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Revitalizing Breadfruit

Revitalizing Breadfruit

"The Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu Project.“

Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu is a project to revitalize 'ulu (breadfruit) as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable, and culturally appropriate food which addresses Hawai'i's food security issues. It is well known that Hawai'i imports about 90% of its food, making it one of the most food insecure states in the nation. Additionally, since the economic downturn of 2008, many families lack access to affordable and nutritious food. We believe that breadfruit is a key to solving Hawaii's food security problems.

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Community Breadfruit Harvest

‘A‘ohe ‘ulu e loa‘a i ka pōkole o ka lou
No breadfruit can be reached when the picking stick is too short
[There is no success without preparation]

'Ulu trees are loaded with fruit in Kona.
'Ulu trees are loaded with fruit in Kona this April - June.

The first Hawai’i Breadfruit Festival will be happening September 24, 2011 at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in South Kona, but will there be any mature breadfruit available in Kona at that time? This is the question that came up last month when Festival co-director Craig Elevitch and I met with Chantal Chung of Kids of Kona. The Kona ‘ulu trees had been loaded with fruit for the past three months, meaning that another big Kona harvest may not happen as soon as September.

Chantal suggested that we do a big community harvest this season, and store a large amount of frozen fruit for the festival. A big light bulb went on over our heads--I think it may have been shaped like an 'ulu. We knew immediately that Chantal was right. But...How? When? Where? Who?

Everyone brought there favorite old or new picking tool.
Everyone brought there favorite old or new picking tool.

With some help from Chantal and her ‘ohana, a core group of people who are passionate about ‘ulu, food security, Hawaiian culture, cooking and community came together to harvest and process a large quantity of ‘ulu over two days (April 29-30).

Our first task was to harvest a large amount of fruit, something most of the harvest team had not done before. This would involve a range of picking tools, each the favorite invention of its owner. Well... a few of our picking sticks were not quite optimal, but we adapted to the tools on hand. Our biggest challenge was to harvest fruit from tall trees with long poles from the ground—without allowing the fruits to fall to the ground (and be damaged in the process) and without ending up with a large chiropractic bill for neck strain recovery. After a few hours, we had a pick-up truck bed full of beautiful ‘ulu. It was awe-inspiring to see how many ‘ulu are produced on each tree—if this isn’t food abundance, I don’t know what is!

Volunteer team works hard to process 300+ lb of 'ulu.
Volunteer team works hard to process 300+ lb of 'ulu.

The next day, with the watchful guidance of Chantal and Shirley Kauhaihao, a team of volunteers prepared the ‘ulu for long term freezing by washing, cutting in quarters, removing the core, and then steaming. Once the ‘ulu was soft enough to stick a fork in, we allowed the breadfruit to cool and then bagged it in one-gallon freezer bags and put it in the freezer. We estimate that we have over 300 lb of ‘ulu in freezer storage for the festival. We also anticipate having plenty of fresh ‘ulu for the festival from other parts of the island, where fruit is expected to be in season in September.

Chantal lays the 'ulu quarters into the steamer.
Chantal lays the 'ulu quarters into the steamer.

A huge thanks to Shirley Kauhaihao, Chantal Chung of Kids of Kona, Elaine Watai and Yvonne Naldoza of the Kealakehe Community Association, Kaipo Sheen of Makapueo Farms, Dianna DeRosa, Dru Kanuha and Ka’eo Duarte of Kamehameha Schools, Cheryl Carden, Carolyn Machado, Anthony Savvis and the guys from Ke Kama Pono, David Fuertes of Ka Hana No'eau, Eddie Pollock, Lonnie King, Betty Saiki of the West Hawaii Culinary Arts Program, Ken Love of Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers, and Diane Ragone.

The Community Breadfruit Harvest was a part of the Ho‘oulu ka ‘Ulu project--a project of the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network to revitalize ‘ulu as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable, and culturally appropriate food that addresses Hawai‘i’s food security issues. More information about Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu is available at breadfruit.info. More pictures and a few videos can be viewed here.

Andrea Dean, MBA, of Sustainable Initiatives works with communities, businesses and non-profits on initiatives that enhance island economy, environment and community.


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