Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network

First Annual Mango Festival

mango

Keauhou, North Kona

The 1st Annual Hawai'i Island Mango Festival opened at the Keauhou Farmer's Market at 10 am with a free and delicious culinary presentation by chef William Trask. The celebration of mango, the "King of Fruits", continued in the afternoon at the Keauhou Beach Resort's Royal Garden, beginning with an opening pule by Kumu Keala Ching, followed by live Hawaiian music and hula. Mango jams, butters, smoothies, salsas, shave ice, entrees and desserts brought sheer delight to the hungry and curious attendees.

Raffled prizes included community-donated orchids, essential oils, dinners, art, etc. Informative and practical educational activities about grafting, natural pest control, growing techniques and the nutritional and healing values of the mango were presented. A zero-waste event, the Mango Festival vendors used 100% compostable utensils and were assisted by the Boy Scouts of America to recycle waste in the appropriate bins, provided by the Hawai'i County Zero Waste program.

Over 1,000 unique varieties of mangoes have been identified throughout the tropics, and approximately 200 varieties are grown in Hawai'i. This healthful, delicious fruit is appreciated worldwide for its unique flavor and culinary diversity. Raw, cooked, blended, or baked, the mango delights the palate. Besides the Festival's cultural, culinary, musical, educational, and farming experiences, it demonstrated the uniqueness of Hawaiian agriculture. Research and development of value-added products is necessary to enhance the economic viability of the family farm. Canned, dried, pickled, and frozen mangoes are showing up in the marketplace. The Festival highlighted a range of value-added mango products, encouraging consumers to be bold and try new foods that include mango.

Research studying the health-promoting benefits of the mango shows that an extract from the mango kernel is high in antioxidants and polyphenols, known for their prevention of free radical build up in the body. Mangoes also exhibit one of the lowest glycemic indexes of all tropical fruits and can be enjoyed in moderation by those with a blood sugar imbalance.

Next year's Mango Festival promises to offer an even better look at Hawaiian mango products.

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Wai'aha Farm Tour

Holualoa, North Kona

Kona Outdoor Circle's dedication to sustainable farming took us on a fabulous tour last week. At Wai'aha Farm we learned about the many ways this farming community is caring for the 'aina in a sustainable way. To start off we toured the lower acreage and saw the wide variety of plants they have been able to grow successfully in the 5 acres that surround the living area. Not only were fruit like papayas, mangoes, lilikoi and tree tomatoes close at hand, but the area also supplied lots of food for their soil and animals including nitrogen fixing trees like pigeon pea. These trees feed the soil and provide supplemental food for the staff as well as their animals.

FOOD INC Event

Honoka'a, Hamakua

People lined up down the block to enter Honoka’a People’s Theatre on August 27, 2009 for the screening of Food Inc.
Community networking took place before and after the film

Honoka'a People's Theatre was abuzz with activity on August 27 for the screening of Food Inc. Over 200 people attended the event, which was a benefit for more than 25 local organizations promoting sustainability and organic farming. Representatives from these groups filled the lobby and were available before and after the film for lively discussion sharing the initiatives of their organizations. Three tickets were given to each patron to put in donation jars of the organizations of their choice. This represented 40% of the total proceeds.

Little Fire Ants

We Thought We had Them, Luckily We Do Not: Learning to identify them

La'akea Community, Puna

Over two years ago, when we first became aware of the presence of the little red fire ant (LFA) on this island, we began systematically testing the land at La'akea Community with peanut butter sticks. LFA are drawn to cheap peanut butter, they like the protein and the sugars. To test your farm for the presence of LFA, you can put a dab of peanut butter on popsicle sticks and leave them in various places around your land for a day, checking them every three to four hours. When we conducted such a test a few months ago, one of our members found some small reddish black ants. When she pressed them with the inside of her elbow she was bitten. She welted up pretty good and thought she had a positive id for LFA. We got scared. We thought these were fire ants and that they had come in on some dump mulch we received. We went into action – we spread Amdro (ant poison) over vast areas and set up traps anywhere we had put the mulch. People that came onto our land during that month saw the ant traps and we told them we were attempting to eradicate a fire ant infestation.

5th Annual East Side Seed Exchange

At La'akea Community, Puna

seed_exchange_2009
Opening ceremony at the 5th Annual East Side Seed Exchange on October 10, 2009

The love for seeds brought over 100 people together this past October 10th. Sharing information and seeds while exchanging contact information focused the diverse group of farmers, presenters, landscapers, homeowners and land stewards who gathered for the 5th Annual East Side Seed Exchange.

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