Newsletter 22 - December 2010

Aloha!

We are pleased to announce that the Hawai'i People's Fund and the Hawai'i Community Foundation have awarded our network financial assistance for the second year running. The confidence and multi-faceted support of these organizations inspires and motivates us.

If you are interested in keeping up with the Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu - Revitalizing Breadfruit project, this month we have an update report.

For even more connectivity with HHFN, check out our new Facebook page!

We wish you a happy holiday season, replete with an abundance of local and nourishing food.

Mahalo nui loa,

Craig Elevitch and Pedro Tama
for the Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network
http://hawaiihomegrown.net

Breadfruit tree in South Kona.

Events

Saturday, November 27, 2010, 12:30pm - 03:00pm, South Kohala
Crop Swap!!

Wednesday, December 01, 2010, 12:00pm - 02:00pm, South Kohala
Planning meeting for Mid-Week Market at Anna Ranch

Wednesday, December 01, 2010, 03:30pm - 05:00pm, South Kona
First Wednesday Coffee Talk -- Kona Coffee Prize

Every Thursday, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm, Hilo
Raw Food Made Easy

Every Friday, 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm, Hilo
Vegetarian Cooking Made Easy

Saturday, December 04, 2010, 05:30pm - 08:00pm, North Kona
Kona Culinary Arts Extravaganza

Saturday, December 4, 2010, 12:30pm - 03:00pm, South Kohala
Crop Swap!!

Monday, December 20, 2010, 07:00pm - 09:00pm, North Kona
Sapote: Hawai'i Tropical Fruit Growers Meeting

Saturday, December 11, 2010, 12:30pm - 03:00pm, South Kohala
Crop Swap!!

Sunday, December 19, 2010, 09:00am - 12:00pm, Puna
Volcano Natural Farming Community Meeting

Saturday, January 29, 2011, 09:00am - 11:00am, South Kohala
Sustainable Pollination with Natural Bee Keeping Practices

Sunday, February 13, 2011, 12:00pm - 06:00pm, Hilo
Bob Fest & Ag Fair 2011

Saturday, February 05, 8:00am to Saturday, February 19, 2011, 05:00pm, North Kohala
Hawai'i Permaculture Design Course

Saturday, February 19, 2011, 10:00am - 04:00pm, South Kona
Fifth Annual Hawai'i Avocado Festival

View events calendar

Reports

Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu - Revitalizing Breadfruit Update #2

Written by HHFN | 22 November 2010

323 people responded to our 'ulu survey - well beyond our expectations! Please see below for survey highlights. Here are some ways for people to participate in revitalizing breadfruit:

Save the date: Saturday, September 24, 2011, we will have a Breadfruit Festival at Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook.
We are looking for farmers who are already producing 'ulu to participate in a project to improve management practices and marketing. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by Wednesday, November 23, 2010 if you are interested in participating.
If you have 'ulu fruit that is going to waste and you would like it to be harvested by skilled professionals and be given to people who want and need it, please click here to participate in a gleaning project to help those who are hungry.
Read more...

S.P.A.C.E. Farmers Market

Written by Sonia Martinez | 24 November 2010

The SPACE market is located in the Seaview subdivision in lower Puna.

The Seaview Performing Arts Center for Education (SPACE) is the creation of the Hawai’i Volcano Circus (HVC) where a variety of successful art programs were established. SPACE serves as a hub for many creative endeavors and also has been hosting the farmers market for the last three years. Since then, this colorful market has been attracting between 30 to 50 vendors, depending on the time of year and over 300 patrons every Saturday morning. The SPACE farmers market is located off Highway 137 (Red Road) in lower Puna at the Seaview Performing Art Center for Education, from which it takes the name as an acronym. Once you turn into the Seaview subdivision, the signs are not very obvious and I had to ask someone how to find it.

Food for Thought

Written by Scott Middlekauff | 24 November 2010

GROWING YOUR OWN CARBOHYDRATES

Scott shows off his peach palms.

Just the other day, while I was eating my supper in one of my “doom and gloom” modes, it occurred to me that I have no idea what sort of a safety net exists globally in terms of food supply. How much food is stored up? My answer could have been three months, or three years. I had no clue. So, I went on a few government web sites to look at the official statistics. As it turns out, since 1999, global grain production has consistently fallen short of demand. 2008 was the largest worldwide grain harvest ever, but it failed to break even. So right now we are left with a 59 day buffer. Two months, then we are running on empty (empty bellies, that is).

Chef-Farmer Partnerships Featured at Hamakua Alive!

Written by Sonia R. Martinez | 23 November 2010

The 4th Annual Hamakua Alive! Festival was held on Saturday, October 23, 2010, just outside Honoka'a.

For the first time since its beginning, the 4^th annual Hamakua Alive! Festival was held at a new location. Sponsored by The Tom Kadooka Foundation, the festival was held in the beautiful Pa’auhau Community Park just outside Honoka’a. Farmer-vendor displays, cooking contests, games, music by John Keawe and Cyril Pahinui, and lots of ono food tastings were just some of the Hamakua Alive! activities on Saturday, October 23, 2010. Jim and Tracy Reddekopp, owners of the Hawaiian Vanilla Company, formed the Tom Kadooka Foundation to honor the man, his family and his life’s work in developing Hawai’i-grown vanilla. The foundation has become a vehicle to give back to the agricultural community.

