Returning to Our Roots
Our Ehuola Program
We were so excited to be able to work with our keiki in small groups this intersession week. We got to meet daily in small groups at Kaluaopalena garden engaging in our current hōkeo topic, resilient food systems. The day started with our group making fermented plant juice and bokashi with our garden crew from Ho`oulu `Āina. These organically-made nutrients were then bottled up and given to the keiki to take home to feed to the kalo, uala, avocado, cucumber, squash, and papaya plants they had brought home last month. The keiki were so happy to be in the garden again getting dirty.
It was then time for the keiki to cook their own lunch. One of the assignments in the hōkeo kit they all received at home before the in-person activities was for the family to do a community map of the area they lived in where they identified places they could buy healthy food and be active. We modeled this by purchasing almost all of the ingredients they were going to use to make lunch from the ahupuaʻa of Kalihi; Mrs Chengs Tofu, Youngs noodle factory, Eggs Hawaii, veggies from the Roots Food Hub. Other local products included Waimanalo honey and Kualoa beef. The keiki worked in pairs to prepare all the ingredients and all said that their noodle dish was the best!
Ehuola is a year-round program for Native Hawaiian families organized by the Roots cultural food program. It was started in 2009.
On Friday, the Ehuola group visited Sweet Land Goat Farm in Waialua. Emma Bello and her `ohana run this 400 animal farm and provide a fun and educational tour for groups. We got to see the barn with all the babies, the areas for teens and adults, and then the pens with the milking mamas. One of the highlights was that each of us got to try our hand at milking a goat. Everyone was surprised by this unique experience. Emma showed us how they made cheese and then we all got to taste the different type of cheeses they produce right at the farm. For lunch we again bought everything from Kalihi. The keiki made egg salad sandwiches with bread from Kalihi street. The eggs were from Eggs Hawaii and the sandwiches were paired with Taro and Uala chips from the Hawaiian Chip company. Lunch also included homemade sprouts and tangerines from our own Roots Food Hub.The keiki all received a sprouting kit to learn how to make sprouts at home.
On March 31, we will be having another Zoom cooking class, and on April 7, we will host a group Jeopardy game to review the material in the take-home curriculum. This includes questions prompting families to discuss our food system and how we can all do our part to be more resilient.
It is important that we learn about all aspects of our food system and what each of us can do in our daily lives to make it strong and resilient.
