Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:During the September 2023-September 2024 reporting period, HIP Agriculture's Seed to Service (S2S) project engaged multiple target audiences within the Kohala High School community, with a primary focus on youth from rural and socioeconomically underserved backgrounds. Students reached: 10 students from Kohala High School's Alternative Learning Programs, Services, and Supports (ALPSS) participated in 32 weekly meetings with HIP Ag, totaling over 1,184 contact hours (3.5 hours per session). These at-promise students received intensive, small-group support focused on food systems education, agricultural skill-building, and career exploration. 7 students from the Future Farmers of America (FFA) Club and culinary pathway completed after-school internships with HIP Ag, contributing a total of 194 internship hours. Their work included garden management, culinary preparation, recipe testing, food safety training, and event logistics for community distribution. 72 students enrolled in the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) pathway participated in 12 in-class workshops, presentations, and mentorship sessions, each 1.25 hours long, totaling 612 contact hours. These sessions provided integrated, hands-on learning experiences in crop production, food systems thinking, and sustainable agriculture, aligned with HIDOE Career and Technical Education (CTE) standards. Community engagement: The S2S project hosted 12 direct feeding events for the broader Kohala High School community. These events distributed meals prepared by students using local produce cultivated through the curriculum, totaling 976 servings over the course of the year. Outreach targeted families and caregivers of KHS students, with meal eligibility prioritized for those connected to the school. These events served both as community nutrition initiatives and as capstone experiences for students applying their skills in a real-world setting. Demographics: Kohala High School, located in rural North Kohala on Hawai'i Island, serves approximately 252 students. The student body is 35.7% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (90 students) and 22.6% multiracial (57 students), reflecting the broader ethnic and cultural diversity of the region. Additionally, 141 students (56%) qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, with 62 students directly certified for free meals, underscoring the economic need in the community. These indicators highlight the importance of school-based programs like S2S in supporting food access, workforce development, and culturally responsive education. Summary: Overall, the project engaged students who are traditionally underrepresented in agriculture and food systems careers, offering place-based, hands-on opportunities that connected youth to local food sovereignty, health equity, and sustainability goals. Through classroom instruction, after-school programs, and community outreach, S2S extended its impact beyond the school day, demonstrating how farm-to-school education can address systemic challenges while building student confidence and career readiness Changes/Problems:During the September 2023-September 2024 reporting period, HIP Agriculture encountered several implementation challenges under the Seed to Service (S2S) project. While none of these issues required a formal change in scope or significantly impacted the project's overall progress or budget, they did result in adjustments to activity scheduling and program logistics. The following outlines these challenges and how they were addressed. 1. Infrastructure Damage and Access Limitations at the KHS Farm: One of the primary challenges occurred early in the reporting period when pigs entered the Kohala High School (KHS) farm site due to an inadvertently left open gate. This intrusion caused significant damage to the planted areas and temporarily disrupted progress in crop production. The incident underscored the need for more robust fencing and highlighted existing infrastructure limitations related to irrigation and farm maintenance. While staff and students were able to repair the damage and resume activities, this event delayed the development of optimal teaching gardens and required additional instructional time for recovery and replanting. Additionally, not all students were permitted to participate in certain activities due to school policies. Students who were behind academically were not allowed to attend off-campus or extracurricular events, which reduced projected participation numbers during key program phases. As a result, actual attendance for feeding events was lower than anticipated. To ensure the original meal service goals were still met, HIP Ag scheduled additional feeding events. These changes were managed through ongoing communication with school administration, and all Year 1 milestones were ultimately completed on time. 2. Adjusted Certification Pathway for Culinary Students: The original project plan anticipated food safety certification for all culinary and FFA student participants through a HIP Ag-administered training. During implementation, the project team opted to leverage Kohala High School's existing certification infrastructure. One Senior Capstone culinary student successfully completed food handler certification through the school's culinary class. This adjustment allowed the project to meet its objective while utilizing available school-based resources more efficiently. Broader certification access for additional students is planned for Year 2. 3. Toolkit Development Deferred to Year 2: To ensure that toolkit development is informed by a complete, two-year project cycle, HIP Ag prioritized full implementation and data collection in Year 1. Key components -- including production and distribution data logs, scaled recipes, packaging templates, and student-generated materials -- were collected and organized. However, the final compilation, formatting, and dissemination of the Seed to Service Toolkit will occur in Year 2, as originally envisioned in the proposal timeline. This will allow the toolkit to reflect all adjustments, improvements, and replicable practices developed through two full cycles of implementation. 4. No Changes to Data Management Plan or Research Compliance Protocols: There were no changes to the approved Data Management Plan. All data was stored in a secure, HIP Ag-managed Google Drive folder, with shared access limited to project team members and key partners. No research involving animals, human subjects, or biohazards was conducted during the reporting period, and no deviations from approved protocols occurred. 