The tragedy in Lāhainā continues to unfold. A century and a half of reckless resource management, especially land use and water allocation, in favor of commercial greed — first, massive plantations, then massive tourism, then massive developments and land speculation — have put much of Hawaii in grave danger of not only what transpired in Lāhainā, but in other serious ways as well.
Add to that the real-time bureaucratic mentality of state officials who put strict obedience to rules and orders before common sense and people’s lives, and you have a formula for disaster.
Under the U.S. system, money is the measure of importance. Corporations and companies that generate money are highly favored and receive first priority, even when it comes to law. Ordinary people like you and me are not seen as living, breathing human beings. We are taxpayers, whose labor and energy are revenue streams to feed the system.
In that system, nature is something to be exploited, not cared for. Original languages and cultures are only allowed if they have commercial value. (Ironically, our songs, the hula, and our language, like the word Aloha, survived because they were money-makers for the tourism industry)
This is the colonial system that has permeated practically every nook and cranny of the world. Not only has it disrupted, polluted and disfigured native habitats, destroyed native economies and social systems, it has altered what we eat — unhealthy processed and ʻjunkʻ food causing catastrophic health problems among native people. Then there is the perilous dependency on importing what we eat.
Ninety percent of the food consumed in Hawaii is shipped in from the States. That means, only ten percent is grown in Hawaii. If shipping was to stop, after two weeks, Hawaii will run out of food and things will get very ugly.
Hawaii will never be truly independent, unless we can feed ourselves.
For the past 20 years those who have been aware of Hawaii’s vulnerability have been sounding the alarm and some progress is being made in planting more food crops. There are many who are answering the call of back to the ‘aina to plant for our future.
But there needs to be a concerted effort to not only grow more food, but to change the diet habits of our people to eat the fantastically nutritious traditional foods that our ancestors brought in their canoes, like Kalo (Taro)…ʻUlu (Breadfruit)…Maiʻa (Banana)…ʻUala (Sweet Potato)…Niu (Coconut)…
Most of the Pacific Islands and island nations around the world are in the same vulnerable, food dependency situation as Hawaii. I spent the past week in Rarotonga (in the Cook Islands) attending meetings about the urgent need to revive the farming and consumption of local traditional foods. One highlight was the Global Breadfruit Summit. It was extremely inspiring to see this new Pacific-wide movement of farmers, researchers, organizations and communities coming together to assist and encourage each other in saving and strengthening our peoples by connecting them to the same foods that our ancestors grew in harmony with our ʻāina… Kalo…ʻUlu…Maiʻa…ʻUala…Niu…
“Love of country is deep-seated in the breast of every Hawaiian, whatever his station.” — Queen Liliʻuokalani
Malama Pono,
Leon Siu
Hawaiian National
Tales of Hawai'i 