|
Farm in Waianae wins
hearts and $25,000
The nonprofit receives recognition
from Yale for its groundbreaking
community campaign
Kanoe Burgess stood before an impressive panel of renowned entrepreneurs, economists and professors in New Jersey earlier this month, presenting a business plan for the nonprofit Waianae farm managed by youth that she joined three years ago.
Mala 'Ai 'Opio -- also known as MA'O -- has brought the Leeward Coast community together, she told the judges for a competition among nonprofits, administered by Yale University. The group has also broadened residents' knowledge about food and living healthy and brought agricultural learning to area intermediate and high schools, she said.
At the end of her 10-minute speech, Burgess opened the floor to questions.
And one of the most pointed came at the end. "If you weren't at MA'O," a judge asked Burgess, "where would you be?" The 21-year-old, a graduate of Waianae High School who never gave much thought about her future until taking an internship at the farm in 2002, paused for a moment and then said, slowly, "I wouldn't know."
The answer, along with a business plan drawn up by Burgess, MA'O managers Gary and Kukui Maunakea-Forth and others, put the farm in one of the top spots at the Yale School of Management's Third National Business Plan Competition.
Candy Muir of Ewa Beach sniffs a fragrant bunch of organically grown basil as Burgess looks on.
"When we first developed this idea, what most people said is, 'No kid wants to be a farmer these days,'" said Gary Maunakea-Forth, who helped start the farm four years ago. "But we've got kids who are really into it."
This summer, he said, he has brought on interns who will spend 10 months learning both the technical and entrepreneurial sides of farming and get a small stipend and a lot of good food in the process.
The youth also work at the farm's adjoining Aloha Aina Cafe, which sells MA'O's high-end organic food at rock-bottom prices, and take informal classes on leadership and Hawaiian culture.
Since the farm started, he has worked with about 20 interns.
More than 500 Waianae intermediate and high school students, meanwhile, have participated in agricultural classes put on by MA'O. "We want to both create jobs and create new leaders in our community," Maunakea-Forth said, "while pumping some really good food and products into our community."
The farm has become a hot spot in Waianae and its produce a crowd-pleaser at the Kapiolani Community College farmer's market, where students go twice a month to sell fruits and vegetables ranging from dry-land taro to limes and mangoes.
With the Yale grant money, MA'O will plant crops in a 2 1/2-acre field it recently acquired and expand its educational initiatives. Maunakea-Forth also plans to take his entire crew -- interns and all -- out to dinner at Waialae Avenue's Town restaurant, which MA'O supplies with produce.
MA'O -- poised to become the biggest organic farm in the state -- also sells to Kokua Market and at smaller markets in Waianae and Nanakuli.
"We're getting well known," Burgess said with a laugh. "From my first year, I've seen a tremendous growth. ... People want our things."
The biggest growth, though, is in the youth.
Once they start working on the land, Burgess said, "they start eating more healthy; they're more aware of what they're eating and where their food comes from. It gives them a lot of pride."
It also keeps them coming back.
A handful of intermediate school students show up at the farm every day, asking if they can pull weeds for the day in exchange for some fruits and vegetables. Maunakea-Forth always obliges.
E-mail to City Desk
[News] [Business] [Features] [Sports] [Editorial] [Do It Electric!]
[Classified Ads] [Search] [Subscribe] [Info] [Letter to Editor]
[Feedback]
