Produce partnership helps Hawaii families in need

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A garden of giving is thriving in Pearl City.

You may not notice it if you’re zipping by on the H1, but just below the freeway is a piece of land where gardening and generosity are thriving.

Just name it and they’ve probably grown it at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa‘s Urban Garden Center. Everything from corn to kalo.

“We try to select varieties that are more adapted for Hawaii and we do trials to evaluate these varieties,” said Jensen Uyeda, a county extension agent with the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience. “One of the things I was looking for is to see which ones are more heat tolerant.”

Uyeda’s field trials help farmers grow beds filled with bounty and his research is flourishing.

“I’m learning we can grow a really good cabbage and it’s a lot of production,” Uyeda said. “Our last trial, we did a cabbage variety trial and we had about 500 pounds of surplus after we’ve collected the data.”

But what do you do with all that extra cabbage? That’s where the Oahu-based non-profit The Pantry comes in. It helps families who are struggling with food insecurity.

“So just last month, July 2025, was the most families that we’ve ever served in the history of our organization,” said Jennine Sullivan, the executive director of The Pantry. “Individuals are finding themselves hurting and a lot of our clients are working families with the high cost of living. It’s just not enough.”

The Pantry’s volunteers come to the garden every week ready to get their hands dirty.

“They’ll do whatever is needed. Whether that be building raised beds, harvesting beautiful kalo like this. Planting, weeding, washing produce,” explained Sullivan.

This produce partnership makes sure that crops don’t go to waste and that dinner plates across Oahu are full.

“I think that being able to receive produce and receive fresh fruits is really just the absolute world to our families,” Sullivan said. “To be able to receive things like kalo, like ‘uala, like ‘ulu that had been grown here locally, that our clients are familiar with. It’s going beyond the can. It’s not just receiving a box of food and saying ‘we hope you like it.’ It’s grown with love here in our community. It’s harvested with love.”

Now that the cabbages are gone, Uyeda has planted new crops, including grape tomatoes and kai choy, in the same fields to supply more families with food.

The garden has donated more than 30 tons of fresh produce to The Pantry, the Hawaii Foodbank and Aloha Harvest since 2019.

“It feels really good to see my hard work be utilized out in the community,” he said.

Click here to explore the services offered by The Pantry.

And follow this link for details on programs at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa‘s Urban Garden Center.