Lehia Apana and Brad Bayless founded Polipoli Farms in Waiehu, Maui, which produces native and Polynesian plants in a regenerative agroforest. As a Native Hawaiian-owned farm, they follow ancestral technologies to grow important cultural foods, then turn those harvests into healthy packaged goods—a model that leads to healthier people and a healthier planet.

Their three-acre farm is situated within the Nā Wai ʻEhā region, which is famous for its abundance of fresh water. When they purchased the parcel in 2017, it was covered in thick grasses and invasive trees. As they cleared the land for farming, they discovered traditional terraces for growing kalo and an ancient rock wall underneath the overgrowth.

This was a powerful reminder that this ʻāina is culturally and historically significant, and that Polipoli Farms sits on the same land that fed generations of Native Hawaiians. The original mahiʻai of this place practiced regenerative agriculture, and they strive to follow in their footsteps.

Their mission is to revive the legacy of this ʻāina and region by feeding the people of Hawaiʻi the food of Hawaiʻi. Polipoli Farms recently launched a project to build an on-farm food processing hub to help reverse the trends of Hawaiʻi's broken food system, which currently imports nearly 90% of its food.