In Hawai‘i, Restoring Kava Helps Sustain Native Food Culture
Last fall, Ava Taesali opened Kava Queen, O‘ahu’s only brick-and-mortar kava bar, after three years of building a loyal following for this traditional beverage at farmers’ markets in Honolulu. Located in the repurposed Waialua Sugar Mill, former home of a sugar industry giant, the establishment is surrounded by a mix of local businesses that includes a yoga studio, a surf shop, and a sewing collective. The eclectic space reflects the North Shore’s laid-back, community vibe—a perfect backdrop for sipping the Polynesian brew. “Kava is meant to bring people together,” said Taesali. Earthy, bitter, and tingly on the tongue, kava—‘awa in Hawaiian—calms the body without dulling the brain. “The only thing it numbs is your mouth,” said Taesali, a Samoan American whose first name, aptly, means kava in Samoan. Kava, also known as Piper methysticum, is a perennial shrub with large, heart-shaped leaves. Its fibrous root, when crushed and steeped in water and massaged to release its essence, produces a cloudy, cool infusion traditionally served in an apu, or coconut-shell cup. Consumed in the South Pacific for at least 2,000 years for pleasure, relaxation, and in cultural and spiritual ceremonies, the drink holds deep significance in both Hawaiian mythology and Polynesian identity. “This designation helps sustain Native culture, reassure public health, and encourage state food sovereignty.” Beyond its traditional ceremonial and social importance, kava’s calming effects have sparked new research into kavalactones, the plant’s active compounds known to reduce stress, as an anti-anxiety remedy. Studies have also found that the elixir may have broader medicinal potential, from anti-cancer benefits to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite these findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to embrace these benefits. A longstanding federal advisory memorandum labels kava as an “unsafe” ingredient and classifies it as “an unapproved food additive,” citing unresolved health concerns including potential liver damage and cancer. The FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) designation deems substances safe to use in foods and beverages, covering everything from staples such as salt and vinegar to certain food dyes and other controversial additives. However, the FDA has withheld GRAS status from kava, classifying it instead as a dietary supplement alongside vitamins, herbs, and probiotics, subjecting it to stricter labeling requirements and health warnings—as well as lower consumer demand. Beyond limiting kava’s mainstream acceptance, the cautious stance has also cast a shadow over its reputation, overshadowing its deep-rooted significance in Polynesian culture. Last year, however, Hawai‘i took matters into its own hands by labeling the root as GRAS. While states can’t overturn federal standards, they can set their own restrictions—California, for example, bans potassium bromate, a baking additive—or, as is the case here, make exceptions for certain substances. Ava Taesali pours kava into an apu at Kava Queen in Waialua. (Photo credit: Naoki Nitta) By adopting the FDA term for safe-to-consume ingredients, the decision honors the plant’s cultural legacy. It also aligns with the international Codex Alimentarius, the food safety standard of the World Health Organization (WHO), which recognized the safety of traditional kava preparations in 2020, citing their cultural significance to Native Polynesians. “This designation helps sustain Native culture, reassure public health, and encourage state food sovereignty,” said Kristen Wong, an information specialist for the Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH). The Stigma Surrounding Kava Advocates blame the kava controversy on widespread adulteration of the ingredient. In 2002, Germany banned the substance due to reports of liver toxicity, which were later traced to extracts mixed with kratom, a Southeast Asian herb linked to liver damage and addiction. Though the national ban was eventually lifted, the stigma lingers. “There are so many misconceptions about kava,” Taesali said, adding that official recognition is key to changing the narrative. Kava has endured a long history of adversity, said Lakea Trask, a Hawaiian farmer and local activist who cultivates kava and other Native crops for Kanaka Kava, his family’s farm-to-table restaurant in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island. The plant has weathered centuries of hardship, he notes, from missionaries suppressing its use during colonization to the shift toward large-scale monocultures that crowded out