not just another farm

On a dead end back road in the outskirts of a small town in the not-trendy part of Oahu, Hawai'i, is a farm filled with young people. They weren't born into agricultural families and they don't necessarily even love farming. What brings them there to work several days a week is a job that provides life skills and scholarships for college.

Ma'o Organic Farms is a social enterprise that grows and sells great vegetables but their focus is on resourcing and empowering Hawai'ian youth. Actually, they do a lot more than that, but my short visit centred around the farm and talking to a few of the students.

I met a young woman who has seven younger siblings and decided to apply for a job at Ma'o because of the two year scholarship they provide for college, enabling her to pursue higher education. Another young woman has a two-year-old son and working at Ma'o is helping her to provide for her child while still being able to work towards a degree.

Not surprisingly, some of these students start at Ma'o because of the financial incentives and, well, because they are sent there by their guardians. If they stay, though, they learn valuable lessons about customer service, running a business, teamwork and more.

The real appeal of this enterprise for me is the way it creates change: it engages youth in productive activities that build soft and hard skills. It specifically reaches out to Hawai'an young people who are traditionally disenfranchised. Hopefully, it helps break poor health patterns and moves families toward being more food secure. Most importantly, it proves to the students that even though they are young and brown, they can (and do) achieve real things in life.