Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day!

Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day has returned! For the first time since the COVID-19 Pandemic, this event was run at the Urban Garden Center (UGC). Coordinated by the GENE-ius Day Program and our own Academic and Student Affairs Office, 460 Fifth Grade students were welcome to learn more about agriculture in Hawaiʻi. Interim CTAHR Dean, Dr. Ania Wieczorek, and Interim Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Catherine Chan, also gave students a welcome message to introduce them to UGC and the event!

Students from Honowai Elementary, Kaleiʻopuʻopu Elementary, Hoʻokele Elementary, and Ka Waihona O Ka Naʻauao visited UGC and went through rotations to gain more ʻike (knowledge) from local organizations, programs, and extension specialists. Some important topics that were covered included: climate change, water usage, agricultural inspection, how to build a healthy plate, farming practices and techniques, and so much more! Here is a full list of our presenters and exhibitors:

• Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture
• Xeriscape Hui
• Hawaiʻi Nutrition Center
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Urban Garden Center - Fruit Hui
• Mālama Loko Ea Foundation
• USDA APHIS PPQ (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine)
• University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, CTAHR, 4-H Program
• Hawaiian Honey Bees
• CTAHR’s Molecular Biology and Bioengineering Program
• Aloha Arborist Association
• Oʻahu Master Gardener Program
• Customs & Border Protection
• Leeward Sustainable Agriculture Program
• Oʻahu Invasive Species Committee
• UH Mānoa - CTAHR Rapid ʻŌhia Death
• UH CTAHR - Farm to School
• UH West Oʻahu
• Hawaiʻi Agriculture Research Center
• Lyon Arboretum
• Koʻolau Mountains Watershed Partnership

With the help of these amazing organizations and groups the next generation of keiki are better equipped to tackle agricultural and environmental issues in the State of Hawaiʻi. We are excited to have this event back up and running after the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay tuned for details about 2024’s Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day. And a special mahalo to Jari Sugano and the Urban Garden Center for hosting this amazing event and to our amazing volunteers that helped everything to run smoothly.