The Great Pumpkin Harvest & Garden

Waimea Middle School students harvesting kabocha pumpkins from the Mala'ai Garden

Waimea Middle School students proudly show off a few of more than 2,200 pounds of Kabocha – also known as Japanese pumpkins – that they have harvested since the start of this school year from the Mala'ai school garden. Growing and harvesting delicious fresh produce is really just the first step. This school year, with Mala'ai garden classes integrated into Physical Education and Health Classes, students are learning how to prepare and enjoy eating the produce they have grown.

Pa'auilo, Hamakua

Started in October 2007 with 11 participants, the Third Annual Hamakua Alive! Festival held in Pa'auilo Elementary and Secondary School on October 24, 2009 was a huge success. The event has grown in leaps and bounds with over 40 booths this year and the largest ever number of entries in the cooking contest.

Once again, Michael Pollan leads the way in this incisive and illuminating short essay that clearly demonstrates how America's current health care crisis is really an outgrowth of our long-standing food and eating crisis.

"The American way of eating has become the elephant in the room in the debate over health care," he writes.

Seven Sustainable Reads

1. Recipe for America:

   Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It
   by Jill Richardson

2. Deeply Rooted:

   Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness
   by Lisa M. Hamilton 

3. Food Matters:

   A Guide to Conscious Eating
   by Mark Bittman

At La'akea Community, Puna

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.

Garden tours and workshops are a great way to learn. Here, Tracy Matfin of La'akea Permaculture-Hawai'i Community in Puna leads a farm tour.