A House bill to establish a center for agricultural leadership at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and a school farm pilot project has cleared four committees and will go to the full House for a vote.

Four committees is a lot. My experienced political reporter colleague Chad Blair has said before that when a bill is referred to even three committees, it’s the logistical “kiss of death” to the proposal.

So what’s going on with this bill? We hear about farm-to-school initiatives almost every year, and every year they generate a lot of interest but get nowhere because of food safety concerns and bureaucratic hurdles. Maybe what’s different with this one is that it takes a step back and proposes a pilot project that would identify the steps a school farm would need to take in order to be food safety certified by the Department of Agriculture. 

Whatever the reason, despite some pretty poor odds, House Bill 2093 (House Draft 2) is making moves.