The Equitable Food Initiative, a workforce development and certification organization that partners with growers, farmers, marketers and consumer groups, is encouraging the agricultural community to recognize and celebrate National Farmer Awareness Week with free and impactful tools offered in its communications tools.

Observed annually during the last week of March culminating in Cesar Chavez’s birthday, Farmers’ Awareness Week honors the essential contributions of the men and women who move our food supply chain. From planting and harvesting to packing and shipping, farm workers bring deep knowledge, technical skills and pride to their work every day.

“Farmworker Awareness Week is an important reminder to pause and recognize the highly skilled and physically demanding work that farmworkers do every day to bring healthy, nutritious food to our tables,” said LeAnne Ruzzamenti, EFI’s director of marketing and communications. “Our toolbox is designed to help businesses and communities celebrate their employees and community members and share employee stories that educate consumers about the experience and dedication behind the food.”

EFI’s toolset makes it easy for businesses, retailers, industry organizations, educators and community leaders to show appreciation and raise awareness. The toolkit, available at equitablefood.org/toolkit, includes:

· Social media graphics, sample posts and videos to share

· Posters, technical sheets and printable infographics for offices, shops and workplaces

· A model proclamation to share with local and state officials

· Color a page for children

· Ideas for organizing weekly events or internal celebrations

· And more…

All materials are customizable and free to download, making participation easy and accessible for organizations of all sizes.

Farm workers are not only essential for production, but also essential for farm innovation and continuous improvement. Many bring years, even decades, of experience providing insights that improve quality, efficiency and food safety. Their pride in their craft and their commitment to doing the job well are the foundations for a strong and resilient farming system.

Alexandra Martinez, head of digital marketing and sales at the Equitable Food Initiative, emphasized the importance of industry-wide participation. “We hope that this special week is just the beginning for our industry to shine a light on the experience, resilience and professionalism that our employees provide throughout the year,” said Martinez. “To encourage this, EFI provides resources and reminders to highlight our essential workers with ongoing initiatives like #FarmworkerFriday and other digital tools.”

EFI encourages manufacturers, retailers, brands, allied organizations and consumers to download the toolkit and incorporate its resources into newsletters, in-store promotions, team meetings, classroom activities and community events. By raising awareness and appreciation during Farmworker Awareness Week, the industry can collectively highlight the hard work that sustains our food system year-round.

A free Farmworker Awareness Week Communication Toolkit is available here www.equitablefood.org/toolkit

The Hawaii Senate has passed a bill to allow qualified patients access to medical marijuana in health care facilities.

After receiving a favorable report in committee last week, Sen. Joy San Buenaventura’s (D) legislation advanced to the full floor on Tuesday as part of the consensus schedule with a 25-0 vote. A The version of the house proposal has also moved in this session.

The bill states, “It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to protect the ability of terminally ill patients and chronically ill patients over the age of sixty-five to safely use medical cannabis in specified health care facilities.”

Advocates would like the order to allow health facilities to use medical cannabis, but as written the policy would only allow those, exempting residential treatment centers from the proposed law.

Other exceptions contained in the legislation, SB 2408that medical marijuana may not be used for substance abuse recovery in hospitals, state hospitals or acute general hospital emergency departments “while the patient is receiving emergency services and care.”

Under the proposal, smoking and vaping of cannabis would be prohibited in health care facilities, “provided that the home health agency prohibits smoking or vaping before or during the home health agency staff’s stay at the facility.”

General acute care hospitals could not allow patients with a chronic illness to use medical cannabis unless they were terminally ill.

If a federal regulatory agency, the Department of Justice, or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) takes enforcement action against a health care facility related to its medical cannabis policy, or specifically notifies the facility that it is violating federal law, the health care facility may rescind the policy.

Meanwhile, last week, another Hawaii Senate committee passed a bill allow patients immediate access to medical cannabis once records are submittedinstead of waiting for the cards to be delivered, as is the case under current legislation.

