WAIPAHU —  Fresh produce grown just steps from school cafeterias is making its way into student lunches as Hawaiʻi public schools expand farm-to-school efforts through school gardens and new hyper-local purchasing practices.

At Waipahu High and Leilehua High on O‘ahu and Hāna High & Elementary on Maui, students are planting, harvesting and now enjoying produce grown in their own school gardens — lettuce at Waipahu and Leilehua, and ʻuala (sweet potato) at Hāna — bringing the farm-to-school experience full circle. The effort builds on the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education’s (HIDOE) broader push to increase access to fresh, locally grown foods while strengthening connections between students, their food and their communities.

Ang mga ani mula sa mga paaralanang hardin ay isinasama sa mga pagkain sa cafeteria sa pamamagitan ng bagong diskarte sa pagbili ng Department na hyper-local, na nagpapahintulot sa mga paaralan na mag-order ng maliit na dami ng mga lokal na produkto — maging mula sa mga malapit na bukirin o mula sa kanilang sariling mga harding-pananim — habang nananatiling sumusunod sa mga kinakailangan sa pagbili ng estado. Sa ilalim ng modelong ito, ang mga pagbili ay dapat nasa ilalim ng cap na $5,000 lamang sa loob ng 10 buwang school year at nakatuon sa isang solong farm o food hub na nagbibigay ng isang partikular na item sa isang paaralan. Ang mga produkto ay dapat ding sumunod sa aprubadong recipe ng HIDOE, at dapat panatilihin ng mga vendor ang compliance sa Hawaii Compliance Express at certification ng kaligtasan ng pagkain.

At Waipahu High, students in the school’s Academy of Natural Resources had long discussed the idea of serving their produce in the cafeteria and were excited to see it finally become reality.

“It does help us not really rely on the mainland for vegetables,” Sherlene May Abuyo, a senior at Waipahu High School said. “Compared to if our students actually give produce to our cafe, it’s more fresh for our students to eat.”

For students involved in growing the produce, seeing their harvest served to classmates has been especially meaningful.

“It’s very rewarding seeing how our work gets put into food that everyone else actually gets to eat,” Waipahu High junior Alaiza Alvarez said. “I definitely think that all schools should have some sort of system like this.”

Alvarez added that the experience has shown students how school gardens can support sustainability efforts while creating a stronger connection to food.“It really models a sustainable system of how you grow the food and everyone else gets to eat the food,” she said. “It’s rewarding and sustainable.”

Students also said the effort has created greater excitement around local food and where school meals come from.

“It’s really encouraging to see local food and local produce being integrated more into our school lunches,” Waipahu High junior Kotone Springer said.

Springer said students appreciate knowing exactly where their food is coming from and being able to see the process firsthand.

“Waipahu made their own lettuce, and we’re eating it right now,” she said. “I’m just so excited to see their faces and their reactions to them actually trying their own lunches that were grown from our school.”

Ang pagpapalawig ng proseso ng pagbili na lokal na pinangangasiwaan ay nagpakita na ng tagumpay sa pamamagitan ng mga partnership sa mga maliliit na sakahan — gaya ng kamakailang paglulunsad ng Mga lokal na lumanghap na mikrogreen sa Kahaluʻu Elementary — kung saan ang mga produkto ay hinog sa malapit at inihahain sa loob ng ilang araw. May mga karagdagang kasunduan na nasa pagbuo sa buong estado.

Students at Waipahu High also hope the program continues to expand beyond lettuce to more locally grown produce and native crops.

“Hopefully we can start working on producing more local and native species as well,” Springer said. “We can be the first steps to encouraging local produce and native foods to our students’ palates.”

In addition to increasing the freshness and quality of school meals, the effort supports broader goals of sustainability, student wellness and local food system resilience. The initiative is part of HIDOE’s broader farm-to-school program, which supports food sustainability in Hawaiʻi and aligns with Batas 175’s goals to improve student health while strengthening the local agricultural economy.

Hawaiʻi public schools are among the state’s largest institutional food consumers, serving more than 100,000 student meals each day. HIDOE continues to work with local farmers and vendors statewide to expand the regular use of fresh, Hawaiʻi-grown produce in school cafeterias.