Mahalo to all that came through for our third Regenerative Movie Night with special thanks to Jamila, Clive and the community at Kamani Grove, a.k.a. the AUMstead, for graciously opening up their kitchen and comfy, cozy lounge spaces amidst the beautiful aina to host our third movie night. We had incredible farm fresh local snacks to share and meaningful discussions based on the films presented.
💡 Gentle Reminder: We are grateful for the community coming together and sharing time, energy, food and volunteering other services to put on this important series. If you have not already and are able, please donate $10-$20 or more to support the costs of putting on the event, producing future events and continuing to build on the insights gained through our community’s conversations. We have made much progress thus far, are seeing real change, aligned connections and forward movement on creating regenerative economic opportunities in Puna. Please show your love and support!
The intention of Night 3 was to see and discuss local Hawaiian perspectives on the themes that have been emerging in community gatherings related to development of local food hubs and regenerative economic opportunities. We presented three short documentaries created by PBS Hawaii featuring profiles on Hawaiian leaders in the fields of alleviating hunger through food banks, providing social services and community empowerment through listening to elders, keiki and the aina as part of Vibrant Hawaii organization as well as restoring the aina, reclaiming blighted spaces and offering healthy food services with youth. Many Puna-specific responses emerged in discussion after each film, informing the beginnings of crafting and sharing stories and songs of local community, Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian alike, that speak to the deep forms of agriculture, living in balance with aina, mana and serving our families and communities that are present here, after many decades and generations of development. Below are summaries of the films screened and responses in discussion with community present. One theme common amongst all three films is family — whether parents, elders, kids, friends, colleagues, organizations or aina, relationships feature largely throughout these stories of service impacting the aina and the people in a good way.
A Leader’s Journey: Amy Miller
Amy Miller is the President & CEO of Hawaiʻi Foodbank, a nonprofit that distributes millions of pounds of food annually and serves more than 170,000 people monthly across the islands. Contact info:
- https://hawaiifoodbank.org
- 808-836-3600
- 2611 Kilihau St; Honolulu, HI 96819
Community Responses to Film
Responses to the film included commending efforts at serving food at such a large scale while comments and questions were raised regarding the level of plastic, packaging and food coming from the mainstream food industry instead of growing it locally and serving it fresh. Questions were also raised about what it would actually take to realize the bold vision presented to end hunger on the islands and eliminate the significant food insecurity that many folks face. The leadership in the room—all folks attending—were recognized for taking journeys that led them to food sovereignty, living in ways that address societal issues at their roots and taking direct care of the land. Many folks also practice or teach gardening, farming and various healing modalities in the community to eat fewer processed foods while taking good care of the aina and ourselves. We wondered what it would look like for Puna to produce food at the scale that is required so we may be able to feed hungry folks here as well as folks visiting the foodbanks featured in the film. This is one route to fund local regenerative agricultural efforts and shine a bright light on homesteads, farms and ecovillages that are already doing this and developing new offerings. The mention of data features largely in the stories shared in the film. We are curious what kinds of data and stories we can gather and present from our local community that lead to partnering with Amy and similar organizations to secure resources for regenerative efforts here.
A Leader’s Journey: Janice Ikeda
Janice Ikeda is CEO of Vibrant Hawaiʻi, a grassroots nonprofit focused on community resilience, housing, economic development, and disaster preparedness across Hawaiʻi Island. Contact info:
- contact@vibranthawaii.org
- 808-365-1808
- 305 Wailuku Drive, Suite 6A; Hilo, HI 96720
Community Responses to Film
Overall a very positive response to this film due to the focus on the aina, growing plants and honoring communal self-definition, especially in conversation with kupuna (elders). We see kalo being featured, we see Janice speaking at the banks of Wailuku River 🌳 next to Wainuenue (Rainbow Falls) 🌊 honoring the stories of these places including Goddess Pele and Pele’s family 🔥 We were particularly moved by the story of redefining “poverty.” Janice visited elders in Ka’u to help address the poverty there. What she heard in response, and respected, was that they are not in poverty and they like the way it is there. This brings up a beautiful discussion about the true meaning of wealth, abundance and how to live freely, in balance. We are curious to explore this discussion more with our communities, crafting and sharing stories and songs based here. Vibrant Hawaii has weekly office hours on Mondays at the Pahoa Public Library from noon to 4pm.
A Leader’s Journey: John Leong
John Leong is CEO & Co-Founder of Kupu, empowering youth through environmental stewardship, conservation and service programs across Hawai’i. He is also founder of Pono Pacific, a conservation land-management company.
- john.leong@kupuhawaii.org
- 808-735-1221
- 55 Merchant Street, Suite 3100; Honolulu, HI 96813
Community Responses to Film
Folks felt particularly inspired here to think big and visualize transformations they would like to see in themselves and in Puna. One of the main stories presented involved transforming a blighted area rife with drug and alcohol abuse as well as folks living without housing into a thriving community center for growing, cooking and serving healthy food and offering other services for wellness and creativity. John heard Personally from an individual whose life was completely turned around for the better based on this work. John also specifically mentioned working with money in a good way to move forward positive change for people and planet. This included openly encouraging financial support for leaders and changemakers across the islands that are having positive impact in their communities. We are grateful for the support and curious to learn more about grants and other partnership opportunities available to communities like ours building regenerative economic opportunities in Puna.
Please contact Gaurav with questions or interest in volunteering or partnering. We are actively seeking volunteers and partners in filmmaking, community organizing, fundraising and regenerative agriculture to build on what we are learning through this series and related efforts in Puna.
