Local Food: This Is Tasty! A Recipe for Furikake
By Brittany P. Anderson “Like furikake onda rice?” the question comes over the poke counter. The patron hesitates and looks around quizzically. “Say, ‘yes’,” the local man behind him encourages. Furikake may be Hawai‘i Islandʻs favorite condiment. The basic formula…
Backyard Chickens for Food Self-Sufficiency
By Rachel Laderman When times get tough, people get chickens. It’s a practical way to gain more food security. A chicken coop in the yard also reduces the environmental footprint created by shipping eggs from the mainland’s large-scale, high-production poultry…
Local Food: Magic of Mushrooms, and a Recipe for Mushroom Toast
By Brittany P. Anderson A newly fallen tree haphazardly leans against another, joining its fallen brethren to succumb to the weather and rot. The elder tree lays quietly adorned with rounded shelves of golden orange. These brightly colored frills are…
Everyone Wins in Honoka‘a’s Feeding Program
By Catherine Tarleton Sustainable, adj. 1: capable of being sustained, 2a: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged, 2b: of or relating to a…
Local Food: Keiki in the Kitchen, and a Recipe for Frozen Yogurt Banana Bites
By Brittany P. Anderson The high-pitched squeals of three enthusiastic little voices filled the kitchen. Three little boys had just come in from the garden, their pockets full of random ripe vegetables they picked—a few golden cherry tomatoes, a red…
Local Food: The Ono Hua Moa (The Delicious Chicken Egg) and a Recipe for Dutch Baby
By Brittany P. Anderson A clamor of loud cackles and squawking erupts from the pasture. The flock of egg-laying hens continue their vocal display for the next 15 minutes letting everyone know that an egg has been laid. Just as…
Medicinal Plants from the Garden: Unlock the Healing and Cleansing Power of Lemon
By Brittany P. Anderson A young boy reaches his hand into a branch of shiny green foliage, palming a bright yellow, slightly oblong fruit. The tree sways as he tugs to release the object of his desire. Bringing his hand…
For the Love of Hawai‘i Island Beekeepers
By Stefan Verbano Since the dawn of agriculture, honeybee keepers have braved the swarm in search of that coveted golden nectar. The sound of an open hive is intimidating—a buzzing roar which connects with some ancient, instinctual human sense that…
Local Food: The Secret Life of Pears, and a Recipe for Poached Pears
By Brittany P. Anderson “Just passed a pear tree in Pepe‘ekeo loaded with pears,” read the social media post one sunny morning with an image of a heavily fruiting pear tree. The thread that followed was disbelief, shock, and eager…
Students Learn, Grow Food, Eat at School Culinary Gardens
By Fern Gavelek Itʻs all about “connecting the dots to textbooks while making learning delicious.” That’s how Patti Cook, community development director of Waimea Middle Public Conversion Charter School, describes the Māla‘ai Culinary Garden. Started in 2003 through a community…
Earth Day Meditation on Food: Recipe for Butterfly Pea Lemonade
By Brittany P. Anderson Hawai‘i Island is full of astounding wonders. Plants that grow to incredible heights and animals that are infinitesimally small. Some beasts blend seamlessly with their surroundings while flowers bloom in an array of shocking colors to…
Cool as a Cauliflower, and a Recipe for Roasted Cauliflower with Pesto
By Brittany P. Anderson Cauliflower is making a comeback as broccoli’s cooler, more versatile cousin. In supermarkets today, you can find riced cauliflower, cauliflower pizza crusts, even tortillas made from cauliflower. While it is now popping up in unexpected places,…
Local Foods: Family Traditions, and a Recipe for Lomilomi Salmon
By Brittany P. Anderson A holiday wouldn’t be complete without at least one night filled with traditional lū‘au foods. Family favorites are slightly sour fermented poi, slow-roasted kālua pua‘a (pig), squid lū‘au, and lomilomi salmon. Each dish is served in…
Big Impact, Small Footprint: Urban Farming on Hawai‘i Island
By Brittany P. Anderson Most people envision Hawai‘i as a place to get away from city life, slow down, and reconnect with the land. But, according to US Census data, almost 92% of Hawai‘i State’s population lives in urban areas.…
The Playground of Champions: Recipe for Oatmeal Recovery Bar
By Brittany P. Anderson Home to the Ironman World Championships, Hilo to Volcano Ultra Marathon, and the invite-only Ultraman World Championship, Hawai‘i Island is an endurance athleteʻs paradise. The unpredictable weather coupled with unforgiving terrain makes Hawai‘i Island the ultimate…
