Integrated Food Systems
Fostering a just, environmentally sustainable, prosperous, equitable, and resilient community-based food system for Oʻahu
Food is pilina: it connects people to place, culture, and one another. Building a sustainable and equitable food system for Oʻahu requires investing in these relationships—our connections to ʻāina, our communities, and the traditions that nourish us.
The Integrated Food Systems Program seeks to break down silos within government and strengthen collaboration with community partners, fostering pilina and amplifying the City’s collective impact across the food system.
Oʻahu Food Systems Action Plan
The Resilience Office has developed the City and County of Honolulu’s first-ever Oʻahu Food Systems Action Plan to guide the actions and investments of the City in bringing about a sustainable, prosperous, resilient, equitable, and community-based food system.
Key Projects
Expanding SNAP & WIC Access to Local Food
In partnership with the Hawaiʻi Good Food Alliance, the Resilience Office completed two complementary initiatives to expand the use of key federal nutrition benefit programs at farmers markets and food hubs across Oʻahu: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and SNAP for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). SNAP sales increased by more than $23,000—from $314,416 in 2024 to $339,810 in 2025—while transactions rose by 1,689. The projects also engaged 14 WIC clinics and approximately 250 farmers, market managers, and community partners, helping lay the foundation for expanded WIC participation. Through technical assistance, vendor onboarding, outreach, and coordination with state agencies, these efforts strengthened system-wide capacity to connect residents with fresh, affordable, and locally grown food.
Farm to School Action Plan
The City is proud to have collaborated with the Hawai‘i State Department of Education and the Office of the First Lady to support the development of a Farm to School Action Plan for Central O‘ahu to enhance student nutrition, create guaranteed markets for local farmers, and promote food sustainability in Hawaiʻi’s public schools. This initiative—which centers on the state’s first Regional Kitchen serving on the Leilehua, Mililani, and Waialua Complex Area—was developed by the Hawaiʻi Agricultural Foundation with funding secured by the City through a USDA grant.
In 2020, the City launched the Food Security-Scaping for Affordable Housing project, installing 160 garden beds across seven affordable housing sites. Implemented rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic with CARES Act funding, the initiative aimed to increase community access to fresh food, promote self-sufficiency, and support mental and physical wellbeing through community gardening. Four years later, the Resilience Office revisited the project to assesses the long-term sustainability, functionality, and impact of these gardens. Findings will inform future planning and investment in community-based food systems within public housing.
Evaluating Community Gardens in Public Housing
Garden beds at Mānoa Gardens Elderly Housing.
Food Access Micro Summits
To better understand how the City can support access to healthy and affordable food, community meetings were held in Waiʻanae, Kalihi, and Waimānalo in partnership with the City's Office of Economic Revitalization. Findings from these and future summits are informing the development of the City’s first Food Systems Plan.
Oʻahu Good Food Program
Agricultural practices are a key adaptation for both addressing contributing factors to climate change and mitigating impacts. Resources for supporting current activities and transitions to Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices are increasingly available from multiple sources. Designed to help farmers and planners in Hawaiʻi, this resource provides a way to more effectively navigate these resources.
Developed in collaboration with Oʻahu Resource Conservation and Development Council, this new mapping tool provides useful information to help producers plan and enhance their farming practices, including information about elevation, hazards and risks, land use, rainfall, and soil characteristics. Simply draw an area on a map of Oʻahu and generate your report.
Oʻahu AgExplorer
Oʻahu Compost Project
The now-completed Oʻahu Compost Project diverted over 30,000 pounds of commercial food waste from restaurants in Chinatown to Hawaiʻi’s first in-vessel composting unit. It aimed to close the biological resource loop and create high-quality compost for local farmers.
Hawaiʻi Food Garden Fund
The Hawaiian Council and the Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute have launched the Hawaiʻi Food Garden Fund in partnership with the City to establish 1,000 edible gardens to increase food sovereignty. This program builds upon similar efforts in 2020 with CARES Act funds, which implemented edible gardens in public housing complexes.
Food access is a key dimension of food security. This story map walks through important factors affecting food access on Oʻahu, from federal nutrition programs like SNAP and WIC to the location of emergency food assistance programs (e.g. food banks) and community and school gardens. Tools like this help us plan for a more affordable, accessible, and equitable island food system.
Hawaiʻi CSA Webtool
The Oʻahu Good Food Program uses the purchasing power of the City and County of Honolulu, large organizations, and the hospitality industry to support local farmers, ranchers and growers. Recently, the Resilience Office engaged local food systems data firm Supersistence to evaluate the program, identify key barriers and opportunities, and develop strategic recommendations to guide future investments.
Food Access Map
Summer Internship Project: Honouliuli Station StoryMap
During the summer of 2026, the Resilience Office hosted four high school interns through the Punahou Sustainability Internship Program. One of our interns, Maile Sargent, developed a Stations of Abundance: Honouliuli Station StoryMap that explores the agricultural history and evolution of Honouliuli Station within Oʻahu's food system, highlighting the connections between transit-oriented development, food, and ʻāina.
Stations of Abundance
Stations of Abundance is a City initiative integrating food access along Skyline stations to increase food security, support public health, and strengthen community resilience.
Through community planting, events, and educational activities, Stations of Abundance transforms urban spaces into places where people can connect with food, learn, and build community.
City Now Accepting Food Waste in Curbside Green Bin
Oʻahu homes generate over 60,000 tons of food waste each year. By composting food waste instead of trashing it, we have the opportunity to save limited landfill space, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create nutrient-rich soil amendments.
The Department of Environmental Services launched the G.R.O.W. (Green Recycling Organic Waste) program to include the food in the green compost bin. As of October 1, 2026, all residents who currently receive the City's automated curbside collection services can now add food scraps and wasted food to their green bin.
