Even with Hawaii’s high cost of living and rising grocery costs, more than half of Hawaii residents would pay more, with 31% saying they are willing to spend 10% to 15% more to “Malama the Farmer” and support local produce and meat providers.
The findings are from a UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources study conducted between April and May 2022, involving a random sample of 400 residents.
CTAHR researchers found an interesting gap between stated intent and actual practice. People in higher income brackets (earning more than $100,000 per year), people on the neighbor islands, and people of native Hawaiian ancestry showed the greatest willingness to pay a premium to buy local.
But when the focus shifts to who actually buys more local produce and meat, it turns out that lower-income households (earning less than $50,000) per year do, along with residents born and raised in the islands and Native Hawaiians. These groups purchase local products at a significantly higher rate than the 30 percent purchased by the average resident.
In fact, the proportion of weekly local purchases declines as family income increases.
“While there are currently many smart folks working hard on solutions to transform Hawai’i current food systems for food security and resiliency, one thing each person can do right now is to transform our own habits of inertia, comfort, and skepticism,” said UH Manoa professor Dr. Thao Le. “Everyone can find ways to contribute a little more to better care for yourself and for those who grow the food that nourishes you and your family.”
The study and report are unique in examining the willingness to purchase and pay more through the lenses of local residents rather than tourists, as other studies have explored. The work is part of the Seeds of Wellbeing (SOW) project in CTAHR, currently funded by USDA-NIFA & HDOA through the end of March 2023.
“The SOW project recognizes that farmers’ health is farmers’ wealth, and if the public and community appreciates the farmer behind the food, both farmers’ health and wealth are elevated,” said Le, who is also director of the SOW initiative. “In this latest study, the aim was to explore social marketing messaging that would encourage more support and demand for food locally grown by residents.”
Fortunately, the researchers found the public has a very favorable perception of farmers, with 86% of consumers saying that farmers are very hard workers, and 83% saying that it’s very important for farmers to continue farming to provide local products to residents.
Things were more challenging from the ag producer’s perspective. A previous CTAHR study reported that 85% of farmers said that farming is stressful, full of uncertainties and low-profit margins. Even the public agrees with this. Only 2% of consumers felt that farmers enjoyed high-profit margins.
“The reasons why someone exits farming, or why it’s so challenging to get young folks interested in farming, boils down to three core factors,” Le explained. “One, high risk, two, low profit, and three, lack of social status.
“And we know that mental health and wellbeing for farmers is tied to all these factors, so the SOW social marketing campaign is attempting to address this third factor—can each person do 10-15% more to ‘Malama the Farmer’?”
The SOW program recommends that residents get to know those who grow their food by visiting or volunteering at a farm—whether they’re small forms or big farms and ranches. Programs like Aloha Harvest provide great opportunities to develop a relationship with growers. Caring and sharing are powerful actions.
