Charting a Path for Values-Based Food Purchasing on Oʻahu
TL;DR: A new strategic framework proposes how the Oʻahu Good Food Purchasing Program could transform institutional food purchasing through voluntary collaboration, drawing from national best practices and Hawaiʻi’s agricultural history to build a more resilient local food system.
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The strategic framework for the Oʻahu Good Food Purchasing Program (OGFP) outlines how the City & County of Honolulu can support institutions across the island to align their food purchasing with community values while strengthening local food systems.
Prepared for the City & County of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency by Supersistence in May 2025, the report provides a roadmap for building a more resilient, equitable, and locally anchored food system through institutional procurement.
Voluntary Approach
The proposed OGFP would expand the voluntary initiative bringing together public agencies, private businesses, and nonprofit organizations around shared values rather than compliance requirements. This collaborative approach recognizes that meaningful change requires building trust across Oʻahu’s decentralized food landscape.
The framework draws from national best practices and Hawaiʻi’s agricultural history, particularly the Produce Information Exchange (PIE)—a multi-sector initiative that successfully coordinated local food markets from the 1950s through 1970s by connecting military buyers, wholesalers, retailers, farmers, and extension services through shared data and demand forecasting.
Current Landscape
Analysis of current OGFP pledgees and over 6,000 island food establishments reveals both challenges and opportunities:
Barriers include varying degrees of procurement control, limited data tracking capacity, and verification challenges for local sourcing.
Opportunities emerge from strong interest in local sourcing across sectors, procurement flexibility among hospitality institutions, and historical precedents for successful market coordination in Hawaiʻi.
Strategic Framework
The proposed program would function as a flexible platform encompassing institutional purchasing transformation, climate-aligned menu development, food waste reduction, and supply chain infrastructure investments. Implementation would focus on four domains:
- Institutional Norms: Co-develop shared values and embed geographic preference in procurement documents.
- Market Dynamics: Launch pilots with hospitality partners and create frameworks aligning buyers with appropriately-sized producers.
- Data Infrastructure: Implement tiered tracking and establish demand forecasting to help producers plan.
- Governance: Invest in value chain coordination and develop dedicated City staff capacity.
Partner-Driven Strategy
The framework recognizes three strategic partner types:
Anchor Partners providing stable demand for producer scaling,
Catalyst Partners driving innovation through purchasing influence, and
Network Partners demonstrating viable models for peer adoption.
Learning from History
The Produce Information Exchange offers valuable lessons: multi-sector governance, data-driven coordination, and institutional purchasing as market anchor. PIE’s success demonstrates that coordinated market development is possible in Hawaiʻi with appropriate infrastructure and stakeholder commitment.
The report emphasizes that relationships, trust, and shared language enable voluntary changes in procurement behavior, shaping OGFP’s proposed focus on technical assistance and collaborative learning rather than enforcement.
Read the full OGFP Framework Report for detailed analysis, impact models, and implementation resources.
This framework was prepared for the City & County of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency.