Puna Lunch Club sat down with Dr. Kimo Alameda to discuss the upcoming mayoral election, why we need to rethink the county’s role in addressing our housing crisis, the sewage plant in Keaukaha and what could be the biggest environmental disaster the Big Island has ever faced if it were to rupture, health disparities in our community, and the future for Hawai’i he hopes to leave the next generations.

Puna Lunch Club sat with Kuhio Thomas, Director of Big Island Men’s Center of Adult & Teen Challenge, to discuss overcoming addiction, self-love, confronting life’s challenges head on and their ongoing work in the community.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Kawehi from the Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC) to discuss the high prevalence of invasive species on the Big Island and its characteristics, how a plant goes from introduced to invasive, Puna as the epicenter of Rat Lungworm, the importance of kilo, what is being done to fight the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle, hula dancers as conservationists and more.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Samantha DeCorte, running for State Senator. If elected, she will be the first Native Hawaiian Wahine State Senator to represent District 22, Ko ‘Olina, Nānākuli, Mā‘ili, Wai‘anae, Mākaha, and Mākua. We discussed housing Hawaiians first, DHHL and getting the 30,000 people off of the waitlist, coconut tree planting and native forestry, the culture in the capital and what she’s learned working with Senator Awa, a recent viral video and the fight for power, and more. 

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death specialist Charlotte Romo with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa CTAHR (College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources) and Katie Graham, Kupu Intern. We discussed what is ROD, how can we spot its symptoms, how can we prevent its spread, and how can we balance the need for housing/development while protecting our native plants, forests and ecosystems. We then take a short huakaʻi to one of our job sites to see what that looks like in practice.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Scrappahz Union 96792, a group of Nānākuli High School students and kumu who are scrapping food / plastic / cardboard waste from the landfills and turning it into soil, cardboard pots, mulch, confetti and providing fresh produce at their Sustainable Saturdays. They recently entered and won $25,000 in the KeikiCo Contest for their cardboard shredding and use the winnings to buy cardboard shredders for all the westside schools. They aim to get cardboard shredders into as many schools as they can, including schools on Maui.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Carmen Guzman-Simpliciano, the Assistant Director of Kingdom Pathways based in Waianae, and we discussed the work they’re doing to clean up the water pollution at Pōka‘ī Bay, Makaha Beach, how they got their own lab at Waianae High School so they can do water testing with the students, and more.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Jay Kahee to discuss keeping Hawaiian lands in Hawaiian hands, financial literacy, life insurance, setting up trusts, estate planning, wellness and how what is ono is not always pono.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Ilima Shim, born and raised on Big Island from Ka’u to Kona and now residing on Oahu. We discuss her experiences being a woman in male dominated industries, her successful modeling career and being cast on a TV show  called “Tough as Nails” on CBS in 2021.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Uncle Fuzzy to discuss all things like his VHS tapes that he can’t play anymore, when he’s gonna get barreled on the foil, real estate investing in different lava zones, tax auctions, his future plans, and more.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Aaron Tolentino, who’s running for Hawai’i County Council District 5, to discuss affordability, rising property taxes and introducing a kupuna tax break, building multiple dwellings on a single parcel, and more.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Hānai Kaiāulu to discuss the important work they’re doing around sustainability, diverting waste from landfill, cardboard shredding, their work with Niu Now and planting food trees in the community, and what we can do to fight the CRB (⁠Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle⁠) infestation.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Kuulei Music to discuss voting in occupied Hawai’i, the need for regular people to be in county council that will actually hear and act in response to the people’s testimonies, how to generate natural abundant relationships with the ‘āina, and more. 

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Seaula Jr. Tupaʻi, candidate for Hawai’i County Mayor. We discussed the importance of representation in government, what the top 3 issues are and how he plans to solve them, constitutional republic vs democracy,  chicken fighting and gun rights, preventing foreigners from buying up real estate, why the $24 billion allocated for Ukraine should be reallocated for Hawai’i, and more.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Keoni Payton who also goes by the artist moniker of Painkillers. We discussed the need for a kanaka chamber of commerce, building up the community, wanting everybody to win and the upcoming county elections.

Today Puna Lunch Club sat down with Jaerick Medeiros, a longtime advocate for the people, to discuss upcoming county council and mayor elections, why the county has jurisdiction over the state of Hawai’i and the federal govt, how we can increase voter turnout in our county, legalizing chicken fighting, gun rights, and more.

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Brandon Lee, owner of Kaunamano Farm, Napua Restaurant at the Mauna Lani and Lehua at  ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. We talked about revitalizing the agriculture industry in Hawai’i, motivating the youth to get into farming, the restaurant business, invasive management ideas, and more. 

Puna Lunch Club sat down with Shane “Dynomite” Veincent from Sudden Rush today to talk about the evolution of music, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, overcoming challenges in life and more. 

Puna Lunch Club sat down with District 4 Council Member Ashley Kierkiewicz, who is born and raised on Hawai’i Island, to discuss the Puna Makai Alternate Route and promises that were made to exclude Hawaiian Home Lands from the study, how the study is being expanded, recent wins for the Puna community, renewable energy, airbnb regulation and more. 

We sat down with Kwai-Chang Publico, a lifelong entrepreneur and business owner here in Hilo, to discuss health, juicing, Hawaiian culture and laying the bricks for future generations to continue building the path forward.

Puna Lunch Club sits down with Sager the Rager