There is no argument that quality K-12 education is a public necessity — investing in informed future generations boosts local economies and is of great import to society as a whole. Teachers, curricula and facilities are commonly viewed as foundational to any effective learning experience. Less obvious, but equally important, is food.

Like an effective workforce, students must be well-fueled, but the food they consume is far too often cheap, highly processed and with middling nutritional value. States across the country have recognized the need for healthier, more nourishing options.

For Hawaii, the positives are many: nutrition benefits from fresh, locally sourced produce; tastier options for students; cheaper prices for the Department of Education (DOE); and economic boosts for local farms and businesses. However, progress toward realizing wholesome food goals across the state’s 258 public schools (excluding 38 charter schools) necessitates the unwinding of existing buying pipelines, creation of new local partnerships and securing of funds through legislation. In short, it is an expensive, complex slog. It still must be done.

Hawaii in 2015 rightly embarked on a Farm to School program with a pilot project in the Kohala area on the Big Island, followed by a second initiative in Mililani two years later, a first dip of the toe into providing students with from-scratch meals made with fresh local produce.

From these beginnings grew 2021’s Act 175, which handed over control to DOE while adding a new requirement calling for 30% of food served in public schools to be locally sourced by 2030. Things are not going well.

During the 2023-2024 school year, DOE spent $4.5 million on local food representing 5.4% of its total bill, down from 6.1% in the year prior. Fickle economic trade winds were in part blamed for the regression as inflation caused food prices to balloon, particularly imported goods that constituted a bulk of DOE’s supply. But it must also be noted that DOE’s calculations were padded with the inclusion of drinks and $51,124 spent on local bottled water. In any case, there is reasonable concern that the state’s 2030 goal will not be met.

Initial roadblocks ranged from lack of adequate staff training to management issues, said Randall Tanaka in 2022; he’s the former assistant superintendent of Office of Facilities and Operations who has since been let go from the DOE.

Among the teething problems was waffling on how best to funnel local food stuffs to students. Tanaka in 2022 claimed DOE lacked requisite purchasing data due to a largely decentralized purchasing system — schools were responsible for their own produce — and a software system incapable of managing meal counts, inventory and other vital metrics.

At least a few of those concerns could be remedied through a regional kitchen model. State schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi this month said a trial kitchen in the Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua Complex Area will prepare and distribute more local produce at the school level. Implementation of multiple regional kitchens across the state would streamline purchasing and preparation, though there remains the issue of meeting 30% sourcing requirements.

Smaller satellite and on-site school kitchens might fill some of that need, as could DOE’s September adoption of the USDA’s Harmonized Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Plus+ standards, which will in July be applied to all vendors providing raw or lightly processed produce. Starting this year, DOE will require a GAP certification from farms, streamlining food safety and potentially opening the door to new suppliers. Let’s just hope it’s a simple process, not a burdensome one.

Most importantly, Hawaii’s Farm to School program is in dire need of a passionate point person, a leader who can wrangle the many-armed food apparatus and facilitate change — and quickly. A program coordinator was hired in 2023, but DOE’s 2030 deadline is rapidly approaching, and so far the agency’s efforts to transform its food supply chain to one based on robust local sourcing has rotted on the vine.