Indigenous staples. The GRAS stamp is a long-overdue validation, he said, of kava’s importance to Hawaiian agriculture and identity. As recognition grows, so have opportunities for small-scale farming initiatives and environmental restoration. By reviving Hawaiian self-sufficiency and healing the scars left by plantations, Trask said, “‘awa [presents] an opportunity to restore our sovereignty and our ancestral connection to the land.” A History of Resilience Polynesian settlers brought kava to Hawai‘i roughly 1,600 years ago, selecting it as a canoe plant—essential crops carried across the Pacific by ancestral voyagers—alongside taro (kalo), breadfruit (‘ulu), and other staples that fed, healed, and built thriving communities across the archipelago. Along with its ceremonial and medicinal role, kava was also an important social drink. Yet by the 19th century, kava was headed toward obscurity. The rise of plantation agriculture uprooted Native communities, replacing local food systems with sprawling sugarcane and pineapple fields. “It’s the same story as all of our Indigenous crops,” said Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, a University of Hawai‘i (UH) associate professor at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and head of the Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory. Despite these challenges, kava’s ability to thrive in sun, shade, and diverse soils enabled it to persist, mainly in the wild. Forty years ago, Edward Johnston, a leading kava expert and co-founder of the Association for Hawaiian ‘Awa (AHA), stumbled on a hidden patch of kava deep in the Big Island’s Waipi‘o Valley. Struck by its calming properties, he began collecting and propagating different varieties in his back yard, eventually offering them for sale at the newly established Hilo Farmers Market. Since kava reproduces only through cuttings, not seeds, Johnston’s work has been vital to preserving Hawai‘i’s 13 known cultivars. Known as noble varieties, all Hawaiian strains contain balanced levels of kavalactones, the compounds responsible for kava’s calming effects. Through AHA, a non-profit promoting the cultural, educational, and sustainable use of kava, Johnston has helped safeguard these native plants and elevated their cultural significance. Edward Johnston walks through a field of kava in 1999. (Photo credit: Edward Johnston) Johnston’s efforts helped spark a kava comeback, riding the wave of the Hawaiian Renaissance, a late-1960s cultural movement to reclaim Native traditions, language, and sovereignty. The resurgence gained further traction in the 1990s with support from the Department of Defense’s Rural Economic Transition Assistance-Hawai‘i grants, which helped farmers shift from sugarcane plantations to diversified agriculture. The late Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawai‘i) championed the program amid the decline of the sugarcane industry, spurring about 200 acres of kava cultivation by backyard growers and commercial farms, according to Johnston. Demand for kava soared during this time, especially in Germany, where Hawaiian strains fetched a premium. In a 1998 newsreel, AHA co-founder Jerry Konanui urged farmers to seize the moment, highlighting that the raw kava prices had doubled to $10 a pound, presenting a sustainable source of supplemental income. But when the liver toxicity reports surfaced in 2000, “everything went downhill,” Johnston said. Germany’s 2002 ban left a lasting impact: Despite inclusion in the Codex Alimentarius in 2020, kava is still illegal in Poland, the United Kingdom, and a host of other countries. And in the U.S., the FDA’s 2002 advisory, which labels kava as an unapproved food additive with potential health risks, still rules, lumping traditional preparations together with processed products. A Growing Market Amid Regulatory Ambiguity With federal oversight of kava in a gray zone that allows its use as a supplement, kava bars have popped up across the country over the last decade. Currently, about 180 establishments cater to a growing thirst for the drink as a social tonic and alcohol alternative. As kava’s allure grows, so, too, have local restrictions. In Florida, the so-called “U.S. Kava Capital” and home to 75 kava venues and a small crop of farms, one county recently imposed limits on kava bars near schools (there are no state age regulations around kava consumption). And in New York City, officials shut down a cafe serving kava and kratom, calling the combination “dangerous.” Sampling Kava SafelyThe Hawai‘i Department of Health recommends these guidelines when trying kava: Choose Noble Strains: Always look for kava harvested from