DOE hopes a $35 million kitchen in Wahiawa will improve school lunches and give farmers a boost

Rep. Amy Perruso has introduced a suite of bills aimed at addressing the longstanding issues within the DOE’s food system, including House Bill 248, which would empower school complex area superintendents to take more ownership of their schools’ meal programs and local food purchases.

Just under 200 Hawaiʻi schools have kitchens, though some need to be renovated or retrofitted to allow for cooking from scratch, which advocates of farm to school food programs generally prefer.

The package of bills aim to build on the ʻAina Pono Farm to School program, which Mililani High School was part of, by renovating existing infrastructure, among other things.

“We have the data, we know it works. We know what the next steps need to be,” Perruso said. “That’s renovating our school production kitchens that already exist—193 of them.”

The DOE requested the $35 million for the proposed Wahiawā facility last year but former Gov. David Ige did not release the funds, which Perruso says was wise because it is an unproven concept.

Many of the 40-odd organizations already part of the Hawaiʻi Farm to School Hui agree.