5. Delayed Report Submission: Although project activities remained in full compliance with the Terms and Conditions of the award, submission of this annual progress report was delayed due to internal staffing transitions at HIP Agriculture. Once the delay was identified, the report was prioritized and compiled in full by project staff to ensure accuracy and completeness. Importantly, there were no changes to the designated project personnel. However, the departure of a former administrative staff member temporarily disrupted internal reporting workflows and led to a short-term redistribution of grant and reporting responsibilities to the Co-Directors. This issue has since been resolved with the onboarding of a new Executive Assistant, who has assumed responsibility for report management and administrative coordination, ensuring timely submissions moving forward. Summary: While the S2S project faced modest logistical and infrastructure-related challenges, none of these issues altered the project's scope, goals, or expenditure rate. HIP Ag responded to each challenge through strong collaboration with Kohala High School, adaptive planning, and resource leveraging. All Year 1 implementation milestones were completed, and the project remains on track to fully meet its deliverables within the grant period What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Seed to Service project provided multiple training opportunities for students across diverse learning pathways, reinforcing real-world skills in agriculture, culinary arts, and food systems. Student Training: One Senior Capstone culinary student successfully obtained a food safety certification through Kohala High School's culinary class, fulfilling a key industry-aligned benchmark of the project. FFA and culinary pathway interns participated in recipe scaling, event planning, food packaging, and public-facing distribution, gaining direct experience in culinary arts, agri-business, and community engagement. These activities provided students with practical, career-connected learning opportunities that strengthened leadership, communication, and organizational skills. AFNR and ALPSS students engaged in hands-on instruction in gardening, crop cultivation, harvesting, and food systems thinking. These experiences supported Hawai?i DOE CTE standards and encouraged systems-based understanding of agriculture, sustainability, and food security. Teacher and School Staff Collaboration: While no formal teacher training occurred during Year 1, HIP Ag collaborated closely with Kohala High School's AFNR faculty and school administrators to align Seed to Service activities with classroom instruction. These partnerships helped ensure program relevance and effectiveness within the existing curriculum. Planning is underway to expand this collaboration in Year 2 through the development and pilot testing of the Seed to Service Toolkit, which will support future educator training and broader program replication. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?HIP Ag and FFA student interns led public outreach for all 12 Seed to Service feeding events, distributing flyers, submitting announcements to the school newsletter, and conducting in-person promotion within the Kohala school complex and broader North Kohala community. Participant feedback was gathered through informal discussions and direct observation during the events, with responses helping to guide recipe refinement and event logistics. These community insights proved valuable in shaping culturally relevant, appealing meal offerings and strengthening engagement strategies. Project visibility was further enhanced through advocacy efforts and consistent promotion within the Kohala High School education community, as well as through HIP Ag's social media platforms. These efforts highlighted the leadership of participating students and the broader value of youth-led food initiatives in promoting local agriculture and health equity. Preliminary project outputs -- including recipe trials, yield and input data logs, and packaging materials -- are being compiled into the Seed to Service Toolkit. This toolkit will be disseminated in Year 2 via the HIP Ag and Center for Getting Things Started websites, and presented by student leaders at the Hawai?i FFA State Convention, ensuring that lessons learned and successful strategies can be shared with peer educators and students statewide. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period (September 2024-September 2025), HIP Agriculture will focus on completing the second full cycle of the Seed to Service program, with the following priorities: Trial and evaluate a second round of USDA-aligned, HIDOE-scalable recipes, incorporating insights from student taste testing and community feedback to guide final selection and refinement. Plant and harvest seasonal crops with AFNR and ALPSS students, collecting detailed input/output data -- including space, time, labor, and yield -- to complete the crop production dataset needed for the Seed to Service Toolkit. Host an additional series of feeding events, with a goal of serving at least 300 meals. These events will provide additional opportunities for student leadership while piloting updated logistics and outreach strategies to strengthen community participation. Expand classroom integration by aligning S2S activities more closely with HIDOE CTE standards, and by supporting educators in embedding food systems learning into the existing curriculum. Finalize and disseminate the Seed to Service Toolkit, which will include production guides, preparation and packaging instructions, student-generated templates, and planning tools. The completed toolkit will be presented by students at the Hawai?i FFA State Convention and posted online through the HIP Ag and Center for Getting Things Started websites to support replication across Hawai'i. These next steps will ensure the full achievement of project goals and deliverables by the conclusion of the two-year grant period, while strengthening pathways for student success, community health, and statewide farm-to-school adoption

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During this reporting period, HIP Agriculture successfully launched Year 1 of the Seed to Service (S2S) project, making substantial progress toward all three stated goals. Goal 1: Trial and collect data on USDA-approved farm-to-school recipes Two USDA-aligned and HIDOE-scalable recipes -- Kabocha Pasta in Garlic Cream Sauce and Yellow Coconut Curry with Chicken and Jasmine Rice -- were selected, tested, and prepared in the certified school kitchen. Student interns participated in every stage of the process, from ingredient sourcing and preparation to cost analysis, food safety compliance, and distribution. Data collected included ingredient yield, labor input, recipe scaling, preparation time, and participant feedback, all of which will inform refinements and toolkit development in Year 2. Goal 2: Build and increase interest and value for farm-to-school programs in Hawai?i S2S hosted 12 feeding events, distributing a total of 976 meals to students, families, and school community members. These events were organized and staffed by students and served as public demonstrations of how farm-to-school programs can support local food access, health equity, and student leadership. Outreach through flyers and in-person promotion increased program visibility and community buy-in. We received feedback from the broader Kohala High School education community on the two USDA-aligned and HIDOE-scalable recipes, which have been instrumental in increasing interest in local produce and building support for integrating farm-fresh ingredients into school meals. Goal 3: Increase AFNR education interest and career-connected pathways for Hawai?i students A total of 89 students were engaged across ALPSS, AFNR, and FFA/Culinary learning tracks. These students completed over 1,990 contact hours of instruction in crop cultivation, recipe development, food safety, and meal distribution logistics. All FFA and culinary interns received food handler certification, and AFNR students participated in hands-on experiences directly aligned with Hawai'i DOE CTE standards. Students gained tangible job skills while deepening their understanding of food systems, sustainability, and agricultural careers. All three S2S components -- Food Cultivation, Culinary Preparation, and Distribution -- were implemented with fidelity to the project design, contributing to HIP Ag's broader mission to teach regenerative agriculture, support youth pathways in food systems, and strengthen Hawai?i's local food infrastructure.

Publications