Maui Food Hub’s Autumn Ness has a long-term goal to significantly increase the amount of local organic food being produced on Maui.

Imagine an online farmers’ market that delivers to your area or to your home — your choice.

Maui Food Hub (MFH), while saving customers a trip to the store, provides them with local Hawaiian-grown produce, fruits, gift items and so much more.

By following four easy steps, clients can either get home delivery or choose designated days, places and times to pick up their orders.

The process is easy. First, create an account on mauihub.org. Choose a pickup location or home delivery. Shop online Saturdays at noon through Mondays at midnight. Receive the order, and enjoy eating local at amazingly low prices!

On the West Side, the drive-through pick-up location is at Choice Health Bar at 1087 Lima Hana Place in Lahaina on Fridays between 4 and 6 p.m. Home delivery is available from Lahaina to Napili, also on Fridays.

Sustainability on Maui is vital for the island’s future, and sustainability is exactly the goal of the MFH. As an online platform and nonprofit organization, MFH connects local Maui farmers and their produce with the community.

This connection makes it possible for farmers to work together to meet the growing demand for local food. Plus, as part of the statewide Food Hub Hui, MFH contributes to helping other island food hubs when those islands are in need.

Formed during the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown to link arms with Maui’s small farms, MFH also laid the foundation for a long-term food system change. The hub’s seven locations, including the West Side, supported the community during the pandemic and continues today.

“Buying local food is important for so many reasons,” said Autumn Ness, MFH president. “It makes Maui more resilient in times of crisis and supply chain interruptions, makes us less reliant on tourism dollars, and keeps money spent on food circulating locally. Additionally, locally-grown food tastes better and lasts longer than food that comes across the ocean.”

Ness, also the director of the organic land management program Beyond Pesticides Hawaii, is an organizer and policy advocate. She helped generate broad political support to begin the process of converting pilot sites on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island to organic land management.

By assisting in the organization of land management training sessions for county landscaping crews, she helped support farming communities throughout the islands.

“As a policy consultant to state and county legislators on agriculture, pesticide-heavy industrial agriculture and chemical companies conducting outdoor GE (genetic engineering) crop testing, it remains vital for me to promote small-scale sustainable agriculture that produces healthy food for Maui and the outer islands,” Ness noted. “At Beyond Pesticides, we are watchdogs for examining pesticide use records, we look for regulatory loopholes, and monitor patterns and practices of pesticide use so we can better understand trends by the chemical corporations and large industrial agriculture operations. We also work with the Protect Our Keiki Coalition to engage everyone in the political process, amplify their voices in government and drive policy that results in better regulation of both the pesticide-heavy industrial agriculture and the chemical companies that are conducting outdoor GE crop testing.”

In 2014, Ness was a leader in the historic citizens’ initiative for a moratorium on GE crops in Maui County. That effort won at the ballot box but lost in courts when the chemical industry sued the County of Maui.

Serving as a policy and information resource communicator for communities and organizations across Hawaii for years, Ness still strives to bring Maui’s resources and her years of experience to support grassroots efforts and priorities.

Last year, the Hawaii Department of Agriculture opened a grant program to support the establishment and expansion of food hubs in Hawaii. Since most Hawaii farms are small operations, they cannot fill large orders on their own. The grant aimed at increasing the capacity of food hubs in centrally-located facilities where food products may be aggregated, stored, processed and marketed.

“For MFH and all the food hubs across the state to survive and do well, I think it is key to work with state and county boards and agencies to change and streamline policies on behalf of farmers,” Ness said. “MFH is also providing local, fresh, affordable produce to Maui low-income residents, food banks and community kitchens.

“We received a grant to expand distribution services into more areas, especially those considered ‘food deserts’ where food access is limited. We continue to seek partnerships with organizations who serve at-risk or low-income individuals and families that want to ensure better access to healthy food for our clients. Currently, we are working with the DA BUX program, where MFH online and store retailers discount their locally grown produce by 50 percent for customers paying with EBT/SNAP food dollars. Along with their 50 percent savings on all fruits, vegetables, and poi, EBT/SNAP users get free delivery from MFH.”

MFH customer Maile Edwards said, “The organic produce is both high-quality and economical. With low prices and easy online shopping, it is wonderful to be able to order if you are injured or sick and cannot make it to the grocery store. Plus, Dennis, my delivery guy, has all the aloha in the world!”

Ness concluded, “Half of our mission is to ensure that fresh food is affordable and available to everyone. Then, with the 262 acres in the Kula Ag Park recently reserved for organic farmers, we hope to increase our impact and supply nutritious food to even more people. To shop MFH, go online to mauihub.org.”