The healthiest red meat on the planet. 🌎🥩

Read Time: 5 minutes

The Hawaiian island of Maui is on the brink of ecological devastation due to an invasive ruminant introduced to Hawaii more than 150 years ago.

However, an ambitious project aims to redefine our relationship with invasive species in a way that creates regenerative outcomes, all while feeding its community and beyond some of the healthiest red meat on the planet.

Redefining Relationships with Invasive Species

The Invasive Introduction

Given their extreme isolation, the islands of Hawaii are some of the most delicate ecosystems on the planet. Before humans, plant and animal species had to travel by wind or water to call this tropical oasis home.

Axis deer were originally gifted to King Kamehameha V from India in 1867 and released on Molokai shortly after.

In 1959, only 9 Axis deer were introduced to the island of Maui in Hawaii for the purpose of recreational hunting. That number exploded over 20 years, peaking at around 200,000. The ecological damage that ensued has threatened the native flora and fauna.

Unintended Consequences

Hawaii lacks the predators to keep the population of these deer in balance. Coupled with the year-long grazing, the explosion in their numbers has devastated the ecosystem.

The native Hawaiian flora did not evolve with large mammals trampling or grazing, making them even more at risk to these invasive ungulates. Many of these species, like the native trees, fail to regrow after they’ve been browsed.

Overgrazing has created bare soils around the island, allowing invasive plants to take root that spread through the deer's poop and hitch rides on their fur.

And where plants fail to reestablish on the bare soils, rain washes nutrients and top soils into the ocean, impairing the health of the coral reefs around Maui.

Eradicate or Steward?

Often, the conversation surrounding “native vs invasive" species appears warlike, harkening to a battle for territory.

Who should be where? How can we eradicate the invasive plants to save the native flora? What chemicals or tactics can we take to control their spread?

While I understand the philosophical and pragmatic framework, I don’t believe it is the only way to approach the challenge.

The strategies at hand feel frantically reactive, responding to an invasive infestation rather than being proactive or, dare I say, regenerative.

An invasive takeover is serious, putting delicate ecosystems at risk. As their establishments are often accidental, this problem does require reactivity, but can the response be more mindful without total eradication as a guiding light?

A Truly Regenerative Business Model

Balance Over Business

Maui Nui Venison has set out to turn this invasive deer into a nutritious food source for their local community and others beyond the Hawaiian islands.

In the video above, their mission shines through.

Instead of sales goals, they have management goals for the deer and the land. Instead of profits, they see their business as contributing to the regeneration and healing of Maui’s ecosystem through mindful management.

They have a long waitlist of customers eager to enjoy the nutritious meats from this non-native deer. Their vision is to harvest the Axis deer mindfully, culling their numbers while monitoring their impacts on the land.

Sustainably and Humanely Harvested

The Axis deer roam around the island of Maui, presenting challenges when it comes to harvesting these animals.

Maui Nui Venison is dedicated to creating a stress-free harvesting process and takes extra measures to ensure it’s as humane as possible. All of their harvesting occurs at night, when the animal is most at ease.

Once animals are shot, each one is carried out on the backs of the team and brought immediately to a mobile processing unit that is driven to the herds.

A USDA inspector is with them during the entire harvesting process. When the animal is initially processed, a USDA veterinarian inspects each carcass before receiving a stamp of approval for sale to ensure the safety of the meat.

The Healthiest and Most Nutrient Density Red Meat

Axis deer in Hawaii have access to a diverse diet, browsing hundreds of species of plants year-round. Their stress levels remain relatively low due to the lack of predators and seasonal impacts they’d face natively in India.

This combination of diverse diet and low stress has created one of the most nutritious red meats on the planet.

Working with Stephan Van Vliet, PHD
 from Utah State University, they have gathered some phenomenal nutritional data from their meats.

The meat from the Axis deer contains:

• 2–4x the Antioxidants

• 8–64x the Healthy Fats

• 22% More Protein

Surprisingly, you can acquire a significant portion of your daily vitamins and minerals in only a 3.5oz serving (22% DV vitamins and 37% DV minerals).

A few years ago, they partnered with Patagonia Provisions to bring these nutritious meats to more people through their delicious venison links.

This collaboration marks an exciting time in our food system as companies continue to collaborate to provide healthy foods raised in ways that benefit and regenerate the ecosystems they depend on.

Native Hawaiian’s Relationship With Nature

The team at Maui Nui Venison uses the Hawaiian word Kuleana, which loosely means responsibility, to represent their dedication to the land and their community at large.

Hawaiiʻs people have a long history and rich culture, highlighting what it means to live in harmony with nature and coexist within an ecosystem.

Their wisdom and relationship with nature extend beyond my personal understanding, so I invite you to learn more about it through their words.

The Kohala Field system is a prime example of this wisdom in action and how we all have much to learn about land management and regenerative agriculture from Hawaiiʻs people and their ancestors.

Life on an island presents the challenges of finite resources and land management while coexisting with the natural world we all depend on.

Maui Nui Venison and other local ranches, farms, and organizations are leading the way forward by embracing the ecosystem relationships and ancient wisdom of the Native Hawaiians who first called these islands home.

And I want to acknowledge Hawaii as an Indigenous space where the descendants of the original people are today identified as Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) and the events that have transpired since contact with Europeans.

There is much to learn about the history of this beautiful archipelago of islands and the current challenges that Native Hawaiian people face today.