noble cultivars—Hawaiian kava is inherently noble—as these are the only strains designated as GRAS. While state production still remains in the hundreds of acres, according to Edward Johnston, several producers sell kava online. Stick to Traditional Preparations: Traditional aqueous extraction methods—using water or coconut water to prepare the beverage—are considered safe and follow long-established cultural practices. Avoid Chemical Extracts: Stay away from adulterated and concentrated kava products, including those made with ethanol and other organic solvents, which can lead to elevated kavalactone levels and increase health risks. Michigan, however, greenlit kava in 2023, becoming the first state to grant it GRAS status. “Michigan relies on the FDA to provide new information on GRAS products,” said a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), which issued the designation. But in this case, “MDARD believed the WHO document provided sufficient evidence” to confirm the safety of traditionally prepared kava. Soon after, Hawai‘i followed suit, citing the FDA’s “erroneous” classification of kava. The state’s health department invoked a federal exception that grants GRAS status to substances with a proven history of safe use before 1958—a milestone in food safety marked by the Food Additives Amendment. The state ruling recognizes noble kava cultivars brewed with water or coconut water as safe, while warning against alcohol-based extracts and processed products. Although studies have linked kava to elevated liver enzyme levels, research shows that most cases of liver damage involve concentrated extracts or products made with non-root parts, like leaves or stems, rather than traditional brews. Genetics also play a role: While nearly all Pacific Islanders have an enzyme that metabolizes kava safely, upwards of a fifth of Caucasians lack it, increasing their risk of liver toxicity when consuming adulterated kava. In an email to Civil Eats, an FDA spokesperson clarified that, absent GRAS status, kava can’t be used in foods and drinks and must be sold as a dietary supplement. Even though “this determination does not apply to kava steeped in water and consumed as food,” the agency’s warning still stands; “the cultural use of kava does not influence its safety assessment,” added the spokesperson, citing “data gaps” in the WHO evaluation. Yet, as U.H.’s Lincoln notes, by the FDA’s own definition, kava—safely consumed for millennia—should qualify as GRAS. Not recognizing the historical safety of traditional preparations amounts to “[an] erasure of indigenous Hawaiian identity,” he adds, and an act of “ongoing colonial repression.” Ultimately, the regulatory ambiguity creates inconsistent approaches for other agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). While the DEA doesn’t classify kava as a controlled substance, it lists the root alongside LSD and fentanyl on its Drugs of Abuse list, further muddling its legal status. Adding to the uncertainty, California echoed the FDA’s position last May by issuing its own caution in a consumer fact sheet. Harvesting ‘awa requires leaving the corm and lateral roots intact. (Photo credit: Kanaka Kava) The ambiguity is causing significant challenges for Rami Kayali, who owns two kava bars in California with plans to open a third—‘Awa Hou—in Honolulu this month. After six years of insuring his two mainland establishments, Kayali’s provider abruptly canceled coverage, citing the DEA scrutiny. Kayali has had to scramble, turning to pricey cannabis-industry insurance at nearly triple the cost. “It’s been a nightmare,” he said. Amid these challenges, Hawai‘i’s formal stance provides vital legal footing for the industry, said Trask of Kanaka Kava, at least in the islands. “To have some of those protections put on paper is important.” Yet those protections are weakly enforced. “We conduct investigations when notified,” a DOH spokesperson said, conceding that while state statutes require labeling and compliance, enforcement is largely reactive. “Blasphemous” kava extracts and adulterations are widely available, both on-island and online, said Trask, perpetuating misconceptions about “‘awa done traditionally,” prepared with just water or coconut water. Supporting Local and Sustainable Kava Production Nevertheless, the GRAS designation is opening new doors for kava entrepreneurs and farmers alike. A recent $70,000 state grant aims to boost sustainable kava production and reduce Hawai‘i’s reliance on food imports, which currently hovers at around 85 percent of the state’s total food supply. And the economic potential is clear: In Vanuatu, kava makes up 75 percent of