Occupying Our Food Future By Mark Sheehan A major power shift is happening now as thousands of protestors gather on Mauna Kea to demand respect for the mountain and an end to colonial expropriation of everything sacred to Hawaiians. The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is not the problem; foreign occupation is the problem. Just as the SHAKA Movement fought Monsanto’s chemical experiments on our ’aina and families, this new activism signals another turning point to end the desecration of sacred lands for any reason. Just as Mauna Kea is sacred, so are Maui waters, oceans and lands. Why, then, do we allow offshore investors to control and pollute them? Last year, California-owned Pomona Farming acquired 41,000 acres from A&B. The new management promised to be good stewards, claiming they would test and remediate soils. They swore off GMOs and vowed to grow food mostly for local needs. They said they’d be transparent, build a food hub, and devote land for agroforestry use. We were dubious, but hopeful. But when Mahi Pono’s tough-talking farm manager Larry Nixon resigned after four months, cautious optimism faded; and after fires ravaged thousands of acres, the whole operation looks amateurish and incompetent. When they should have been planting cover crops to prevent fires and regenerate soil, the top brass was at the State Capitol pushing the ‘water theft’ bill at the legislature. In addition to the land, Mahi Pono owns half of East Maui Irrigation, the delivery system that supplies water to Upcountry residents and ranchers. A&B left the system a shambles, but the new owners said they’d rebuild and repair it. Recent reports from hikers suggest otherwise; they saw the old diversions still in place and weed-choked
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and dry streambeds. Maui farmers and environmentalists are shocked by the incompetence. One said, “It’s sad enough that the remains of dead soil left by A&B blow out to sea and smother our reefs, but couple that loss of topsoil and the diminishing ability to regenerate our valuable farmland, and it’s devastating.” Mahi Pono is not living up to its name or keeping its promises. Will we always be subject to owners putting profits over people and the environment? Not anymore. The climate crisis has changed the world and the new Hawaiian activism has changed Hawaii. It’s time to bring the Mauna Kea protectors to Maui to protect our lands and waters. We have to call out the farm charade and insist our soils be restored. We must create and implement a farm and food system that can feed us. Occupying the lands may be our best bet to guarantee future food security. The same urgency applies to the East Maui streams that have been dewatered for over a century. While Mahi Pono promises to fix the EMI system, instead they have been fighting a legal battle to assure them of unlimited water. Corporations do not concern themselves with ecological and environmental issues, nor are
they swayed by native cultural rights and practices. Profit drives all decisions. It’s time to create a water trust controlled by end-users. Once repaired and under new management, there will be sufficient water to meet our domestic and farming requirements. You might think state agencies would be interested in the tremendous potential of 40,000 acres watered mostly by state-owned lands. But for decades the Department of Land and Natural Resources sold A&B water for $3 per million gallons. No, the state doesn’t care; but our county council members are taking notice. So is the Maui Department of Water Supply, which just set up a temporary investigative group to consider county takeover of the EMI system. Four years ago, Maui Tomorrow wrote an alternative vision for use of the sugar lands. Called Malama Aina, the plan would restore depleted land to create future food security based on regenerative agriculture. It’s an inspiring document – read it here: FutureOfMaui.org. A companion vision, Malama Wai, is needed to protect the forests that store water and the delivery system that supplies residences, farms and ranches. We know from watching the devastation Hurricane Maria wrecked on Puerto Rico that when catastrophe strikes, islanders are on their own. So it’s time to occupy our food system. It’s time for the Hawaiians to come back to protect these islands, to demand pono use of our wai and ’aina. Radical? Damn right. But better than stupid. Mark Sheehan is a real estate broker and environmental activist. He is a partner in the HAPI organic farm and thinks food security is critical to our future survival.
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Fall, 2019
Maui Vision Magazine
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