In an effort to empower the Hawaiian community, Cheri Inspires will begin growing fresh, organic produce at ‘Cheri’s Ohana Farm.’ The freshly harvested produce will be provided to local families in need through a community-supported-agriculture (CSA) subscription service. Families struggling with food insecurity will be sponsored for a year-at-a-time with this donation-based program. Sponsored locals will be able to subscribe to boxes of fruit, vegetables, and potentially other household staples or medicinal add-ons. Products received will depend on seasonal growth and will largely include Hawaiian staples such as kalo (taro).
Not only will this project aim to support Hawaiians in need, but this effort will correspond with that of preserving uplifting the whole Kaua’i community, as all labor will be sourced from local farmers and volunteers looking for community. Cheri’s Ohana Farm is looking to restore a thriving, self-sustaining Hawaiian Ahupua, or land division from the mountain to the ocean, to feed and sustain the families in the community in need by cultivating the land and natural resources.
In collaboration with world-renowned architect Bernardo Rodrigues, we will be bringing stunningly designed facilities to Cheri’s Ohana Farm. We have found with Bernardo a like-mindedness for harmonious and healthy integration with the natural world as reflected by the previous work developed by him and his firm.
“It is an amazing site, a real gem of elements and nature, ocean and island, sky, water channels and ancient sacred land. That is the perfect canvas and blueprint already half or all done, for us simply to delineate and make vibrate the structural reality of the place. We will build the future in Maui, the future of interpersonal trust, care and sense of purpose within a community!”
ABOUT BERNARDO RODRIGUES ARQUITECTOS
From the Venice Biennale and Milano Triennale to Tokyo, Istanbul, London, S. Paulo, Prague, Lisbon, and many other places and institutions such as Cornell University in the United States, Bernando Rodrigues and his firm’s architecture and ideas have earned themselves invitations to exhibit, publish, lecture, teach, and curate exhibitions. Most recently, Rodrigues has completed work on Chapel of Eternal Light in Portugal, a labor of twenty years that has was partly informed by his own experiences of grief.
The farm will be located on 370 luscious acres in the Honopu valley along the northwestern shore of the island Kauaʻi. The population of Kaua’i has a significantly higher than average percentage of residents below the poverty line when compared to the rest of Hawaii, which is why providing a variety of subscription options here is essential. Because of the grave food instability on the island Cheri Inspires has pivoted to answer the communities urgent need. Produce for the subscription services will be harvested by primarily volunteers and local farmers using organic regenerative practices.
Additionally harvested fruits and vegetables will be sold at a Cheri Inspires Farmers’ Market to further interact with the Kauaʻi community. This will also lead to education-focused opportunities, raising sponsorship funding, and allows all of the Kaua’i community access to fresh produce.
This will become known as a place of Hawaiian culture, agriculture, education, and sustainability. We are using the land in the way it was used for hundreds of years in the past, to provide for the people. We are growing food to feed the families that work the land, as well as the surrounding community. In short the farm promotes Hawaiian culture, provides an outdoor classroom venue, and provides jobs for native Hawaiians to make a living, living the culture.
At Cheri’s Ohana Farm you can take a step back in time and hike alongside the stream through our lush forest and majestic mountains. Visit the pristine and remote location of the Village where an active restoration of a historical valley is in progress. You will be surrounded by ancient rock walls, waterways, and Hawaiian agriculture. Participate in hands-on activities using plants from the land grown for food, shelter, and clothing in the Hawaiian culture.
Tours through the Waihee Valley will share with guests the traditions and values of the Hawaiian culture that sustained life for generations. It is a historical place that is being restored where people can visit to see Hawaiian culture, agriculture, native plants, traditional Hawaiian hale, historical taro patches, water ways, and natural resources.
Throughout each tour, we will share values such as: Aloha ‘aina (Love of the land), Malama ‘Aina (To care, protect, look after the land), Ohana (Family and Community), Laulima (Many hands working together), Olelo makuahine (Communicating through the mother language), Ma ka hana ka ike (By doing one learns).
