Ka ʻUlu Ana Na Mahiʻai

Growing Our Next Generation of Organic Farmers

These talk-story events will feature panel discussions on the cutting edge, farmer-enabled conversations to support the growth of local, certified-organic agriculture in Hawai‘i Nei.

Moderator: Gary Maunakea-Forth

Speakers: Josh Silva, Luke Livaudais, Daniela Elliot, Kalehua Krug, Laura Edginer, Matt Lau

Josh Silva

Joshua Silva is an edible crop Extension Agent with the University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension, with his primary focus being sustainable agriculture. His background is in soil science and includes projects in Pacific agroforestry systems; and his current work includes fertilizer management, pest and disease management, food safety, and crop variety trials. In CTAHR, he is part of the Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Program (SOAP), which conducts applied research and provides educational outreach to both conventional and organic farmers. Through his and SOAP's efforts, they continue to support established and beginning farmers, providing organic farming recommendations. Josh is excited for discussion and hearing more from the organic agriculture community!

Laura Edginer

Laura grew up in a multi-generational farming family in Nebraska and made her way back to farming as the Associate Director of GoFarm Hawaii, where she helps to keep everything on track for students and staff at GoFarm's 5 farmer training sites and statewide agribusiness support services. I'm excited to share our stories about the farmers who come through our program with all their own unique sets of skills and experiences and dreams for working in farming, and the opportunities and challenges of making it work as a farmer in Hawaii.

Daniela Elliot

Daniela has been a faculty member at the University of Hawaii-Leeward Community College since 2014, serving as the program coordinator for the Sustainable Agriculture Program. The program includes organic agriculture as a foundational course. She collaborates with farmers, training programs, nonprofits, and local businesses to offer students hands-on experiences in agriculture and natural resources. Outside of academia, Daniela is actively involved as a seed grower, producing organic certified seeds.

Kalehua Krug

Kalehua Krug is proudly from the Waiʻanae Coast on the island of Oʻahu. He currently resides in Lualualei with his 3 keiki. He has worked as a Kaiapuni Immersion teacher, a Hawaiian Language Teacher Educator at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and transitioned to become the administrator of the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program of the Department of Education in 2014. In 2019, Kalehua became the Principal of Ka Waihona o ka Naʻauao Public Charter School. He studies indigenous philosophy and worldview and utilizes Hawaiian cultural traditions as a mechanism to build a more sustainable future for our children and our environment. He is a practitioner of kākau uhi Hawaiʻi, traditional Hawaiian tattooing and is also a Hawaiian musician and composer

Luke Livaudais

Luke Livaudais is a son, brother, husband, father, community member, doctoral student at UH Mānoa, and the current Youth Empowerment Specialist at MAʻO Organic Farms. My purpose is to love the world and my community as my ancestors have done before me––leading me to support youth in their self-discovery and connection to ʻāina simultaneously and interdependently. During the panel, I hope to contribute to the larger conversation of growing the next generation of community contributors by sharing MAʻO methods of supporting ʻōpio (*youth*) and my experiences in this work.

Matthew Kekoa Lau

Matthew Kekoa Lau is a kanaka ʻōiwi born in Southern California and raised part-time in Redondo Beach and in Honolulu (Nu‘uanu). Matt earned his doctorate in Ecology from Northern Arizona University and was a Postdoctoral Fellow and a Research Associate at Harvard University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Indigenous Knowledge and Practice at the University of Hawa‘i West O‘ahu, where his role is to expand food systems research, education and application, focusing on Hawai‘i and the Pacific.

This Program is supported through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP). TOPP is a program of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative and is administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP).