By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii Bureau

HONOLULU, Hawaii (Eagle News) – In cooperation with the City and County of Honolulu, the nonprofit organization Hawaii Farm Bureau (HFB) created the Farm to Car program, which wil begin on Wednesday, April 1. The service is designed help meet the demand of providing fresh, locally-grown produce to customers while supporting local farmers, especially during the COVID-19 crisis which resulted in a statewide stay-at-h order.

Through the website https://hfbf.org/farm-to-car/, customers will first need to create an online account. Next, they will place their orders and quantities via the online marketplace no later than Sunday 8:00 p.m. in order to pick up on Wednesday of the same week at a specified location between 9 a.m. and 12 noon. With their order number or receipt, customers will then drive up at a designated location within the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in downtown Honolulu. There, volunteers will hand deliver their order curbside with minimal personal contact.

Farm to Car is an innovative approach to provide fresh produce to O‘ahu residents while ensuring safe social distancing,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “Continuing the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables is always important to the health and nutrition of those throughout the City and County of Honolulu, but especially now under the threat of COVID-19.”

According to the nonprofit, the items in the online marketplace are priced by the farmers and vendors. During the pilot phase of the curbside service, 100% of the proceeds will go back to the specific business. There will not be any pickup fees or added handling fees. Orders that are not picked up within the scheduled time frame will be donated to the Hawaii Food Bank and/or Aloha Harvest.

The HFB envisions this program to expand and provide a new and convenient service in the long run with multiple pickup locations throughout the following weeks.

(Eagle News Service)