Despite the FDA's cautious stance on kava due to potential health risks, Hawai'i has labeled it as Generally Recognized as Safe. Naoki Nitta highlights the historical suppression of kava, its recent revival through the efforts of farmers and activists, and the challenges posed by regulatory ambiguity. The piece further examines the potential for sustainable kava production to boost the local economy and heal the environmental scars left by plantation agriculture.
For Trask, kava is also central to healing Hawai‘i’s post-plantation scars. Fertile rainforests were razed for sugarcane fields, then abandoned after the industry’s collapse in the 1990s. Now overrun with “acres and acres of pasture and eucalyptus,” the land faces threats from pests and wildfires. By integrating native trees such as breadfruit and morinda (noni) with kava, taro, and other canoe plants, “we’re rebuilding our agroforestry system,” he said. Doing so “restores pono,” he adds, using a Hawaiian expression for the reestablishment of balance in the soil, in biodiversity, and in cultural practices.