What is my connection to fish and food?

Mason (head of project)

“My dad has been dragging me out into the middle of the ocean looking for bird piles since I was 5 years old.

Fishing is how we get most of our protein. The true joy in catching these beautiful fish is what comes afterwards: sharing it with our friends and family.

But the ocean isn’t always accessible.

I soon found myself deep in the valleys of the northeast side of the island working in lo’i kalo (taro ponds). Something changed the first time I harvested and ate my own kalo (taro). I started to look at the land differently… instead of dirt, I saw food.

Learning the ways of kalo (taro) taught me the land is a relationship. What you put in the ground (physically and mentally) is what you’ll receive in return.

I started to see that our well-being is tied to the health of our ecosystem.”

Steve (fisherman)

“For me the connection goes deep on so many levels. I am a 4th generation commercial fisherman / fish monger and you could say providing fish to the community is in my blood.

For me feeding people is a spiritual thing too: we used have a ministry feeding the less fortunate in Chinatown. My friend who ran it always said feed their bellies then feed their soul.

That has resonated with me since.

It’s funny too people say cutting / catching fish is so much work and I will tell you this it is, but it never feels that way. Providing a bag of fish to someone or preparing dinner with the fish we caught and seeing how excited and appreciative they are it makes it all worth it.

Feeding their belly feeds my soul.”

We are on a mission to share this connection to food with everyone in hopes we can strengthen Hawai’i’s food systems for our future generations.

The true health benefits don’t come from buying organic produce from the store, but by participating in the cultivation of it.

Our environment. Ourselves.