2024 was the year I decided to commit my interest in food, local food systems, resilience and communities to action.
As with the issue of walkability, the theme of focus at Pedestrian Space, the platform and NGO I founded, many of my observations and even the source of some (not all but some) of my research motivations emerging with the topic of food and cities are rooted in lived experience.
I photographed this fruit scene in the Puna district on the Big Island of Hawai’i in 2015, as part of one of my columns for a magazine at the time, to capture the richness, vibrance, and diversity of some locally grown fruit on this volcanic island.
The Big Island is rich with agricultural practices, benefited by the nutritious volcanic soil and of course the climate. Many of the state’s organic farms are also located on this island. Dining at cafes and restaurants around the Big Island, you can truly taste the difference of that locally grown freshness. The local food is SO GOOD.
There are also multiple farmers’ markets with local vendors and affordable pricing of a truly rich range of locally grown fruits and vegetables.
I studied for my Bachelor’s at University of Hawaii at Hilo back in the late 90’s. Among my favorite rituals was going to the Hilo Farmers Market every weekend, often with my parents (living nearby), and for a reasonable and affordable sum, getting my vegetables and some other food items for the week, directly from local island-based farmers.
Just as, several years ago as I was forming Pedestrian Space I was ‘connecting the dots’ of how walkability was a key theme through many chapters of my life (before I even knew the term), 2024 has been very much about beginning to connect the dots of how issues of local food, community, food literacy, and consumption has manifest in various chapters of my life and places lived and bringing that experience to my work and collaborations with others.
