Department of Agriculture tells committee it supports codifying food-security plan, will build dashboard

Department representatives told the committee they support adding the Food and Nutrition Security Plan to Title 22 and described next steps for measuring implementation.

Director Kale Arce said the plan is the county's "foundational instrument" to guide local production and resilience. "The food nutrition and security plan is the foundational instrument to guide the local production of more plant and animal foods which contribute to building self-sufficiency and enhancing the county's economy," Director Arce said when introducing the department's remarks. Lauren Nelson, the department''s food access coordinator, said the department has met with GIS staff and hopes to avoid contracting out dashboard development: "So our department is happy to, both launch and maintain the dashboard," she told the committee.

Department staff said they are collecting action-lead data for the plan''s 131 actions and expect the number of identified leads to grow from an initial 42. They described the dashboard and annual update requirement in the CD1 as central to transparency: the bill requires an online dashboard accessible from the county website and yearly updates on progress. Staff acknowledged many implementation details remain to be assigned and that funding and incentives will be explored; they asked the committee to view the ordinance as a framework to guide both policy and later, targeted implementation measures.

The department also described efforts to integrate Native Hawaiian knowledge and cultural practices into plan implementation and asked that the Office of OED Resources have an ongoing role to ensure those values remain central.