Published 12:05 am Saturday, October 10, 2026

Hawaii Island is home to resilient communities, hardworking farmers, and neighbors who have a long tradition of coming together to help one another. That spirit has been especially important this year as the island has faced damaging weather, continued activity at Kilauea, and difficult conditions for local farmers.

Through it all, Hawaii Island continues to show what is possible when a community works together.

Farm harvests often result in excess produce that can’t be sold, leaving perfectly good food that could benefit families and communities. As farmers in Hawaii diligently tend to their lands, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to highlight how strong local partnerships can reduce waste and put surplus food to better use.

EPA and its Feed It Onward partners are working together to help reduce food waste across the country, including here in Hawaii, because the more food we rescue, the more people we feed. Under the leadership of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Feed It Onward is bringing attention to the people and organizations finding creative ways to make the most of the food we grow. This initiative highlights practical, community-driven solutions that reduce waste, strengthen local partnerships, and deliver real results for American families.

Hawaii Island’s Kokua Harvest program — run by Feed it Onward partner The Food Basket — works with volunteers who connect community organizations and neighbors with harvested food across Hawaii Island. Working with hundreds of volunteers, they harvest quality produce that might otherwise go unused, including weather-damaged crops, produce from bypassed fields, and fruit trees and gardens from backyards and farms.

Kokua Harvest distributes that produce to the farmers, volunteers and community organizations. Since the first crop harvest in October 2019, Kokua has harvested and distributed over 220,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to local residents in all nine districts of Hawaii Island.

Kokua Harvest’s approach is simple: collect fresh food that would otherwise go to waste and deliver it to organizations serving people in need.

Their work also shows that reducing food waste goes beyond food recovery. With food insecurity affecting 43% of Hawaii Island residents, the line between those who give and those who receive is not always as distinct as we might imagine. By sharing harvesting knowledge and farming practices across Hawaii, Kokua Harvest helps connect communities with the food already being grown and prevent more of it from going to waste.

As Hawaii recovers from Hurricane Lala, organizations like Kokua Harvest show the power of communities coming together to help those in need. They and all the Feed It Onward partners embody the Hawaiian spirit of “laulima” or cooperation of many hands.

Whether they’re a farmer with excess crops, a food business with food to spare, a nonprofit organization connecting communities, or a single person looking to volunteer time, everyone has a role to play in making sure surplus produce reaches people instead of rotting and attracting pests like fruit flies and pigs.

As the new season brings the Makahiki rains and the land heals and regenerates, we should measure the upcoming growing season not just in bushels grown or dollars earned, but in the number of families and communities nourished by nature’s bounty.

Kokua Harvest and the other Feed it Onward partners ensure that bounty is shared far and wide.

To learn more about Feed It Onward and how communities across America are reducing waste and strengthening local food systems, visit epa.gov/feed-it-onward.

Mike Martucci is regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Region.