exports, generating nearly $50 million a year for the remote South Pacific island nation. Hawai‘i’s noble kava varieties fetch premium prices—fresh “wet” kava can retail for $64 a pound—though local production remains “microscopic,” said Taesali of Kava Queen in O‘ahu. Her bar, like many in the U.S., serves mainly Fijian and Vanuatuan kava. Scaling up won’t be easy, as kava plants take a few years to establish, and the slow returns can deter farmers. Growers like Trask of the farm-to-table Kanaka Kava, however, are tackling these hurdles by creating regional hubs and kava farm networks. “We’re building a place-based community model of production,” Trask said, helping farmers grow cultivars suited to local microclimates, offering harvest support, and buying back crops in three to five years. 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. Still, U.H,’s Lincoln is wary of kava becoming another commodity crop, where profits flow up, not down. “Hawai‘i is a state of small farms,” he said, with more than 90 percent measuring less than 50 acres. Aggregators and marketers tend to dominate supply chains, however, siphoning revenue and squeezing out small-scale growers. Kona coffee beans are a prime example: While beans retail upwards of $80 a pound, farmers, on average, earn just $2.25 per pound of cherries. Lincoln sees co-ops as a promising model. His wife, Dana Shapiro, heads the Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative, which has helped revitalize breadfruit as an island staple. Co-ops allow farmers to “increase their equity and power,” he said, through collective control over aggregation, processing, and marketing. That results in fairer prices, higher profits, and greater “‘āina”—land stewardship practices like agroforestry and crop rotation that nurture both the land and local food system. Trask echoes the sentiment. As demand for kava grows, restoring pono means honoring kava from soil to cup. “It’s about cultivating more farmers—and more [informed] consumers,” he said, to ensure that this ancient crop once again thrives. The post In Hawai‘i, Restoring Kava Helps Sustain Native Food Culture appeared first on Civil Eats.
Earthy, bitter, and tingly on the tongue, kava—‘awa in Hawaiian—calms the body without dulling the brain. “The only thing it numbs is your mouth,” said Taesali, a Samoan American whose first name, aptly, means kava in Samoan. Kava, also known as Piper methysticum, is a perennial shrub with large, heart-shaped leaves. Its fibrous root, when […] The post In Hawai‘i, Restoring Kava Helps Sustain Native Food Culture appeared first on Civil Eats.
Last fall, Ava Taesali opened Kava Queen, O‘ahu’s only brick-and-mortar kava bar, after three years of building a loyal following for this traditional beverage at farmers’ markets in Honolulu. Located in the repurposed Waialua Sugar Mill, former home of a sugar industry giant, the establishment is surrounded by a mix of local businesses that includes a yoga studio, a surf shop, and a sewing collective. The eclectic space reflects the North Shore’s laid-back, community vibe—a perfect backdrop for sipping the Polynesian brew. “Kava is meant to bring people together,” said Taesali.
Earthy, bitter, and tingly on the tongue, kava—‘awa in Hawaiian—calms the body without dulling the brain. “The only thing it numbs is your mouth,” said Taesali, a Samoan American whose first name, aptly, means kava in Samoan.
Kava, also known as Piper methysticum, is a perennial shrub with large, heart-shaped leaves. Its fibrous root, when crushed and steeped in water and massaged to release its essence, produces a cloudy, cool infusion traditionally served in an apu, or coconut-shell cup. Consumed in the South Pacific for at least 2,000 years for pleasure, relaxation, and in cultural and spiritual ceremonies, the drink holds deep significance in both Hawaiian mythology and Polynesian identity.
“This designation helps sustain Native culture, reassure public health, and encourage state food sovereignty.”
Beyond its traditional ceremonial and social importance, kava’s calming effects have sparked new research into kavalactones, the plant’s active compounds known to reduce stress, as an anti-anxiety remedy. Studies have also found that the elixir may have broader medicinal potential, from anti-cancer benefits to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Despite these findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to embrace these benefits. A longstanding federal advisory memorandum labels kava as an “unsafe” ingredient and classifies it as “an unapproved food additive,” citing unresolved health concerns including potential liver damage and cancer.
The FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) designation deems substances safe to use in foods and beverages, covering everything from staples such as salt and vinegar to certain food dyes and other controversial additives. However, the FDA has withheld GRAS status from kava, classifying it instead as a dietary supplement alongside vitamins, herbs, and probiotics, subjecting it to stricter labeling requirements and health warnings—as well as lower consumer demand. Beyond limiting kava’s mainstream acceptance, the cautious stance has also cast a shadow over its reputation, overshadowing its deep-rooted significance in Polynesian culture.
Last year, however, Hawai‘i took matters into its own hands by labeling the root as GRAS. While states can’t overturn federal standards, they can set their own restrictions—California, for example, bans potassium bromate, a baking additive—or, as is the case here, make exceptions for certain substances.
Ava Taesali pours kava into an apu at Kava Queen in Waialua. (Photo credit: Naoki Nitta)
By adopting the FDA term for safe-to-consume ingredients, the decision honors the plant’s cultural legacy. It also aligns with the international Codex Alimentarius, the food safety standard of the World Health Organization (WHO), which recognized the safety of traditional kava preparations in 2020, citing their cultural significance to Native Polynesians.
“This designation helps sustain Native culture, reassure public health, and encourage state food sovereignty,” said Kristen Wong, an information specialist for the Hawai‘i Department of Health (DOH).
The Stigma Surrounding Kava
Advocates blame the kava controversy on widespread adulteration of the ingredient. In 2002, Germany banned the substance due to reports of liver toxicity, which were later traced to extracts mixed with kratom, a Southeast Asian herb linked to liver damage and addiction. Though the national ban was eventually lifted, the stigma lingers. “There are so many misconceptions about kava,” Taesali said, adding that official recognition is key to changing the narrative.
Kava has endured a long history of adversity, said Lakea Trask, a Hawaiian farmer and local activist who cultivates kava and other Native crops for Kanaka Kava, his family’s farm-to-table restaurant in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island. The plant has weathered centuries of hardship, he notes, from missionaries suppressing its use during colonization to the shift toward large-scale monocultures that crowded out Indigenous staples. The GRAS stamp is a long-overdue validation, he said, of kava’s importance to Hawaiian agriculture and identity.
As recognition grows, so have opportunities for small-scale farming initiatives and environmental restoration. By reviving Hawaiian self-sufficiency and healing the scars left by plantations, Trask said, “‘awa [presents] an opportunity to restore our sovereignty and our ancestral connection to the land.”
A History of Resilience
Polynesian settlers brought kava to Hawai‘i roughly 1,600 years ago, selecting it as a canoe plant—essential crops carried across the Pacific by ancestral voyagers—alongside taro (kalo), breadfruit (‘ulu), and other staples that fed, healed, and built thriving communities across the archipelago. Along with its ceremonial and medicinal role, kava was also an important social drink.
Yet by the 19th century, kava was headed toward obscurity. The rise of plantation agriculture uprooted Native communities, replacing local food systems with sprawling sugarcane and pineapple fields. “It’s the same story as all of our Indigenous crops,” said Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, a University of Hawai‘i (UH) associate professor at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and head of the Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory.
Despite these challenges, kava’s ability to thrive in sun, shade, and diverse soils enabled it to persist, mainly in the wild. Forty years ago, Edward Johnston, a leading kava expert and co-founder of the Association for Hawaiian ‘Awa (AHA), stumbled on a hidden patch of kava deep in the Big Island’s Waipi‘o Valley. Struck by its calming properties, he began collecting and propagating different varieties in his back yard, eventually offering them for sale at the newly established Hilo Farmers Market.
Since kava reproduces only through cuttings, not seeds, Johnston’s work has been vital to preserving Hawai‘i’s 13 known cultivars. Known as noble varieties, all Hawaiian strains contain balanced levels of kavalactones, the compounds responsible for kava’s calming effects. Through AHA, a non-profit promoting the cultural, educational, and sustainable use of kava, Johnston has helped safeguard these native plants and elevated their cultural significance.
