From Farms to Families: Build a Food System App to Help Feed Hawaiʻi
This November 14 & 15, Nalukai is offering a free app design and AI-assisted development workshop for Hawaiʻi Island youth to build a coordination and distribution platform for small local farmers, in partnership with The Food Basket and ʻĀwili.
Hoʻolako Food System App Program Details
Dates: Nov 14-15th, 2026, 9am-3pm.
Students must be able to attend both days.
Day 1: The Food Basket, Hoʻolako, 505 Ponahawai St.
Day 2: Kaiāulu Hub, Prince Kūhiō Plaza
Who: Open to all Hawaiʻi Island high school students. Up to 16 spots available.
Cost: Free. Lunch on both days, all needed materials are provided.
Transportation: Students are responsible for getting themselves to each site.
Key dates: Applications due Sunday, Nov 1 at 11:59pm HST. Accepted participants notified Wednesday, Nov 4.
Program Overview
Hawaiʻi imports 90% of its food so a shipping delay or a recall on imported goods impacts families and businesses quickly.
Meanwhile, our small local farmers grow a lot of good food and each one works mostly on their own. Nobody can easily see which farms are growing what, how much is ready, or where it should go before it spoils. Farmers end up planting the same crops, food goes to waste, and needs in the community go unmet.
The Food Basket is building Hoʻolako to change that. Hoʻolako is a food hub and ag innovation center where local farmers can bring produce to be packed, processed, and distributed in Hawaiʻi, supporting ʻāina, community, and the local economy. The physical site is coming together over the next several years. The information system that ties it all together does not exist yet.
That is where you come in. Over two days, students will design and build the app a Food Basket coordinator uses to see the local food supply, know which farms it comes from, and get it to the people who need it before it spoils.
Design the interface
Interview Food Basket staff and farmers, map your user's journey, sketch paper mockups, and write a product requirements document (PRD).
Build with AI
Learn the basics of agentic AI, write an implementation plan with AI, and build a prototype app from a sample farm dataset.
Test with real users
Run multiple rounds of user testing with Food Basket staff to improve and iterate your app.
The Challenge
Your user is a Food Basket food hub coordinator who works with small farms across Hawaiʻi island, plus food pantries, partner agencies, and institutional buyers like schools. They cannot call every farmer every morning. Your app will allow them to see what is available and plan where it goes. Every team will be challenged to design the three core pages below.
Supply Dashboard
See what is available right now by crop and volume, and spot what needs attention today, such as food nearing the end of its shelf life or a crop in short supply.
Growers
Map the farms, view each farm's profile, and find every grower of a given crop quickly, along with when their harvests become available.
Distribution
Match harvested lots to pantries, partner agencies, and institutional buyers, then schedule pickups so food closest to spoiling moves first.
Build an app in two days
Day 1 · Sat, Nov 14 · Hoʻolako
Meet the place and the people
Gather at Hoʻolako campus to build pilina, gain a deeper understanding of our food system, tour the ag site, and hear the long-term vision for the food hub. Interview Food Basket staff and farmers, map your user's journey, sketch paper mockups, and collect feedback from real users. Teams draft their Product Requirements Document.
Day 2 · Sun, Nov 15 · Kaiāulu Hub
Build, test, and improve
Finish your PRD, learn the basics of agentic AI, and write an implementation plan with AI. Build a first-pass app using a sample farm dataset, then run two rounds of user testing with Food Basket staff and improve your app after each one. Close with a debrief & team share outs. Students can continue to work on the app after the program concludes.
What you'll gain from the experience
Learn the latest AI coding tools. You will build a working app in a single weekend. No coding experience is needed. Additionally you’ll develop skills essential to work on a tech product team including interviewing users, designing an interface, writing a product plan, and making changes in response to user feedback.
Make an impact on our food system. Help to get more local food to families while cutting down on food waste.
A meaningful portfolio piece for college applications, scholarship essays, and resumes.
Gain mentors from the worlds of tech and food systems. Your facilitators have worked at Twitch, Apple, and Cisco, and you will work alongside Food Basket staff and farmers.
Make new friends. You will join a team of students from other schools who care about food, community, and ethical use of AI technology.
A path forward. Students who want to continue will have a way to keep working with Food Basket staff as Hoʻolako grows.
Earn community service hours. We are happy to sign off so you can contribute the 12 hours you participate in this program.
Mahalo to our partners
