Aside from salt, pepper is the world’s most important and valued spice. It is used as an important component of many recipes and to flavor foods. From the berries of Piper nigrumare produced several condiments: black pepper, white pepper, green pepper, and “Tellicherry” pepper. Many grades of these peppers are recognized in the spice trade.

 

I have butchered over 60 animals, and initiated many concerned vegetarian interns on my farm into the web of omnivorous life. As it turns out, many people crave the experience of "taking responsibility" for eating meat. The process begins by working at strenuous, physically demanding tasks for a month. This tends to develop a physical craving for meat. Then they see how our chickens live, foraging in the shrubs, eating insects, grass seeds, worms and so on, sleeping in the trees. Then I say, "Those two roosters are extra. If you want to eat one, I will walk you through the process." Invariably, the killing is the (emotionally) hard part, and the rest of the process is fascinating to them. I always offer to do the actual killing. Some people want to do it themselves, and some don't.

Global consumption of banana and plantain is about one trillion individual fruit each year. They are either consumed raw when ripe or cooked when hard, green, mature or at various stages of ripeness and represent one of the most significant sources of food energy in the Pacific. Banana leaves are commonly used as table mats and plates. They are also used for wrapping some foods before or after cooking. Banana blossom, also called bud or bell, is consumed as a cooked vegetable dish. The pseudostem (or “trunk”) is also used throughout the Pacific to line traditional above- and below-ground ovens together with banana leaves placed over the food to keep it dirt-free. Fibres are extracted from the stems and leaves and used for various purposes. There are many medicinal uses that are important for banana. The fibre of the pseudostems and the juice of the stem are used in various treatments, such as for concussion, muscle ache, broken bones, cuts, burns, and fevers. Eating banana can also be used to clear fish bones that are caught in the throat.

The Ho’oulu Community Farmers Market, located on the grounds of the Keauhou Beach Resort/Outrigger Hotel, is a laid-back mid-week market. Opened only since last October on the hotel’s luau garden site, the Wednesday market hours are from 10 am to 3 pm. This market is sponsored by Na Wai Iwi Ola, a non-profit foundation that perpetuates Hawaiian customs and history, and by the Keauhou Beach Resort/Outrigger Hospitality Program. It focuses on vendors who sell only locally grown produce and fruits, coffee, macnuts, honey, eggs, preserves and other value-added products, as well as local artisan crafts.

Depending on the season, the fruit trees and gardens in our backyards are overflowing with more food than we can consume.

Crop Share is an innovative project designed to gather these surplus fruits and vegetables from our communities and share them with individuals and families in need. Newly created non-monetary exchange markets, where no money changes hands, can serve as distribution channels for surplus backyard produce, and provide a welcoming environment where residents can share and trade community resources.