Thousands of people filled the Hawai‘i Convention Center on Saturday for the return of the Empty Bowl fundraiser, where guests selected handmade bowls crafted by local potters and enjoyed soups donated by more than a dozen restaurants.
For many, it was a joyful community celebration — a tradition paused for years during the pandemic. But the event’s beneficiaries say the symbolism is as urgent as ever: too many bowls in Hawaii remain empty. Nonprofits warned that hunger in Hawaii is worsening under the combined pressures of inflation, high grocery costs and federal funding cuts that are straining their ability to serve.
Among those helping at the fundraiser was Carilyn Carmen, 17, a senior at Waipahu High School. She worked the booth for The Pig &The Lady, serving Canh Hua — a Vietnamese garden soup. A culinary pathway student who dreams of opening her own bakery one day, Carmen said she volunteers at different food events to learn more about the industry.
At her own school, she sees food insecurity firsthand.
Waipahu High operates a food pantry cafe, stocked with donations from local charities, where students can pick up free groceries, snacks and prepared food.
“Fortunately it’s always stocked and it doesn’t run out,” Carmen said. But she has noticed more classmates using it. “Food prices are going up and friends and family are definitely worried,” she added.
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Carmen no longer qualifies for reduced-price lunches.
“Lunch is almost $3 and it’s not even that good,” she said with a laugh. “I qualified for free lunch during my freshman and sophomore years, but not in junior and senior year. It’s tough because it’s hard to pack food every day, though I’m fortunate my family still makes time to put together a good lunch. But I notice a lot of other kids just grabbing snacks or junk food since everything is so expensive in Hawaii.”
Her parents often remind her not to waste food.
“I hope we can come together as a community to support those in need and make sure everyone has equal access to healthy food,” she said.
Among the event’s beneficiaries, Aloha Harvest is one of the state’s leaders in food rescue, diverting surplus food from restaurants, hotels, hospitals, schools and households to those in need.
So far in 2025, Aloha Harvest has rescued more than 2 million pounds of food through partnerships with 116 agencies and 295 food donors across Oahu. While the numbers are high, the nonprofit says there is still untapped potential to help more people and recover more food that would otherwise go to waste.
The demand for rescued food continues to rise. Each month, Aloha Harvest collects roughly 250,000 pounds of food that would have otherwise been discarded, distributing it to thousands of low-income families and individuals through its network of partner agencies. The organization operates on weekly and monthly delivery schedules while making additional impromptu deliveries when extra food is available.
“While we are making a huge difference, I know that many of our partner agencies would like even more deliveries if they were available — so that tells you a bit about the situation many folks here on Oahu are unfortunately dealing with,” Operations Manager Orlando Campbell said.
Although food rescue is often associated with serving the houseless, Aloha Harvest reaches a wide range of populations. Its deliveries extend beyond shelters to include low-income elderly housing, after-school programs, community colleges, health centers, public housing, treatment centers, organizations supporting formerly incarcerated youth and church distributions.
The nonprofit emphasizes that the high cost of living on Oahu exacerbates food insecurity. Rising grocery prices, coupled with rent, gas and other essential expenses, put many households in difficult positions each month. When paychecks are delayed or EBT benefits run out, families often struggle to make ends meet.
In 2024, Aloha Harvest rescued a record 3.3 million pounds, and even with this year’s strong pace, staff say the need is outstripping supply.
Executive Director Mele Latu noted that while the group has sustained $300,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding over the past three years, other federal resources are harder to secure.
“We’ve applied to two additional USDA grants but haven’t heard back,” she said. “Our neighbor, Hawaii Council for Humanity, has been here for decades and had to downsize to just two people because of cuts — they were 90% federally funded.”
Latu said uncertainty at the federal level has created fear and concern among organizations. At a recent annual directors’ meeting, two of the 50 recipient groups lost funding due to DEI restrictions, highlighting the growing seriousness of the situation.
“This past summer was especially hard, with partners asking for more deliveries and others trying to start new partnerships,” she said. “The need just keeps growing.”
Since 2007, the partnership between Aloha Harvest and the Institute for Human Services has been a cornerstone in addressing food insecurity for individuals experiencing homelessness across Oahu. Earlier this year, Aloha Harvest delivered more than 400,000 pounds of food to IHS, which provides services including emergency shelters and assistance with employment and permanent housing. Serving meals is a key part of their outreach and care.
IHS serves more than 800 meals per day across its shelters and programs, with roughly 85% of its food supplied by Hawaii Foodbank and Aloha Harvest. Angie Knight, IHS’ community relations manager, said the organization has noticed a shift in available donations.
Proteins such as chicken, pork, and beef have declined, forcing IHS to purchase more directly from local vendors.
“We are running about 15% higher costs to fill the gaps in ingredients needed for our meals,” Knight said.
The demand for groceries also has increased among housed households and those in transitional housing, as rising costs make essential items more expensive. SNAP subsidies have decreased in recent months, further straining families and individuals.
Thanks to community partnerships and donations, IHS has so far been able to maintain meal quality and portion sizes. But the pressure is mounting. Knight cautioned that if current trends continue, portions may need to be reduced.
