A letter from the Founder, Elle L.:
Dear Reader,
First, I would like to thank you for visiting the Beeting Hunger Wellness Farms website. You could be anywhere, but you chose to be here. Thank you.
Secondly, I hope that reading this post helps you understand why I am so passionate about this mission and that it triggers you to try to be part of my why.
I am not originally from Hawai'i. I have only been here since November 2025. In that short period of time, I quickly learned that Hawai'i residents need more and better.
Being a Mainlander, I took for granted the ease in which we have access to so many resources. From my hometown in Indiana to Honolulu, there are around 4,300 miles separation.
Imagine picking your backyard garden produce and then sending it on a ship or plane 4,300 miles or more to an island to reach people who only have about 10% locally grown produce in their kitchens or grocery carts. That is quite a distance. If you have ever flown from the midwest to Honolulu, you realize the stress on your body. Imagine the impact on produce! When it reaches, the shelf life clock has already started ticking!
There are only 4 or 5 days of food if all shipments stopped coming into the island. THAT IS SCARY!!! After day 5 without food being imported, and the shelves are bare, then what? That is why this mission is so important. Getting plants in the ground that will produce food is critical.
The cost of importing produce inflates the cost of the produce once it does reach the grocery store shelves. Like everything else in Hawai'i, produce is expensive. But it doesn't have to be.
The Hawai'i Food Bank feeds over 200,000 residents each MONTH! There is a housing and food security crisis. Yes, Hawai'i is a beautiful paradise, but if you only visit for vacation and don't really look inside, you won't know much past the pretty beaches. Step outside the Waikiki beach area and you will see the beaches all around the island lined with tents because housing is so incredibly expensive.
1 in 3 households face food insecurity. One hard truth that you may not realize is that if a child receives free lunch at school, that child may only get that one meal at lunch at school. If school is out of session for holiday or weekend, that child is likely to be hungry on those days off.
Year round produce grown locally is totally doable. There are now micro-grant initiatives through the USDA with applications open until February 19, 2026 to help homeowners start to grow their own produce, but space is an issue for many folks here. There are not large yards like in the midwest, so transforming the currently existing purely decorative landscaping into edible landscaping will most likely need to take place.
There seems to be a gap in the amount of agricultural use land available, so that plays a role in the produce that must be imported to feed Hawai'i. If more ag land was made available and more farmers had access with sufficient access to water, the amount of locally grown produce would increase.
There isn't an overnight answer, but small initiatives by each of us can help.
Over in the Kahalu'u area, they have planted food trees - Ulu (breadfruit) and mountain apples. This cost the taxpayers $0 and the trees will produce fruit for a lifetime as a result! You can watch a story about it here. And an update on this project here.
The Honolulu Parks and Recreation Department is working to bring additional Community Gardens in food desert'ish and high need areas. There is red tape that has to be considered with those initiatives, so those are not an overnight answer either. Long term, they will be excellent solutions, however, permits, water access, community buy-in, and staffing have to be coordinated before a garden is launched. I am excited to see one go in the Ewa Beach area hopefully next!
The People's Open Market hosts weekly Farmer's Markets around O'ahu, so this is a great way for residents to get locally grown and culturally aware food.
Speaking of culturally aware, I was educated on something that I wasn't totally considering. Today, when I was giving a local woman a ride to work I learned that the mainland and "American" farmers don't really grow food that is culturally eaten here. Eggplant, for example. This is a staple with Filipino families.
I know that the Hawaiian ancestral roots of Taro, Sweet Potatoes, and Yucca are also in great need and cannot be grown everywhere on mainland due to climate. It is up to us here in Hawai'i to grow these tropical and sub-tropical produce, but the land to do so needs to be made available.
I have never seen so many community organizations coming together trying to solve needs. My heart has been so touched by the outpouring of the volunteers that show up wherever I volunteer. I don't see that type of involvement where I come from. The people here want to make things better and I hope that my work, while just a small dent, makes an impact and raises enough awareness to call others to ask what they can do to help improve food security for Hawai'i as well.
If you would like to help me, join me, subscribe to a CSA box of produce, or advise in any way, I am open to hearing from you! You can email me and I will do my best to respond within 48 hours.
Mahalo!
Elle
p.s. If I have incorrectly referenced anything, it is not intentional. It is simply what I am learning along the way from my personal immersion. I welcome any corrections and introductions to resources that can continue to shape my knowledge!