Hawai‘i Center for Food Safety (HCFS) has supported the growing movement of community members fighting for a safe and biodiverse food system in Hawai’i for over a decade. HCFS has filmed and produced 8 episodes of Regenerating Paradise, a video series highlighting the changemakers within Hawaii’s food system. In season one, the series focused on the Soil and Climate connection, highlighting projects that take carbon sequestration through soil health seriously. Projects included Green Rows Farms (Oahu), Kupuna Farms (Maui), and Teraviva (Maui, Oahu)
In 2020, we have released our second season which focuses on the Soil and Gut Health connection. Featured projects include Waipa Foundation (Kauai), Changing Tides Foundation’s Compost Collective (Oahu), Hawaii Institute for Pacific Agriculture (Hawaii Island), and MA’O Farms. We also created a Regenerating Paradise report explaining the links between soil health with carbon sequestration. In addition, the legal and scientific expertise that HCFS provides to the Hawaii food movement plays a key role in providing credible and trusted consultation to both decisionmakers and community stakeholders, for example in the areas of legal expertise on pesticide regulations, bill drafting for the Protect Our Keiki Coalition, government agency watchdogging for compliance, and exposing corporate influence on policymakers through campaign contributions.