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Food, Health, Families, Hawaiʻi

A new survey will inform CTAHR's Food Systems Initiative

  • 1 September 2020
  • Author: Mark Berthold
  • Number of views: 2882
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Food, Health, Families, Hawaiʻi

“The interrelationships between CTAHR departments, programs, and faculty are like a family tree: some are closely related, some are distant and may not cover the same areas you do. But through an auntie, or a cousin, we see that we are indeed part of the same tree, even if not directly.” – Noa Lincoln, Dept. of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences.

At first glance, one might not notice the connection between agriculture and family sciences. But at the core of CTAHR’s diversity, we share the same mission, which is to strengthen the individuals, families and communities of Hawai?i.

A few years ago, the agricultural side of CTAHR and the family/consumer side decided to team up for a more wholistic approach to human health. The result is a statewide Extension initiative called “Healthy Communities Through a More Sustainable Farm System.”

The goal is to facilitate more locally produced food consumed by more local residents. How can we support farm-to-table, farm-to-school and similar ideas in the community, businesses, and legislature? How can we make local produce, dairy and meats – which are the freshest and most nutritious foods – more accessible to consumers and better fight the battle against obesity, diabetes, and other diseases?

To help map out our individual faculty efforts, CTAHR's Food Systems Initiative is conducting a Survey of CTAHR's Capacity in Hawai'i's Local Food System. The findings will allow us to understand CTAHR's strengths and weaknesses, and help us define CTAHR's role within local food systems.

“We really want to understand where we’re working and who we’re impacting, identify our strengths and weaknesses, define and acknowledge in a clear way who we are and what we’re doing,” says Noa.

Sothy Eng, Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences, adds, “We hope to obtain a full response rate from all faculty, extension agents, specialists, and researchers within CTAHR. It’s 100% anonymous and confidential, so please take the survey today!”

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