When I was in Hawaii in January, State Senator Mike Gabbard (Tulsi’s father) spoke to us about numerous efforts in Hawaii to help economically and educationally empower the underserved areas of the state, specifically the youth population. Although Hawaii is certainly different, I thought of so many parallels to what he spoke about facing Hawaii as compared to what we face in eastern Kentucky and so many rural communities all across America.
Specifically, he provided Ma’o Farms as an example. Ma’o is a multi-faceted organic farming operation that, at its core, focuses on empowering and teaching youth to develop skills, both farming and business, that will serve them in the future.
I thought this sounded like a program that would be incredibly valuable in mass scale across America. It would help solve so many issues facing our communities today.