around EHCC. “You can only do so much with a tiny space,” Michael chuckles. In true UrbFarm fashion, Michael reached out to Eric and Paul of Papa‘a Palaoa Bakery to see about using the strip of barren land behind their business on Kilauea Avenue, and once cleared by the property manager, the children started prepping the land for planting. “At first the kids didn’t want to get dirty, but now they look forward to getting their hands in the dirt,” Michael laughs. “You can hear their excitement as they walk down the street to the garden.” The school garden is planted with kalo, bedded in the rich compost and soil the students created at the UrbFarm. Tying the whole experience together, the intent is to produce and harvest enough kalo so the class can create a laulau fundraiser to keep the project running. From discarded organic materials to tasty laulau, the children learn to participate in their community creating a sense of belonging. “When they walk down the street they can say, ‘I did that!’,” Michael says passionately. Michael’s vision is of small-scale composting operations in each neighborhood providing jobs and volunteer opportunities for residents within the community. Alone, one person cannot make a significant impact on the sustainability of our island. It takes a collective effort—a societal shift in seeing our waste as something that can feed the soil that grows our food, brings neighborhoods together, and in turn nourishes our island community. ■ Kalo planted by Connections Public Charter School children around East Hawaiÿi Cultural Center. photo by Brittany P. Anderson
For more information: hilourbfarm.com
KeOlaMagazine.com | May-June 2018
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