County lawyers are advising the Honolulu Charter Commission to scrap a ballot initiative that would enshrine food as a human right for local residents.

The concept, which is intended to shore up the island’s food system and address island food security, would ensure the county considers food as part of its every move. The Department of Corporation Counsel says the county’s existing food security programs are enough. 

Advocates for the charter amendment are mobilizing to urge the commission to reject the recommendation at its meeting Monday and keep the proposal on track to go before voters for approval Nov. 3. They point at the broader context as cuts to federal feeding programs continue, global agricultural and food supply chains tighten and studies show a quarter of the island’s population struggles to feed itself.

Commissioners say a final decision will not be made until its next meeting but advocates fear it’s a foregone conclusion as part of an already opaque process.

Community organizer Kima Wassel Hardy sees the proposed amendment as a way to build on momentum at the county level, as officials write the island’s first food security plan, open up to planting food in public spaces and move to address hunger and health problems throughout O‘ahu. It would also help build on widespread community efforts to increase food access and address chronic food health problems, she added. 

“We’re not asking the city and the county to become a food bank and to feed us,” Wassel Hardy said. “We’re saying we need something on paper that gives us legal rights to do the work that we know needs to be done.”

As of Thursday, more than 70 individuals from over a dozen organizations had signed a community letter urging the commission to disregard the advice it has received on the amendment. 

The proposal is based on an international convention recognizing access to sufficient, nutritious and affordable food as a basic human right. This right to food is recognized by 170 countries and has been explicitly adopted in the constitutions of approximately 30 countries. The U.S. has not recognized food as a human right. 

The proposal has inspired state lawmakers too, who adopted a House resolution earlier this month to follow suit. It calls on the state and counties to create a comprehensive statewide food security strategy, to strengthen policy writing for food security and the right to food in the future. 

If the proposed charter amendment fails to make the ballot, advocates fear they will have to wait another 10 years to try again – when the next charter amendment process is scheduled. 

It can be a daunting commitment but considering food as a human right can manifest in several ways, according to statewide food systems coordinator Amanda Shaw. “It’s an aspirational project,” she said, “one that really helps to galvanize action.” 

‘A Matter Of Survival’

The commission formed three advisory groups earlier this year to spread the load of assessing more than 280 proposed charter amendments submitted last year. The permitted interaction group on community, resources and accountability, which considered the right to food proposal, was the first to submit its recommendations last week. 

The group recommended the commission move forward with just three of the 42 proposals it considered. Four had merit “but may require considerable further discussion” and the rest were not recommended, according to the final report.

Few testified on the recommendations, though Sustainable Coastlines Executive Director Rafael Bergstrom was among those who criticized the commission for its apparent lack of due consideration and public consultation. Bergstrom, Wassell Hardy and others said the group relied too much on the Department of Corporation Counsel, rather than residents and subject matter experts.

“There are thousands that do not concur with the corporation counsel,” Bergstrom told the commissioners.

Charter commissioner Trey Gordner, who was part of the advisory committee, declined to discuss the group’s recommendations. He told Civil Beat he didn’t want to preclude any of the floor discussion expected Monday.

Bergstrom and others have drafted a letter in support of six of the 35 proposals that were recommended for axing. They include creating a Department of ʻŌiwi Resources, similar to what Maui County has, and adding Indigenous values to the charter’s preamble; establishing a county biosecurity department; establishing a comprehensive zero-waste plan for Honolulu; enshrining food as a priority for the city and creating a food security fund. 

“Across Oʻahu, the impacts are felt. Families are skipping meals. Kupuna are choosing between food and medicine. Local farmers are facing crop losses from storms, invasive species, and rising costs,” according to the community letter. “These are not abstract issues. They are daily reality for our communities. This is a matter of survival.” 

Corporation Counsel justified its position to kill proposals including, among other things, county departments prioritizing local food purchases, because they might conflict with state procurement laws. As for the right to food, according to the counsel’s report, the city’s current food security and sustainability program is sufficient.

Hawaiʻi Food Bank has submitted its own proposal, calling on the county to help local feeding organizations deal with federal cuts and record demand. The proposal, which would create an estimated $8 million food security fund, is still being considered by a separate advisory committee. 

The review period is slated to finish at the end of April, with final ballot measures being selected between May and July, followed by public outreach. Voters will then decide on Nov. 3.

National Spotlight

Maine was the first state in the U.S. to recognize the right to food in 2021, an effort that was supported by human rights lawyer Denisse Cordova Montes. The Pine Tree State enshrined the right as part of its constitution, primarily to protect local farmers and food producers from overly burdensome rules and regulations, said Montes, a professor with the University of Central Florida.

To be sure, Hawaiʻi officials have already stepped in to assist during disaster situations or when funding is cut. But, Montes said, having a jurisdiction recognize food as a right would help better prepare Hawaiʻi to absorb those shocks. 

It’s about taking a holistic approach to ensuring all residents have access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food, she said. “We have enough data out there that increasing production has not reduced hunger,” Montes said. “It’s about holding governments accountable.”

More recently in Maine, Montes said, food being in the constitution helped ensure stability during shocks to the food system – such as the federal government shutdown late last year – by making the state officially responsible for ensuring residents didn’t go hungry.

Hawaiʻi advocates are already thinking about filling the gaps as they keep their eye on creating a sustainable food system that is based on the diverse values of residents, environmentally and culturally. 

Local advocacy has captured the attention of national groups, including the National Right to Food Community of Practice. Director Alison Cohen says this approach to enshrining food as a right has been inspirational, and has been shared around the mainland U.S. 

So far, much of the conceptualization has dwelled on ensuring residents have a say in what kind of food system they are part of – one where food is grown sustainably, in an environmentally friendly way, that can withstand supply chain shocks and disasters. 

Hawaiʻi has been doing much of the work that right to food advocates would like states to do by mandating state institutions buy local food to support jobs and bolster food security. Another example would be ensuring food organizations pay good wages, or that cities allow food to be grown in public spaces. 

“Many elected officials feel like ‘If we pass a law that guarantees food as a human right, we’re going to be responsible for feeding everyone.’ That’s a misunderstanding,” Cohen said. “A human right is progressively realized. It’s aspirational and it slowly changes, over time, how programs operate.”

In Maine, it took three attempts before the right to food went to the ballot in 2021, when 60% of residents voted to include that Mainers have “a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food.” It all started with local ordinances, Montes said. 

“Hawai‘i Grown” is funded in part by grants from the Stupski Foundation, Ulupono Fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation. Civil Beat’s reporting on economic inequality is supported by the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation as part of its work to build equity for all through the CHANGE Framework; and by the Cooke Foundation.