Breadfruit produces abundant, nutritious fruit (i.e., high in carbohydrates and a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals) that is typically cooked and consumed as a starchy staple when firm and mature. Ripe fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, processed into chips and other snacks, dried into flour or starch, and minimally processed or frozen. Breadfruit flour can be partially substituted for wheat flour in many bread, pastry, and snack products. Seeds, cooked in the fruit and eaten throughout the Pacific islands—but rarely in Polynesia—are high in protein, relatively low in fat and a good source of vitamins and minerals. Breadnut seeds tend to be larger and sweeter than breadfruit seeds and can be roasted or boiled. In Ghana, breadfruit and breadnut seeds have been made into nutritious baby food. In the Philippines, immature fruit is sliced, cooked, and eaten as a vegetable.

Reflections on the North Kohala Eat Locally Grown Campaign and the Kanu Eat Local Challenge

Now that the whirlwind that was the North Kohala Eat Locally Grown Campaign and the Kanu Eat local Challenge has subsided, I have a few minutes to reflect upon the project.

In North Kohala we met our goal of enlisting over 100 people to make an “eat local” commitment at KanuHawai.org during the statewide Eat Local Challenge. In conjunction with our many community partners, we produced 13 different events in North Kohala and Waimea- workshops where people learned how to grow food and to use it for medicine, parties where we got to eat, drink and be merry, we screened a film, and we washed, cut, cooked and ate together as a community.  We touched thousands of people statewide with our outreach campaign and hundreds of people in North Kohala and Waimea who attended our events.

The Town Market, located on the Parker School Campus in central Waimea, though only a couple of years old, is already a lively gathering place for area residents and visitors. While there, we ran into people we knew from Hilo and Waikoloa shopping for produce and munching on yummy fresh foods.

The vendors’ tents surround a grassy central square dotted with a few picnic tables where shoppers sit and enjoy their just-purchased snacks, do some people-watching or just rest a while. A DJ provided a wide variety of music.

The Volcano Farmers Market is one of the longest running markets on the island. Located at the Cooper Center in the Village of Volcano for the last 25 years, it is also a place you better make sure to drop by early or all the "good stuff" will be gone by the time the sun is properly up!

As one market vendor commented; "the Volcano Market is a wonderful community party every Sunday morning!"  I was greeted by a stunning variety of breakfast choices, from Thai chicken soup to fluffy whole grain pancakes, homemade bagels and freshly made cheese, fresh baked goods, carrot/beet/ginger juice made to order, and more!"

For the second year in a row I’ve counted weekly produce advertising data from West Hawaii Today. Below is a comparison of the number of locally grown fruit and vegetable advertisements versus the number of imported fruit and vegetable advertisements.

Once again Choice Mart leads the pack with 250 local items and 423 imported items advertised. KTA promoted 214 local items and 502 imported items. Foodland/Sack N Save advertised 211 local items but a whopping 851 imported produce items, many of which, like avocado and mango, compete directly with Hawaii growers. Safeway ran ads for 96 local items and 603 imported items.