Edward Johnston walks through a field of kava in 1999. (Photo credit: Edward Johnston)
Johnston’s efforts helped spark a kava comeback, riding the wave of the Hawaiian Renaissance, a late-1960s cultural movement to reclaim Native traditions, language, and sovereignty. The resurgence gained further traction in the 1990s with support from the Department of Defense’s Rural Economic Transition Assistance-Hawai‘i grants, which helped farmers shift from sugarcane plantations to diversified agriculture. The late Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawai‘i) championed the program amid the decline of the sugarcane industry, spurring about 200 acres of kava cultivation by backyard growers and commercial farms, according to Johnston.
Demand for kava soared during this time, especially in Germany, where Hawaiian strains fetched a premium. In a 1998 newsreel, AHA co-founder Jerry Konanui urged farmers to seize the moment, highlighting that the raw kava prices had doubled to $10 a pound, presenting a sustainable source of supplemental income.
But when the liver toxicity reports surfaced in 2000, “everything went downhill,” Johnston said. Germany’s 2002 ban left a lasting impact: Despite inclusion in the Codex Alimentarius in 2020, kava is still illegal in Poland, the United Kingdom, and a host of other countries. And in the U.S., the FDA’s 2002 advisory, which labels kava as an unapproved food additive with potential health risks, still rules, lumping traditional preparations together with processed products.
A Growing Market Amid Regulatory Ambiguity
With federal oversight of kava in a gray zone that allows its use as a supplement, kava bars have popped up across the country over the last decade. Currently, about 180 establishments cater to a growing thirst for the drink as a social tonic and alcohol alternative.
As kava’s allure grows, so, too, have local restrictions. In Florida, the so-called “U.S. Kava Capital” and home to 75 kava venues and a small crop of farms, one county recently imposed limits on kava bars near schools (there are no state age regulations around kava consumption). And in New York City, officials shut down a cafe serving kava and kratom, calling the combination “dangerous.”
The Hawai‘i Department of Health recommends these guidelines when trying kava:
Choose Noble Strains: Always look for kava harvested from noble cultivars—Hawaiian kava is inherently noble—as these are the only strains designated as GRAS. While state production still remains in the hundreds of acres, according to Edward Johnston, several producers sell kava online.
Stick to Traditional Preparations: Traditional aqueous extraction methods—using water or coconut water to prepare the beverage—are considered safe and follow long-established cultural practices.
Avoid Chemical Extracts: Stay away from adulterated and concentrated kava products, including those made with ethanol and other organic solvents, which can lead to elevated kavalactone levels and increase health risks.
Michigan, however, greenlit kava in 2023, becoming the first state to grant it GRAS status. “Michigan relies on the FDA to provide new information on GRAS products,” said a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), which issued the designation. But in this case, “MDARD believed the WHO document provided sufficient evidence” to confirm the safety of traditionally prepared kava.
Soon after, Hawai‘i followed suit, citing the FDA’s “erroneous” classification of kava. The state’s health department invoked a federal exception that grants GRAS status to substances with a proven history of safe use before 1958—a milestone in food safety marked by the Food Additives Amendment. The state ruling recognizes noble kava cultivars brewed with water or coconut water as safe, while warning against alcohol-based extracts and processed products.
Although studies have linked kava to elevated liver enzyme levels, research shows that most cases of liver damage involve concentrated extracts or products made with non-root parts, like leaves or stems, rather than traditional brews. Genetics also play a role: While nearly all Pacific Islanders have an enzyme that metabolizes kava safely, upwards of a fifth of Caucasians lack it, increasing their risk of liver toxicity when consuming adulterated kava.
In an email to Civil Eats, an FDA spokesperson clarified that, absent GRAS status, kava can’t be used in foods and drinks and must be sold as a dietary supplement. Even though “this determination does not apply to kava steeped in water and consumed as food,” the agency’s warning still stands; “the cultural use of kava does not influence its safety assessment,” added the spokesperson, citing “data gaps” in the WHO evaluation.