Buenaventura, the head of the Health and Human Services Committee, is also a sponsor of his chamber’s version of the proposal. More of his panels has just passed legislation to legalize low-dose, low-potency marijuanaeven as their peers in the House of Representatives have said, the prohibition of cannabis in the state will not end this year.

The legislation would allow adults over the age of 21 to legally possess and use certain amounts of low-dose, low-THC cannabis, with the product limited to no more than 5 milligrams of THC per serving. In liquid form, twelve ounces can contain 5 milligrams of THC.

Senate committee action follows Senior lawmakers in the House indicated that proposals to legalize cannabis would not move forward In the 2026 session, citing the lack of sufficient support in their chamber.

Despite hopes that those bills – including one from House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee Chairman David Tarnas (D) that would put legalization before voters on the ballot – would advance this year, sponsor and House Speaker Nadine Nakamura (D) said there was not enough support in the legislature to pass this round.

State officials released a report in January the potential economic impact of recreational marijuana legalization on the stateincluding the revenue effects associated with domestic and international tourism.

All told, the researchers said survey data and comparative analysis indicate Hawaii could see $46-90 million in monthly marijuana sales in the fifth year of implementation, after taking into account the maximum tax rate of 15 percent on cannabis products.

The Hawaii Senate narrowly defeated a proposal last year that would have increased the amount of cannabis a person could possess without risk of criminal charges by five times.

If the measure had become law, the amount of decriminalized cannabis in Hawaii would have increased from the current 3 grams to 15 grams. Possession of any marijuana up to that 15-gram limit would have been classified as a civil infraction, punishable by a $130 fine.

The Senate bill that would legalize marijuana for adults, on the other hand, has finally stalled. That measure, SB 1613, did not make it out of committee during one term of the legislature.

While advocates believed there was sufficient support for the legalization proposal in the Senate, it is widely believed that House lawmakers would ultimately defeat the measure, as they did last February with a companion legislative bill, HB 1246.

In 2024, a The legislation passed by the Senate also failed in the House.

It came just days after last year’s House vote to stop the bill approval of a pair of committees at a joint hearing. Prior to that hearing, jurors received nearly 300 pages of testimony, including from state agencies, advocacy organizations and members of the public.

Gov. Josh Green (D) signed separate legislation last year allow medical marijuana caregivers to grow marijuana on behalf of five patients than the current one.

And in July, the governor signed another bill Establishes several new rules for Hawaiian hemp productsincluding the requirement for distributors and retailers to obtain registration from the Department of Health.

Legislators also sent a bill to the governor help speed up the expungement process for people who want to clear their past marijuana-related criminal records– a proposal Green signed the law last April.

This measure, HB 132, of Tarnas, aims to speed up the abolition Green’s pilot program signed into law in 2024. Specifically, it will eliminate a distinction between marijuana and other Schedule V drugs for the purposes of the decriminalization program.

The bill’s sponsors said the law’s current wording forces state officials to manually comb through thousands of criminal records to identify those eligible for expungement in the pilot program.

Meanwhile, in November, Hawaii officials detailed the rules allow medical marijuana dispensaries to sell a wide range of products for patients— including dry herb vaporizers, rolling papers and grinders — while revising state code to clarify that cannabis oils and concentrates can be marketed for inhalation.

The department as well He confirmed that he is in favor of federal marijuana reorganization– The policy change that President Donald Trump ordered to be carried out quickly, but which has not yet been implemented.

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Regulators are also launching a series of courses designed for this purpose educate doctors and other healthcare professionals about medical marijuana as the state’s cannabis program expands.

The under the medical marijuana expansion bill signed by the governor In late June, it not only makes cannabis easier for more patients to access, but also contains a provision that advocates find problematic.

Before lawmakers sent the legislation to Green, a conference committee revised the plan, including a provision allowing the DOH to access medical marijuana patient records held by doctors for any reason.

user photo Brian Shamblen.