Common Ground Collective

The foster farming harvesting project: aims to prevent food waste and educate landowners about how to create economic opportunity on their property by transforming it into productive land. Common Ground Collective offers: on-site education; crop harvesting services; crop data collection; distribution of crops to non-profit partners and schools; distribution and marketing of crops to local retail outlets and restaurants; ongoing consultation; and administrative support. Common Ground Collective gives residents the knowledge, incentives and assistance needed to get the unused produce from their land out into the community, continue to do so long- term, and expand their operations to generate greater positive impact on the regional food system. In 2022, Common Ground Collective performed 177 harvests for community members, harvesting 42,002 lbs. Of produce. Of that, 12,654 lbs. Were sold to local businesses to help lessen our reliance on imports, and 29,348 lbs. Were donated to local nonprofits to help feed residents in need.

Haiku house Common Ground community garden project: the mission of the haiku house Common Ground community garden is to increase the supply of locally grown food to donate to maui county's food insecure residents. The project also provides educational opportunities for guests and residents to learn about social responsibility through sustainable growing practices via a hands-on outdoor immersive experience.

Community grower lilikoi project: in 2021, maui fruit jewels and Common Ground Collective teamed up to create a locally grown resident-powered agricultural industry. The goal was to get more delicious and nutritious lilikoi planted for our community, while also working to push out lilikoi fruit and puree imports. In 2022, this project went from planning to planting, and we were able to get a total of 1,250 lilikoi vines out to 43 maui residents and farmers. Through this resident-powered agricultural project, cgc and maui fruit jewels will be helping to contribute approximately thousands of pounds of lilikoi a year once the vines are fully mature.

Community food giveaways: cgc is proud to support various community food giveaway programs in maui county. Fresh local produce is something that everyone should have access to even if they have fallen on hard times. Cgc partnered with upcountry strong, kau kau for keiki and project mahia'i to provide fresh locally grown produce via community food giveaways. Through these community partnerships and efforts, cgc helped to provide fresh produce for over 2,980 community food bags in 2022. While some of our wonderful harvest clients sign up to donate harvested produce, that isn't always the case and so cgc raised funds to purchase 15,438 lbs. Of produce for donation, in order to contribute to these various food giveaways and our normal nonprofit partners. Education and outreach: cgc works hard to keep the community at large informed of our various projects, programs, and community-based opportunities that help promote a more secure agricultural food system for our county's islands. We like to engage the community by also sharing fun gardening and farming tips that help inspire the community to grow more food and support local businesses and agriculture. Furthermore, cgc is always working to help facilitate connections to strengthen our local food system. From connecting community members with services, they may not have known existed or a local farmer with a new market outlet. Cgc works hard to help connect the dots to ensure a more sustainable regional food system. Common Ground Collective also provides agricultural, environmental, and systems thinking education to help spread awareness and opportunities to help everyday people make small changes that can make big differences. Landowners are advised on techniques used to employ regenerative farming practices which build topsoil, increase biodiversity, improve water cycles, enhance ecosystem services, and increase resilience to climate fluctuation. Cgc also works with various local nonprofits to share information, and resources and get more fresh local produce to our community's food insecure. Furthermore, information is provided to residents, stakeholders, key community leaders, and decision-makers about the state of the regional food system and how to work together to promote food security and increase local economic opportunities. In 2022 we also hosted school groups for volunteer workdays and provided internships and learning opportunities for individual college and high school students. We hope to be able to provide more internship opportunities in the future and also help other start-up nonprofits learn ways to grow and collaborate to strengthen local community resources.