HI SR126

Hawaii imports more than 85% of its food, creating significant food security vulnerability that this resolution aims to address through workforce development in agriculture.

The Department of Education's Secondary Agricultural Education Program (now Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Program) and Future Farmers of America have operated since 1930, but enrollment has declined from over 800 members across 30+ high schools before 2000.

Program decline resulted from the No Child Left Behind Act, loss of science credit for agriculture courses, Weighted Student Formula funding cuts, closure of UH Manoa's Secondary Agriculture Teacher Degree Program, and loss of centralized content specialists.

The resolution requests UH Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience employ an extension agent to provide professional development and transfer agricultural best practices to schools conducting Future Farmers of America activities.

Certified copies of the resolution are to be transmitted to the Board of Education Chairperson, Superintendent of Education, and University of Hawaii System President.