The eggs came before the chickens for Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi’s education and food sovereignty programs.
Several years ago, the nonprofit started an egg production program that has successfully made a dent in the island’s import of 100,000 eggs per month. Now, the organization has launched the pilot cohort of a meat chicken program with similar goals.
Jamie Ronzello, Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi's food sovereignty program director, says success isn’t always a number.
“To me, success is like if we walk into the grocery store and we see local Molokaʻi chicken, in Friendly Market or Misaki's, and you can go in there and buy fresh chicken from there," Ronzello said.
"So part of the program is to increase production and poultry but not only for commercial but also for subsistence, so just even seeing that…You may be just raising it for your own ‘ohana, or to trade and share, but then also being able to get it into those grocery stores are going to be a pretty big benchmark for me," she said.
The broiler chicken, or Mahiʻai Moa Project, is a mix of established farmers and those who don’t have experience with animal husbandry.
Some want to reduce the island’s dependency on the barge, some want to create a business, and others just have the goal of feeding their ‘ohana.
Manu Adolpho is a Ho’olehua homesteader and one of 18 participants in the current cohort.
“I definitely want you know to be able to not go to the store to go buy chicken and just provide that for my family for sure, but also yes, the opportunity to sell to the community, just start moving in the direction of self sustainability as an island, as a community," Adolpho said. "So that's kind of like the end goal.”
The Mahiʻai Moa program includes education, $4,000 in supplies, the chickens themselves and business startup expertise for each participant. Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi is partnering with J. Ludovico Farm on Oʻahu for hands-on training, as well as Zoom classes.
“I don't think that the layperson realizes how much work and how much thought and effort goes into raising broiler birds, so that part has been extremely just eye-opening and gratifying,” Adolpho said.
The chickens go from hatch to slaughter in just six to eight weeks. During that time, they need a nutrient rich diet. Feed is one of the biggest expenses in raising the birds.
Adolpho, whose family also participates in the egg program, said the mentality is different for raising meat chickens.
"Obviously you're caring for the animal, but the with the PEEP [egg] program, it's very long term… you develop a relationship with these egg laying chickens and you see them every day when you go out there and feed them and you kind of want to take care of them because they're producing those eggs," he said.
"And [for broiler] the mentality definitely changes. It's, ‘OK, I'm going to feed you and at the end of this process, you're gone’ and the next ones are coming through so that for sure has been one of the biggest things for me... So all of that has just been very eye opening."
Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi is partnering with the Molokaʻi Livestock Cooperative slaughterhouse for processing. Program funding covers the cost of a slaughter unit specific for poultry so farmers can choose not to process the birds themselves. That cuts down on paperwork, cost and time.
Though locally raised chicken will cost more than imported, Sustʻāinable Molokaʻi Manager of Farmer Training Lori Pastrana said it’s worth it to have options.
“This just gives people a choice. Like, do they want to pay for a local fresh chicken? We do have some families that struggle where they have to go for the box chicken that comes in," Pastrana said.
"We hope that our island economy will be able to support themselves, where they don't have to, but that's probably a long term goal for us as an island. But at least it gives us a choice, right? We're not just stuck," she said.
Pastrana added that she’s noticed a generational shift in how people get food, and the attitudes surrounding it.
“My mom comes from a generation, like the store wasn't really common for them. They raised everything themselves. Like they gathered from the ocean. They raised their chicken. It was such a hard life for them that when they had the convenience, it was like, sure, take it," she said.
"I think as a society we sometimes go for convenience, but now we're kind of going back to it, because we're seeing how much convenience has affected us, our children, our learning, our health all of that is being impacted and so it impacts our community.”
The three-year Mahiʻai Moa program launched in April and will include multiple Molokaʻi cohorts.
