"Maui is a hub for GMO research but Indigenous farmers are trying to bring back the abundant and thriving landscapes of their ancestors for Hawaiians who took only what they needed.
Those days of abundance and food sovereignty are long gone.
Rows of limp lemon trees struggle in windswept sandy slopes depleted by decades of sugarcane cultivation. Agricultural f choking the ocean reef and water shortages, linked to over-tourism and global heating, threaten the future viability of this paradise island.
Between 85% and 90% of the food eaten in Maui now comes from imports while diet-related diseases are soaring, and the state allocates less than 1% of its budget to agriculture.
runofDownslope from the rain-soaked summits, there is historic drought and degraded soil."
