Across the planet people will be celebrating the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and UN World Food Day, Friday, Oct. 16. Here on the Big Island, a free event will be held at the Hilo Boys and Girls Club, starting with pupus and a visit to the garden at 5 p.m.

Following the introductory social hour and tour, a panel discussion will be held. The topic will be "Hawaii Food Self Sufficiency -- Where We Need to Go." The panel will feature Nancy Redfeather of the Kohala Center, Manu Meyers of UH-Hilo, Margarita Hopkins of the Hawaii County Office of Research and Development and Russell Nagata from the UH College of Tropical Agriculture. The moderator will be Richard Ha of Hamakua Springs Country Farms.

The event presents an opportunity to join with other people who are concerned about the fact that over 85 percent of Hawaii's food is imported. In today's uncertain world, this puts all residents of Hawaii in a precarious and potentially dangerous position, especially because only a few days' backlog of food is stored at grocery stores and no government surplus exists.

In a question and answer format, panelists will each discuss two to four issues they believe are important in bringing the Big Island toward greater food self sufficiency. Also to be discussed will be ways that all of us, as members of the general public, can help to advance this goal. With our year-round growing climate, there's very little excuse for all of us not to be growing some of our own food, especially when crops such as papayas practically grow as weeds and require very little care, while providing a delicious, nutritious fruit.

Organizer Margaret Drake invites everyone to attend

"Everyone should be asking what we can do and how we will accomplish greater food self sufficiency here in Hawaii. Please join us and share your thoughts and concerns," she said.

The event is sponsored by the United Nations Association of the United States, Hawaii Chapter. Admission is free. The Boys and Girls Club is located at 100 Kamakahonu Street, off Haili and above Kapiolani Street in Hilo. For more information, contact Margaret Drake at 967-7295 or e-mail her at mdrake@netdoor.com. For more information on the Web, visit http://www.fao.org and http://www.hamakuasprings.com.