Current Role: Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Program Manager – City and County of Honolulu, HI

What’s your favorite food?

Sinigang Soup

What do you enjoy about your work?

Supporting my community.

What do you find challenging about your work?

Navigating politics and government bureaucracy.

What areas of the food system do you encounter or focus on in your work? Where does food fit in with the rest of the work that you do?

As a food system planner I focus on all parts of the local food system, but most heavily on production, processing, and distribution. Most recently I’ve focused on public access to food growing spaces, increasing local food purchasing and distribution, and disaster resilience and response.

Do you consider yourself a food systems planner? Why or why not? 

Yes, I am a Planner VI in classification and have a masters in Urban and Regional Planning.

What is the biggest food systems planning-related hurdle your community/organization faced in recent years and how was it dealt with?

In Hawai’i, we import more than 90% of our foods, which both causes and is exacerbated by food systems weakness in the face of climate change and disasters, high food costs, high labor and input costs, and westernization of diet and culture. While there has been increasing support of local farms and producers, this hurdle is perpetual and is the wicked problem for food systems planners in Hawai’i.

What makes you successful in your work? What skills do you use the most in your food systems planning-related work?

Working as a farmer and in the non profit sector before joining the local government has made me successful because I am able to approach the work from a community member mindset (i.e., bottom up versus top down). I am also able to remain calm during chaos and can be flexible as our food system needs evolve.

Who has had the most influence on you as a planner? As a food systems planner?

My advisor, Dr. Subhashni Raj has been such a positive influence on me as a planner and community member.

What do you wish you would have known before going to planning school?

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD which would have been useful to know before becoming a master’s student – I’ve never been good at reading academic articles and I think I could have used coping mechanisms to make reading less painful for me! I also wish I would have had a stronger understanding of statistics and micro economics as I didn’t realize they would have such a presence in my master’s program!

How has your perception of food systems planning changed since you first entered the planning field?

I always knew it was a complicated field, but as I’m in it I am realizing how much more nuanced it really is.

Do you have any advice for someone entering the food systems planning field? 

My advice for someone entering the food systems planning field would be to immerse themselves in as many pieces of the food system as possible before becoming a planner. Being able to recall experiences and utilize my networks as a planner now has been instrumental to my interest and success.