Regenerative Agriculture
"Kelly is a person who understands how government works…each level needs the level below which leads to growth…whatever you put into
the process is effected by the process just as regenerative ag is an infinite process that has built our natural systems…kelly understands how to rebuild our systems as the new normal…"
Bill Greenleaf
The demise of sugar cane production provided opportunities to reduce our reliance on imported food by developing sustainable forms of agriculture. Kelly has been advocating for a new model for Agriculture on Maui for many years. The video below is from 2016. One of the proposed Charter Amendments established a County Department of Agriculture. It's purpose is to find new ways to support our Ag community and the need for us to produce enough food to sustain ourselves without the mainland.
Envisioning a new future
Regenerative agriculture includes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity - resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.
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Stewardship over the land
The key to regenerative agriculture is that it not only “does no harm” to the land but actually improves it, using technologies that regenerate and revitalize the soil and the environment. Regenerative agriculture leads to healthy soil, capable of producing high quality, nutrient-dense food while simultaneously improving, rather than degrading land, and ultimately leading to productive farms and healthy communities and economies. It is a dynamic and holistic, incorporating permaculture and organic farming practices, including conservation tillage, cover crops, crop rotation, composting, mobile animal shelters, and pasture cropping, to increase food production, farmers’ income, and especially, topsoil.
Small microbes - Big Results
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Regenerative ag feeds the microbes in the soil…the microbes number in the billions per spoonful…they travel to the roots of the plant to
get sugar dripped from the roots as a product of photosynthesis …the microbes leave a deposit called exudite…exudite is what the plant
uses to build cellulose which forms the structure of the plant…it’s a universal process that is self perpetuating unless poison resets the system…poison does not know when to stop killing.
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Crops that not only feed us but also provide an alternative economic base for the people of Maui
Over the years, residents have consistently said that they value the open spaces and a significant degree of small-town, agricultural environment. That desire was firmly established by the Maui Economic Board's Focus Maui Nui survey which was intended to influence Maui's 30 year, Countywide Plan. Obviously, The County has had great difficulty in balancing the great wealth that mainlanders can gain by developing Maui for their own profit needs..with the desires and needs of residents.
Today, more than ever, it's clear that not only must we fulfill that vision but we must also ensure that we are able to feed ourselves, in the event of an interruption in the barge service that provides 90% of the food we eat.
This has been a longstanding goal of mine. The County Councils Charter Amendment Proposal is intended to support Maui Nui's ability to achieve much greater progress in this area!
Benefiting the local economy
The ultimate solution, the right solution, is to achieve these economic and sustainability needs of residents in a way that provides for residents, not just mainland corporations.
Sunflower fields - The benefit of my own experience!
The beautiful sunflower fields that brighten ag land in Central Maui actually produce bio-fuel for my company, Pacific Biodiesel. We understand the importance of stewardship over the land and incorporate the regenerative agriculture in our own practice! I bring that experience to bear as I work with the Environmental, Agricultural, and Cultural Preservation Committee, Chaired by East Maui Council member Shane Sinenci. I also advocate with local small farmers to encourage and develop sustainable ag on Maui.
