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Living with Multiple Curiosity Disorder
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Art . Food . Farms . Health & Sustainable Living
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The New Year is a valuable time to reflect and to set our intentions on the good works ahead. How can we best support effective community strengthening? Especially in unsettling times.
Reviewing the diversity of interests we've pursued in One Island's programming since 2009 - the full range of the sustainability spectrum it seems - one of our Board Members recently commented that we "suffer from Multiple Curiosity Disorder".
We totally agree and that insatiable curiosity certainly helps to keep life interesting and connects our participants to meaningful experiences. Always learning, always stretching our imaginations, always being open to new and unexpected possibilities. From that inquisitive place our Art, Food, Farms, Health and Sustainability programs have been building dynamic new relationships and setting new goals for 2017 that we'll share below.
In recent weeks we've been enjoying connecting with inspiring, positive change agents - like West Hawaii Community Health Center for a meeting with Mayor Harry Kim, the Hawaii Wildlife Center's new hands-on educational displays, the LavaRoots Dance Company, Mushroom workshops with Zach Mermel, and gathering and donating trees to Kona and Kohala school gardens to help change happen.
Learning, dancing, art, music, helping, growing?
New research shows a meaningful life is different-and healthier-than
a happy one. What makes your life meaningful?
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NEWS: What's Coming up in 2017 at One Island
Being Part of the Change We Want to See in the World
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In August '16 One Island requested a meeting in Washington DC with the National Endowment for the Arts in order to advocate for support of the Arts on Hawaii Island. The fruitful meeting inspired the launch of a new Arts Planning project that has begun work in North Kohala and will share best practices with other Districts, island wide.
The goal of the new project is to engage the community in contributing to a written and visual planning document that both identifies current resources and envisions the future of our cultural and arts potential. Second, that Arts Plan will then help spur and guide
District CDP, County of Hawaii, and private funder support for improving our cultural arts resources and infrastructure.
 Examples of goals the planning group is hearing a need for:
+ Engaging more of the community in all forms of visual, written and performing arts
+ Creating enduring funding for public art, arts education, and special seasonal events as our cultural legacy
+ Developing live-work affordable housing for artists.
A Big Mahalo! to Council Member Margaret Wille
for getting culture and health on the ballot and, thanks to a majority of the public vote, the Cultural Arts were finally added as an action item for the Hawaii County Plan goals and responsibilities!
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Good News!
The next cycle of Same Canoe food system work has been awarded a new Specialty Crop Grant to showcase healthy, local canoe crop foods 2017-18.
We will be working with Farmers' Markets, Grocery stores, Restaurants and Chefs, School gardens, and Community groups to gather recipes, host cooking classes, provide free tastings, and connect buyers with farmers. The project promotes the appreciation and availability of these Hawaiian legacy foods. Districts served include Hamakua, North and South Kohala, and North and South Kona.
Mahalo to the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture for their support, and the USDA Specialty Crop Program!
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Grace Farm Kohala produce heading to the
Kava Kafe for a Friday night Vegan dinner in Hawi
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Real Food : Real Farms
We are continuing to showcase '
Real Food : Real Farms' in our community outreach and publications. The goal is to help buyers get to 'Know Your Farmer' and to help farmers find new customers. We are out in the field interviewing both seasoned and beginning farmers and seeing really inspiring farms. Watch for news in future newsletters and local print publications.
We've begun the ground work for a really interesting new 'Sweet Potato Trial' project that is bringing 10 partners together - 5 farms and 5 ag professionals. All are dedicated to testing varieties of sweet potatoes and varieties of soil and pest management methods.
Goal: identify the best ways to increase the production of healthy, high-nutrient, organic sweet potatoes that promote a Hawaiian legacy food, improve local health, protect the aina, and generate new sales for farmers, grocers and restaurants.
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Food IS Good Medicine
2016 launched a new Health initiative with community forums, guest speakers, and farmers' market events featuring over a dozen Island health advocates.
For 2017, we are working with more partners and Health is now a new top-level theme on the main One Island
web site
to reflect our growing community of stakeholders. We are actively working with over a dozen groups and providers to turn our 'Food IS Good Medicine' concept into an effective lifestyle change initiative in the communities we serve. Watch for new programs in 2017.
A Big Mahalo to our inspiring and innovative stakeholders doing the 'Good Work': Blue Zones Hawaii, West Hawaii Community Health Center, Hamakua-Kohala Health, Ho'opomaika'i, and the Naturopathic Physicians Society. Together, we serve over 30,000 island residents with positive health and behavior change tools.
"Living Longer. Better."
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Big News for Tiny Houses
in Hawaii
This fall, One Island launched a Tiny House Initiative and we are encouraging public input to help craft new State-level legislation in support of this affordable housing option.
Our first Planning Group meeting will be
January 28th, in Hawi, 2-5pm.
As interest grows for this affordable housing solution, we are hearing a diversity of potential applications. We first began with the "Home is where the Farm is" focus that predicts: More Housing . More Farmers. More Food!
As more people weigh in, there is growing interest in State legislation that will allow Tiny Houses for homeless, disabled, artist, and other residential uses, potentially without costly permits and easy installation options.
Learn more about the initiative at our web site. RSVP for a seat at the meeting and join in the breakout sessions by emailing hawaii@oneisland.org. Representative Cindy Evans, County Councilmember Tim Richards, and a representative of newly-elected Councilmember Jen Ruggles will be part of the afternoon's conversation.
Mahalo to State of Hawaii Representatives Cindy Evans and Brian Lee, and State Senators Russell Ruderman, Mike Gabbard and Josh Green who have given their support for getting a Tiny House Bill crafted for voting this new legislative session.
Green is a Verb - BUILD IT!
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One Island is a 501c3 non-profit organization
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