Yet, as U.H.’s Lincoln notes, by the FDA’s own definition, kava—safely consumed for millennia—should qualify as GRAS. Not recognizing the historical safety of traditional preparations amounts to “[an] erasure of indigenous Hawaiian identity,” he adds, and an act of “ongoing colonial repression.”
Ultimately, the regulatory ambiguity creates inconsistent approaches for other agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). While the DEA doesn’t classify kava as a controlled substance, it lists the root alongside LSD and fentanyl on its Drugs of Abuse list, further muddling its legal status. Adding to the uncertainty, California echoed the FDA’s position last May by issuing its own caution in a consumer fact sheet.
Harvesting ‘awa requires leaving the corm and lateral roots intact. (Photo credit: Kanaka Kava)
The ambiguity is causing significant challenges for Rami Kayali, who owns two kava bars in California with plans to open a third—‘Awa Hou—in Honolulu this month. After six years of insuring his two mainland establishments, Kayali’s provider abruptly canceled coverage, citing the DEA scrutiny. Kayali has had to scramble, turning to pricey cannabis-industry insurance at nearly triple the cost. “It’s been a nightmare,” he said.
Amid these challenges, Hawai‘i’s formal stance provides vital legal footing for the industry, said Trask of Kanaka Kava, at least in the islands. “To have some of those protections put on paper is important.”
Yet those protections are weakly enforced. “We conduct investigations when notified,” a DOH spokesperson said, conceding that while state statutes require labeling and compliance, enforcement is largely reactive. “Blasphemous” kava extracts and adulterations are widely available, both on-island and online, said Trask, perpetuating misconceptions about “‘awa done traditionally,” prepared with just water or coconut water.
Supporting Local and Sustainable Kava Production
Nevertheless, the GRAS designation is opening new doors for kava entrepreneurs and farmers alike. A recent $70,000 state grant aims to boost sustainable kava production and reduce Hawai‘i’s reliance on food imports, which currently hovers at around 85 percent of the state’s total food supply. And the economic potential is clear: In Vanuatu, kava makes up 75 percent of exports, generating nearly $50 million a year for the remote South Pacific island nation.
Hawai‘i’s noble kava varieties fetch premium prices—fresh “wet” kava can retail for $64 a pound—though local production remains “microscopic,” said Taesali of Kava Queen in O‘ahu. Her bar, like many in the U.S., serves mainly Fijian and Vanuatuan kava.
Scaling up won’t be easy, as kava plants take a few years to establish, and the slow returns can deter farmers. Growers like Trask of the farm-to-table Kanaka Kava, however, are tackling these hurdles by creating regional hubs and kava farm networks.
“We’re building a place-based community model of production,” Trask said, helping farmers grow cultivars suited to local microclimates, offering harvest support, and buying back crops in three to five years.
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.
Still, U.H,’s Lincoln is wary of kava becoming another commodity crop, where profits flow up, not down. “Hawai‘i is a state of small farms,” he said, with more than 90 percent measuring less than 50 acres. Aggregators and marketers tend to dominate supply chains, however, siphoning revenue and squeezing out small-scale growers. Kona coffee beans are a prime example: While beans retail upwards of $80 a pound, farmers, on average, earn just $2.25 per pound of cherries.
Lincoln sees co-ops as a promising model. His wife, Dana Shapiro, heads the Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative, which has helped revitalize breadfruit as an island staple. Co-ops allow farmers to “increase their equity and power,” he said, through collective control over aggregation, processing, and marketing. That results in fairer prices, higher profits, and greater “‘āina”—land stewardship practices like agroforestry and crop rotation that nurture both the land and local food system.
Trask echoes the sentiment. As demand for kava grows, restoring pono means honoring kava from soil to cup. “It’s about cultivating more farmers—and more [informed] consumers,” he said, to ensure that this ancient crop once again thrives.
The post In Hawai‘i, Restoring Kava Helps Sustain Native Food Culture appeared first on Civil Eats.