Local Food: Below the Surface, and a Recipe for Carrot Cake
By Brittany P. Anderson One of the greatest pleasures in life is pulling up a carrot and feeling it release from the ground. Indeed, a lot of faith goes into planting root vegetables because you canʻt quite tell what is…
Banana-rama: A Recipe for Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes
By Brittany P. Anderson With a loud thump, the machete slices through a thick green stalk. The upper half, now severed, leans in near slow motion until its pointed green bounty is reachable by nimble hands. Another swift cut and the…
Mālama Mokupuni—Caring for Our Island Environment: Cultivating Resilience
By Rachel Laderman Can there be such a thing as “regenerative tourism,” where visitors can balance the consuming nature of tourism by contributing to island sustainability? It’s a tall order, but sisters Kalisi Mausio and Angela Fa‘anunu, the co-founders of Hawaii…
‘Ōlena: The Dream-Filled Beauty & Golden Milk Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson The sweet song “Pua ‘Ōlena” plays as the rows of turmeric sway in the fields, as if keeping time with the seductive melody. In this field, ‘ōlena, the name for Hawaiian turmeric, grows destined for commercial markets, but…
Flavor of the Earth, with Recipe for Molten Lava Chocolate Cake
By Brittany P. Anderson Hawai‘i Island is well known for its volcanoes. The 2018 eruption saw fountains of lava shooting into the night sky, hurling glowing orange orbs into the heavens like rockets visible from homes and backyards in lower…
Traveling to the Unknown with a Recipe for German-style Fruitcake
By Brittany P. Anderson Much of the year has been spent at home, distanced from loved ones, and separated from friends. It is as if we’ve been on a long voyage without knowing where or when we reach our destination. …
Back to the ‘Āina: Strengthening Hawai‘i Island’s Food System
By Brittany P. Anderson The afternoon heat hangs heavy over the field. Two farmers continue their work seemingly unaffected by the weather. Arms and legs bundled up to avoid being burned by the sun, they pluck beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes…
Embrace the Bitter with Recipe for Stir-Fry Bitter Melon
By Brittany P. Anderson You’ve probably come across bitter melonʻs mass of coiled tendrils, deeply lobed green leaves, and small yellow flowers. Their distinctive warty oblong light green fruits hanging on the vine waiting to be picked. Bitter melon is…
Farm to Table at Kona Community Hospital
By Brittany P. Anderson The sounds of griddles sizzling, knives chopping, and jovial laughter fill Kona Community Hospitalʻs Ginger Café. It isn’t a typical scene at a hospital cafeteria, but here local food has brought the community together at the…
Oh, Honey! With Recipe for Green Bean Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
By Brittany P. Anderson The first honeybees arrived on Hawai‘i Island in 1857. They made the journey from California by boat, after several unsuccessful attempts to bring them around South America from New England. Can you imagine sailing aboard a…
Introducing Broccoli Romanesco with Recipe for the Best Pizza Pie Dough
By Brittany P. Anderson When Alfred Joyce Kilmer wrote, “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree,” he must not have stared into the head of a broccoli romanesco. You’ve likely seen the striking…
Keiki Garden and Grindz: Fruit Leather Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson Some kids just don’t like vegetables. As the stepmother to a child who consistently picked tomatoes out of tomato sauce, I had to get creative. Hiding nutrient-rich veggies in smoothies, breads, and sweets was a weekly…
A Fabled Fruit Orchard and Apple Crisp Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson Along the side of Maunakea in the Hilo Forest Reserve is an old orchard. Sitting at 6,000 feet elevation, the Keanakolu orchard, also called the Humu‘ula orchard, is a remnant of a bygone era. The twisted,…
Growing a Sustainable Future on Hawai‘i Island
By Stefan Verbano David Reppun walks barefoot along the mounded rows of taro. He stops at a full-grown hedge of the broad-leafed Polynesian staple, announces its variety name, and leans into the mass of green, selecting a stem and bending…
Local Food: Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Trail & Island Birder Trail Mix Recipe
By Brittany P. Anderson One of my favorite hikes on Hawai‘i Island is the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō Trail, located off Saddle Road (Daniel Inouye Highway/Route 200) at the base of Maunaloa, between the 22 and 23 mile markers. The nearly 9-mile…
