Through this page you will be able to:

• Download our 2017 and 2021 FSMA Booklets

• Watch our food safety videos

• Get up to date with regulations and deadlines

• Understand cultural values and connection to food safety

• Additional local and national resources

Our Manaʻo on Food Safety: 

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is the largest update of the United States food safety laws in 70 years, primarily focused on regulating raw produce. The goal of food safety regulation is the prevention of foodborne illness and food poisoning (salmonella, E. coli, stomach flu virus, parasites, etc). At Roots, we wanted to expand on the cultural and community definition of food safety, and what that means for a local, resilient, and healthy food system in Hawai‘i. We aim to lift up the meaning of “safe” food as knowing where your food comes from, who grew it, connection to our farmers, our land, and the integrity of how it is grown. Our kūpuna knew how to grow, forage, prepare, and preserve food in ways that were in balance with the natural cycles and rhythms of our food system. What was pono, kept people safe. In this guide we aim to help break down FSMA regulations to make them clearer for small farmers to understand, while remembering the cultural values of this land.

Maiau: Mahiʻai Best practice - Aolani Higgins, Fiore Anderson, and Casey Chikuma of Hoʻoulu ʻĀina, Kalihi

Waiwai: We Value Our Water - Paul Reppun & Charlie Reppun of Waianu Farm, Waiāhole

Hanauna: Kalo and Food Safety - Dean Wilhelm of Hoʻokuaʻāina, Maunawili

Hanauna: Kalo and Community & Hanauna: Poi Production - Nick Reppun of Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi, Heʻeia

This guide will help you:

• Learn what the Produce Safety standards and regulations are and figure out if you are exempt.

• History of FSMA in the United States 

• Connection to food through a cultural lens

• Learn food safety best practices from local agricultural leaders. 

• Know your food safety landscape in Hawaiʻi (local buyer concerns and regulatory agencies). 

• Learn about Hawaiʻi water quality regulations and the history of water management and water rights. 

• Learn about kalo and poi food safety

  regulations and exemptions  

maiau:

Neat and careful in work; skillful, ingenious, expert; correct, careful, thorough, meticulous tidy. 

Being maiau and practicing food safety go hand in hand for the growing, processing and consumption of food.  When we look at our food system and the practices of our farmers, we want to make sure that they are not only growing good and healthy food for our community, but that they are also practicing safe practices for their own health and wellbeing.  

Throughout this section we will learn from our local agricultural leaders on their best practices. What are the cultural practices we use to ensure that our food system is safe. 

Mahiʻai Best Practices  

At Hoʻoulu ʻAina, growing the land and growing from the land is an important aspect of what they do for community and for each other. In this video we will learn from our mahiʻaina crew how they practice being maiau in their growing practices. 

Pule  

• Aloha circle and mahalo circle  

• Seed saving  

• Kilo ʻāina and kilo mahina  

• Planting and protecting  

• Feeding ʻāina  

• Kanaka irrigation and akua irrigation 

• Harvesting and washing  

• Hoʻokupu : honoring ʻāina and community 

Aolani Higgins, Fiore Anderson, and Casey Chikuma

Hoʻoulu ʻĀina, Kalihi

kuleana:

Right, privilege, concern, responsibility, authority, liability, interest. 

Our kuleana is to provide produce grown and harvested in the safest possible manner. Consumers want to be assured they can trust in the processing methods of a farm. Interviews with local buyers bring light to what they look for when working with farms. 

Waiwai:

Goods, property, assets, valuables, value, worth, wealth, importance, benefit. 

Ola i ka wai - water is the source of all life.  In Hawai‘i water is an important and controversial subject. Traditional views on water usage and ownership are very different than modern day. We will look at FSMA regulations, Hawai‘i state regulations and guidelines, and the historical context of water. 

We Value Our Water

Water is the life source of all forms of agriculture, without it nothing can grow. Kalo, fishponds and native ecosystems can all thrive . The Reppun brothers, Charlie and Paul, have been instrumental in restoring stream flow in the Koʻolaupoko area of Oahu. This video highlights their success in the Waiāhole water case and their view on the future of farming.

Charlie and Paul Reppun

Waianu Farm, Waiāhole

HANAUNA:

Generation, relative whose relationship was established several generations previously, ancestry, birth. 

Kalo is our older brother and is one of the most important and nutritious complex carbohydrates in Hawaiian culture. The growing of kalo is our guiding principle of what food safety means indigenously.  Kalo must be treated with reverence and respect in all aspects of growing and preparation.  Rules and regulations are still emerging to accommodate its unique requirements.  

Throughout this section we will go over federal regulation and exemptions, state level requirements, and value-added processes through the making of poi. 

Kalo and Food Safety

Kalo Is a staple for native Hawaiians and holds an important place in our diet. It is our ancestor, and one of the most nutritious complex carbohydrates. It provides fiber and probiotics that support a heathy gut microbiome. Poi is the processed form. This video will show traditional and modern processes of making poi.

 Dean Wilhelm

Hoʻokuaʻāina, Maunawili

Kalo and Community

The future of farming is a participatory food system . In the ahupuaʻa of Heʻeia,  Kakoʻo ʻOiwi focuses on restoring cultural connection between land and community through the cultivation of kalo. Their OLA (`Ohana Lo`i Adoption) Program provides space for `ohana to develop and deepen their relationship to food and land.  They are able to exercise true sovereignty by growing, tending, harvesting, preparing, cooking and eating their own food.  

Poi Production   

Kalo Is a staple for native Hawaiians and holds an important place in our diet. It is our ancestor, and one of the most nutritious complex carbohydrates. It provides fiber and probiotics that support a heathy gut microbiome. Poi is the processed form. This video will show traditional and modern processes of making poi.

Nick Reppun

Kakoʻo ʻŌiwi, Heʻeia

Nick Reppun

Kakoʻo ʻŌiwi, Heʻeia