Announcements

Organic Crop Inspection Training Course

The International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA) and Hawaii Organic Farmers Association (HOFA) will offer Basic Organic Farm (Crop) Inspector Training to be held January 25-29, 2011, (4 ½ days) and Process and Handling Inspector Training to be held February 1-5, 2011, (4 ½ days) in Hilo, HI on the Big Island. Registration deadline is December 12, 2010. Cost for the course (which includes tuition, course materials, lunch and snacks) is: $1350 for Basic Farm/Crop Inspector Training and/or $1350 for Processing and Handling Training. Registration deadline is December 12, 2010. Application forms are available from: HOFA PO Box 6863 Hilo, HI 96720, Ph (808) 969-7789 FAX (808) 969-7759, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Waimea Homestead Farmers Market closed for holidays

The Waimea Homestead Farmers Market will be closed on Christmas day, Saturday December 25th, and on New Years day, Saturday January 1st. For information, contact Roen Hufford, 937-2729, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Four Seasons' Chef Babian Wish List

Chef James Babian of the Four Seasons at Hualalai Resort, known widely for his emphasis on locally grown food, has issued an informal "wish list" to island growers for high quality and consistent supply of the following food crops:

Asparagus, Artichokes, Russets, Yukon potato, Broccoli, Zucchini, Poha Berries, Other Berries, Peas, Different Legumes, Shallots, Garlic, Carrots, Celery, Stone Fruit, Snow Peas, Sugar Snap Peas, Ramps, Fiddle head ferns, Spinach, Rubarb, American Cress, Waterchestnuts, Bamboo Shoots, Black Raddish, Brussel Sprouts, Fresh Soy Beans, Patty pans, Mushrooms, All kinds more variety, Tropical Fruits, All kinds, Tangerines with leaves, Fruits with leaves (Amenities). For more information, contact Ken Love, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Eden Earthworks Project Fresh: Mountain View Community Gardens

Teaching people to produce food for themselves is essential to building sustainable and healthy communities Project Fresh: Mountain View Community Gardens is an agricultural educational community outreach program designed to increase the number of food growers, food marketers, healthy food choices and affordable nutritious local produce. Thirty low-income participants, seniors, families, school-age children and youth were given hands-on mentoring in ecologically friendly farming. The sustainable practices included creating compost and vermicompost, learning the benefits of plant and animal symbiosis, and utilizing strategies which encourage biodiversity. A short questionnaire administered at the beginning and after participating in Project Fresh for fifteen months revealed that families are making healthy food choices, providing food for the family table, sharing, donating or marketing the surplus and passing on the gifts of eco-friendly farming and recycling methods which are generating ripple effects in our community. Currently 40 million Americans are using food stamps (USDA; 2010). Planting seeds and nurturing their growth is crucial and catalytic in producing nutritious food, conserving water and land resources, reducing family food budgets and providing alternative income. The community outreach program has expanded to also include developmental chicken care and bee keeping. For more information, contact Eden EarthWorks, c/o Neena Roumell, 333-7444, Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Other announcements

Farmers' markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Please visit our new comprehensive page dedicated to Hawai'i Island farmers' markets and Community Supported Agricuture.

Web Resources

New web site listings

Other web resources

Project Advisors

Amanda Rieux, teacher at Mala ‘Ai Culinary Garden at Waimea Middle School
Bruce Mathews, professor of Soil Science, UH Hilo
Deborah Ward, retired UH CTAHR extension agent and farmer, Kea‘au
Geoff Rauch, director of Know Your Farmer Alliance and farmer, Kapoho
Hector Valenzuela, vegetable crops extension specialist, UH Manoa
Jerry Konanui, mahi 'ai and educator, Pahoa
Joe Kassel, naturopathic physician and farmer, Holualoa
Ken Love, tropical fruit horticulture and marketing specialist, Captain Cook
Lyn Howe, director of Know Your Farmer Alliance and farmer, Kapoho
Mary Lynn Garner, Konawaena High School teacher and farmer, Kealakekua
Nancy Miller, marketing specialist and manager of Keauhou Farmers’ Market
Roen & Ken Hufford, Honopua Farm, managers, Hawaiian Homestead Farmers Market, Waimea
Ted Radovich, crop specialist, Sustainable Farming Systems Laboratory, UH Manoa

Supporting Organizations

Hawai'i Organic Farmers Association

Hawai'i SEED

Hawai'i Tea Society

Hawai'i Tropical Fruit Growers

Know Your Farmer Alliance

Kona Coffee Farmers Association

Kona County Farm Bureau
Kona Outdoor Circle

North Kohala Food Forum

Slow Food Hawai'i

Sustainable Kohala

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This newsletter is published by:

Hawai'i Homegrown Food Network
PO Box 5
Holualoa, Hawaii 96725 USA
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: http://hawaiihomegrown.net

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