL FOOD PRODUCTION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii is located approximately two thousand five hundred miles from the continental United States. About eighty-five to ninety per cent of Hawaii's food is imported, which makes Hawaii particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and global events that disrupt shipping and other modes of transporting food. Furthermore, the economic impact of food import replacement is significant. Food expenditures of local consumers from 2004 to 2005 totaled $3,700,000,000. Assuming that eighty-five per cent of the food consumed in the State is imported, that means $3,145,000,000 of food expenditures leave the State each year. Growing food within the State enables the expenditures on food to remain in the local economy.
The office of planning, in cooperation with the department of agriculture, issued a report in October 2012, titled Increased Food Security and Food Self-Sufficiency Strategy: A State Strategic/Functional Plan Prepared in Accordance with HRS Chapter 226 Hawaii State Plan and the Hawaii Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The executive summary of the report states in pertinent part:
The purpose of the Increased Food Security and Food Self-Sufficiency Strategy (Strategy) is to increase the amount of locally grown food consumed by Hawaii residents. This will increase food self-sufficiency which is a component of food security. The Strategy is a living document intended as a first step toward continued dialog and implementation.
The three strategic objectives of the Increased Food Security and Food Self-Sufficiency Strategy are:
(1) Increasing demand for and access to locally grown foods;
(2) Increasing production of locally grown foods; and
(3) Providing policy and organizational support to meet food self-sufficiency needs.
The legislature further finds that the development of higher education systems in Hawaii to promote understanding of sustainable food production and training a new generation of students for jobs in the sustainable food and agriculture sector is an essential part of meeting the strategic objectives of the Increased Food Security and Food Self-Sufficiency Strategy.
The purpose of this Act is to improve food security and self-sufficiency in the State by:
(1) Encouraging the development and expansion of higher education focused on sustainable food systems within the State; and
(2) Appropriating funds to achieve that objective.
SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2017-2018 for the community food systems center at the University of Hawaii West Oahu to expand upon its existing education for sustainable agricultural food production by:
(1) Establishing scholarships for interested students to enroll in the community food systems concentration at the University of Hawaii West Oahu;
(2) Creating job opportunities and on-site training by creating positions for a full-time garden manager and part-time student assistants for the student organic garden at the University of Hawaii West Oahu;
(3) Creating a Hawaiian center for sustainable community food systems, a two hundred-acre education, training, outreach, food processing, and applied research center; provided that prior to creating and implementing the center the University of Hawaii West Oahu shall conduct and submit to the legislature a study that determines the feasibility and benefits of creating a center; and
(4) Implementing research projects, hosting conferences, and employing additional staff and faculty as the director of the program deems necessary.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii West Oahu for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2017.
Report Title:
University of Hawaii; Food Security and Self-Sufficiency Education; Hawaiian Center for Sustainable Community Food Systems
Description:
Appropriates funds for the University of Hawaii West Oahu to expand its existing programs and develop new means to increase food security and self-sufficiency in the State. (SD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
