Learning from the 'Aina: Puna Charter School Develops Model Culinary Arts Program
Kua o ka La students celebrate their cooking contest win at the September 2012 Breadfruit Festival with their teacher Mariposa Blanco (2nd from right) and Chef Sam Choy (right). Three years ago, Kua o ka La New Century Public Charter School, (KOKL NCPCS) began the formation of an agriculture and culinary class for its middle school students. The idea was an outgrowth of our regular Friday, project-based class for middle and high school students. The class applied the students’ science and social studies learning to projects of daily life relevance and practical skills, with the added benefit of being outdoors and hands-on.
We started with “'Ike 'Aina.” 'Ike 'Aina means to know the land. 'Ike is to see, know, feel, experience, recognize, and understand. 'Aina is the word for land and earth; it comes from ‘ai, which means to eat. Our new program would focus on knowing food from the earth.
Combine this idea with our Friday practical skills class and the wish to plant the seeds of health in our local youth, and you get ‘Aina Life Culinary Arts. This class has now become a well developed program for Grade 7 and 8 students (known as Hui Lokahi), with organic gardens and an award winning culinary program that we hope will be a model for other public schools.
The class uses only locally grown ingredients, down to the coconut oil and homemade mayonnaise. There’s no rice or butter or bread, but lots of ‘ulu (breadfruit)! And lots of veggies.
Kua o ka La students harvest kalo.“I know it sounds gross, but it actually tastes good,” wrote one cooking student, who went from doubtful to dedicated. And here lies the power of this unusual class: changing people’s palate. Palate is the range of tastes a person enjoys. The current “local” palate prefers white rice, meat, eggs, gravy, and sugary drinks. Think Loco-Moco or SPAM musubi with an Arizona Green Tea, and you’ve got the picture. Unfortunately, a diet based on these kinds of foods is high in fat, salt, and sugar. It’s a pathway to diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Changing our palate to ‘Ike ‘Aina style means learning to enjoy food made with fresh, whole, local ingredients.
The ‘Aina Life Culinary Arts class does just that. Every Friday the class feeds a snack to the elementary school and then a sit-down lunch to staff. In just two hours, this is an accomplishment! First the students wash fruit, cut it up, and serve it to the younger grades. Next, they listen as Auntie Mariposa introduces the ingredients and dishes of the day. She shares plant genealogies: where the vegetables grow on our island, and where in the world they originally came from. She combines personal innovation (often based on the palate of her Central American roots) with how-to instruction. Together, she and the students invent recipes: salsas, salads, soups, stews, and surprising fruity desserts. They cook familiar foods like `Ulu Beef Stew; comfort foods such as Purple ‘Uala Shepherd’s Pie; and dishes they have never heard of, like Roma Tomatoes with Mozzarella Cheese and Basil, or Grilled Beef and Lime with Yacon. They hang out by the blender on coconut-liliko’i smoothie days, and Aunty Mariposa has to remind them to take off their red aprons and go take a break. On days with big events, the whole student body will line up for frozen banana “ice cream” with freshly grated coconut and cacao.
It thrills the students when the staff eats and compliments their cooking (that’s every Friday). The students also enjoy the expertise that visiting chefs bring to them, such as when Chef Casey Halpern from Café Pesto, taught them how to make range fed burgers with ali`i mushroom poke!
For the past two years, Kua o ka Lā NCPCS has participated in the Breadfruit Festival held in Kealakekua, Kona. The ‘Aina Life Culinary Arts class entered the cooking competition and took top awards each year. Recipes had to be original, with ‘ulu (breadfruit) as the main ingredient. Kua o ka Lā placed first for Main dish/Entree and Healthiest Choice. The class prepared ‘Ulu Tamales with Coleslaw and Salsa. In desserts, our ‘Ulu Pops took second. In a separate event altogether, the students also won Sam Choy's Poke Contest, Amateur Division, with their “spicy `ulu poke” dish. What a thrill!
In the words of Hope Butay, a culinary arts student, “The thought of [the food] being fresh, pretty, and locally grown made me think we should do more.”
Hope holds up a delectable plate of food students prepared with all-local ingredients.The students are beginning to experience the relationship between land, farmer, cook, and food as our ancestors did. We all still depend on work and land to fill our bellies and satisfy our palates. However, it’s not always obvious in this modern world. We have to journey backwards. Or is it forward? We must “Ho’oulu Lahui:” build the health of our nation.
`Ulu, or breadfruit, was traditionally a staple food for Native Hawaiians in Puna. There has been a resurgence in the understanding of this very important food as our Island nation has put more attention upon food security. Kua o ka La NCPCS is on the forefront of this wave and is now the largest grower and distributor of `ulu trees on Hawai`i Island. This work is also being done by Kua o ka La students. The culinary class continues to explore and develop mouth-watering dishes with this most versatile, delightful and nutritious food.
Last year, we hosted the first annual Puna `Ulu Festival, hosting over 1200 persons for a fun filled and educational day. We are gearing up to host our second annual conference with this year’s theme embracing `ulu and niu (coconut). The day will have something for everyone including cooking contest, cooking demonstrations by top local chefs, delicious food based in `ulu and niu. Presentations will also be ongoing around cultivation and cultural uses of these plants. Hands on crafts will include making kapa (fabric) from `ulu, traditional poi `ulu, making coconut milk, coconut weaving, quilting, drum making, and that’s just a start! Live music will fill our ears all day as we wander through all the activities. `Ulu and coconut trees will also be available to purchase.
Please join Kua O Ka La Public Charter School in celebrating breadfruit and coconut on Saturday March 2, 2013 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., at the Kua o ka La NCPCS campus (beside 'Ahalanui County Park and warm pond) near Kapoho, in lower Puna.
Susan Osborne is Principal and Executive Administrator of Kua o ka La New Century Public Charter School.