A talk given by Tane Datta on March 26, 2011, at the first Localvore Dinner at the Keauhou Beach Resort, sponsored by the Kona County Farm Bureau.

Freedom

There just may be a connection between the thousands of people in almost every Middle Eastern country willing to die for freedom and self-determination, and the localvore movement in Hawai’i and other parts of the country.

The obvious connection is that our demand for oil has greatly contributed to the strength of oil tyrants of all political ideologies. The production and transportation of food create a significant portion of our oil demand. Our food system accounts for over 15% of our total energy use. To put this in perspective, on the mainland each person uses the energy equivalent of 400 gal of gasoline a year for the food they eat. It has got to be much more to get food to Hawai’i.

Community Harvest Hawaii takes an idea intrinsic in Hawaiian culture - that of preparing and sharing food together - and creates a process that makes use of food that is currently going to waste in our community.

During a monthly “Community Harvest” day, community members are invited to bring their abundance from home - lemons, limes, tangerines, avocados, mangos, banana, etc.- to the Kohala Intergenerational Center to be processed. Local experts will be on hand to help facilitate the processing and preserving of the food, including freezing, canning, pickling, smoking, fermenting and dehydrating. The community will then enjoy a feast, everyone gets to take food home, and raw and processed food will be distributed to the community through the Food Basket and the Senior Nutrition Program. Local harvest teams will also be available to harvest fruit for Kupuna or other community members who would like assistance with harvesting and are willing to share their excess with the community.

On March 12^th and 13^th The Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kaua'i, in conjunction with the Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network, presented two day-long educational workshops: 'Ulu from Root to Fruit. The March 12^th workshop was held in Kona at the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook, while the March 13^th event took place at the Kua O Ka La Public Charter School in Puna. The workshops were designed to raise awareness and revitalize the custom of growing, cooking and eating 'ulu, a traditional Polynesian food and, along with kalo, sweet potato, yam, banana and coconut, one of the original Hawaiian canoe plants. 'Ulu is an underutilized, nutritious, abundant, delicious, and easily grown food resource on the islands.

Making friends with the neighborhood bullies

I'll tell you a secret: find ways to use the power of "invasive" plants and your life will get easier. This little article is intended just to get the conversation going.

Cane grass (Elephant grass, Pennisetum purpureum): We see the stuff all around, and it mostly brings to mind the thought of abandoned, underused land. In Puna, the papaya fields lie fallow in cycles of several years, and cane grass is usually the primary invader. This plant makes a thick, impenetrable barrier up to twelve feet tall. Cane grass grows readily from nodes, and seasonally disperses wind-blown seed. I have looked at cane grass as an annoying invasive plant pest...until I didn't.

This farmers market is a bit different from any other on Hawai’i Island for a couple of reasons. First, it is located on a farm; and second, there are only two vendors . . . but don’t discount it because it's different. This market opens every Tuesday and Friday from 2 to 5 in the afternoons -- perfect for both weekly and weekend shopping -- and supplies an abundant variety of its own farm-fresh vegetables. Plus goat cheese, coffee, honey, fruits and vanilla beans from other producers.