So, The Humanity?

#3 Trump Funding Freezes Are Detrimental to Hawaiʻi Food Security Efforts

March was a busy month for Trump. In the wake of his merciless funding cuts, Hawaiʻi is facing huge swaths of job lay-offs and a grinding halt to food security efforts led by schools and non-profits.

Local economists estimate that 2,200 government workers and 1200 grant-funded University of Hawaiʻi workers will be laid off in Hawaiʻi this year. (Civil Beat)

I’m already seeing it happen amongst my friends. One lost his job at East-West Center last month due to Trump killing USAID. Another friend who works for a humanities-based non-profit in Honolulu is planning her forced early retirement for fear her day is coming soon.

Hui O Hoʻonua – an Oʻahu non-profit that has spent the last eight years clearing invasive mangrove and restoring three loko i`a (fishponds)in the Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor) area to prevent flooding and increase food security – had to lay off all of its employees early this month. (HPR)

In addition to jobs, the federal initiatives that were enabling schools to get access to local food are also now toast. This includes $3 million that was supposed to go to Hawai’i schools and emergency feeding organizations this year for local food. (Civil Beat)

In Hawaiʻi, 1 out of every 10 households go entire days without food. What if we pretend these families don’t exist and remove all access to knowledge (media, humanities), so that future generations don’t think about issues like this at all? This seems to be the track we are headed down.