“Meals are the heart of IHS’ services and legacy. It isn’t a question of will we continue to serve our guests, it’s a matter of how will we make it happen. It will take more community support,” she said.
Knight also noted that food insecurity can intensify other challenges. People experiencing hunger may eat more when food is available or turn to other coping behaviors, highlighting the broader impact of the growing need for support.
The Hawaii Foodbank, which supplies pantries statewide, says it is facing one of its most difficult years in recent memory — cuts to federal food programs are creating ripple effects across Hawaii Foodbank and the communities it serves.
About 20% of the organization’s revenue comes from federal sources, primarily through USDA nutrition programs such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP. Until recently,
TEFAP included food purchased through the Commodity Credit Corporation, or CCC, which significantly boosted the food bank’s inventory. This year, the USDA ended CCC-funded TEFAP purchases, removing about $4 million worth of food from Hawaii Foodbank’s supply. The reduction has meant fewer shipments of essential staples like canned goods, rice and frozen proteins, forcing the organization to stretch resources and plan around deeper gaps.
The cuts also affect operations beyond inventory. Hawaii Foodbank now relies more heavily on purchased food, but grocery prices in the state are among the highest in the nation. Since the start of the pandemic, food-at-home costs in Honolulu have risen 33%, including nearly 5% in the past year, with prices even higher on neighbor islands. While the nonprofit can acquire food at
94 cents per pound — far below the $4.98 retail average — there are limits to how much efficiency can offset rising costs and declining federal support.
The strain is felt throughout the distribution network. With fewer federal resources, the food bank must carefully manage shipments to partner agencies while still meeting the growing demand among households that never needed assistance before.
“We are serving more than 160,000 people per month on average on Oahu and Kauai, which is double what we served pre-pandemic and about the same as the height of it,” President and CEO of Hawaii Foodbank Amy Miller said. “This surge is hitting especially hard for seniors, families with young children, and those living in rural or neighbor island communities, where food access is already limited.”
Even food rescue efforts, which recover more than 10 million pounds of surplus food annually, are affected. While the TEFAP cuts do not directly reduce rescued food, they limit the organization’s capacity to move and distribute it efficiently. Reduced federal support stretches resources across sourcing, storage, and delivery, making it harder to reach communities with the greatest need.
To help mitigate these gaps,
Hawaii Foodbank has launched Mobile Food Pantries on Oahu and Kauai, bringing fresh and safe food directly to neighborhoods. But Miller emphasized that these innovations are not enough to fully offset the losses.
“It’s still not enough,” Miller said. Rural communities often have fewer grocery options, fewer pantries and higher costs. If food banks like ours are forced to scale back, those communities will feel it first and hardest.”
Miller said programs such as TEFAP, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, or CSFP, and SNAP form the backbone of Hawaii’s food safety net, and when these programs are cut or weakened, the whole system becomes more vulnerable, placing greater strain on nonprofits and donors who are already operating under tight resources.
“At Hawaii Foodbank, we’re doing everything we can, leveraging local donations, optimizing logistics and expanding partnerships. But we cannot fill this gap alone,” Miller said. “Sustained federal support is essential. And right now, we need our community, including our donors, volunteers and policymakers, to stand with us in protecting access to food for everyone in Hawaii.”
Beyond the daily scramble to meet need, advocates stress that food insecurity reflects deeper structural inequities.
The Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice estimates that nearly one in three households in Hawaii struggles with food insecurity, with 38% of adults in households with children experiencing hunger and 29% of children in those households also going hungry.
Among Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos and American Indian/Alaska Native families, food insecurity exceeds 40%.
“These figures are staggering, and dramatically underscore the harmful impacts of colonialism on native food systems and nutritional access,” Appleseed said in a recently released Policy in Perspective report. “Meanwhile, demand at Hawaii’s food banks remains higher than before the pandemic at the same time that Hawaii has lost millions of dollars in federal emergency food assistance funding. Looming federal SNAP cuts are expected to make this gap even more severe, leaving more families at risk of going hungry.”
Appleseed points to recent state legislation as progress — such as phasing in free school meals, boosting SNAP staffing, and investing $500,000 annually in the Farm to Food Bank program to purchase culturally relevant foods from local farmers.
Still, with federal cuts looming, advocates warn that the safety net is fraying.
At Empty Bowl, guests left with a keepsake meant to remind them of hunger’s daily reality. For nonprofits, the event was a welcome infusion of funds and community support, but also a chance to sound the alarm.
“When we think about food costs, we also have to consider the cost of rent, gas, and other bills. It gets crazy. When the check from work is a couple weeks away or the EBT runs out, there are many in the community who need extra assistance just to get through the week,” Campbell said. “We are doing all we can to be a reliable supplemental resource for those in their times of need.”
Latu said local residents can support Aloha Harvest and other organizations by volunteering, donating food, providing financial contributions, or helping with advocacy and education, while businesses also can get involved or become sponsors.
She emphasized that, like other nonprofits, Aloha Harvest is doing everything it can with limited resources, but it cannot meet the need alone — community support is essential.