An estimated 150 youths from around the Islands gathered over the weekend for a food conference on the Big Island to help Hawai'i become a more sustainable place to live.

Called "Ho'ea Ea Return to Freedom: A Food Sovereignty Conference," the event allowed youths to travel to workshops on sustainability and to visit cultural food sites around the island.

The conference was designed to develop a spiritual and physical pathway toward sustainable and self-sufficient food systems, and to allow youths to begin to build a vision of food sovereignty and sustainability.

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