Sustainable Initiatives by Andrea Dean

‘A‘ohe ‘ulu e loa‘a i ka pōkole o ka lou.
No breadfruit can be reached when the picking stick is too short.
[There is no success without preparation.]

Well… a few of our picking sticks were not quite optimal, but we adapted to the tools on hand and had a very abundant ‘ulu harvest. The Community Breadfruit Harvest was a part of the Ho‘oulu ka ‘Ulu project–a project of the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network and Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden to revitalize ‘ulu as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable, and culturally appropriate food that addresses Hawai‘i’s food security issues.

Craig Elevitch and I were meeting with Chantal Chung of Kids of Kona. We were talking about the Breadfruit Festival (September 24th at Amy Greenwell Garden in South Kona) and she said “Lots of ‘ulu on the trees right now in South Kona. We better start harvesting and saving it for the festival.” A big light bulb went on over our heads–I think it may have been shaped like an ‘ulu. We knew immediately that Chantal was right. But…How? When? Where? Who?

A core group of people who are passionate about breadfruit, food security, Hawaiian culture, cooking and community came together to harvest, process and freeze about 300 pounds of breadfruit over two days! The breadfruit was washed, cut in half, core removed and then steamed. We allowed the breadfruit to cool and then bagged it in one gallon freezer bags and froze it. What will happen to all this breadfruit? Various chefs will use it to create delicious breadfruit dishes to be served up at the Breadfruit festival on September 24th at the Amy Greenwell Garden.

The Community Breadfruit Harvest was possible thanks to the coming together of many hands and hearts and it was a truly fun day.

A huge thanks to: Shirley Kauhaihao, Chantal Chung of Kids of Lona, Elaine Watai and Yvonne Naldoza of the Kealakehe Community Association, Kaipo Sheen of Makapueo Farms, Dianna DeRosa, Dru Kanuha and Kaeo Duarte from Kamehameha Schools, Cheryl Carden, Carolyn Machado, Anthony Savvis and the guys from Ke Kama Pono, David Fuertes of Ka Hana No’eau, Eddie Pollock, Lonnie King, Betty Saiki of the West Hawaii Culinary Arts Program and Ken Love of Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers.

Got Breadfruit? Well, we wouldn’t mind doing this again! Let us know if you have excess breadfruit that you would like harvested and utilized.

The Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network are presenting a workshop entitled Revitalizing ‘Ulu (Breadfruit) from Root to Fruit on Saturday, March 12th at the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in South Kona and Sunday, March 13th at Kua O Ka La Charter School in Puna (near Ahalanui County Park) – both workshops take place from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. The content of the two workshops is identical.


Workshop participants will learn about the breadfruit tree from root to fruit, including: culture and history, propagation, planting, pruning, fertilizing, harvesting, preparing and eating.


Workshop presenters include Ian Cole, Craig Elevitch and Andrea Dean. Cultural practitioners from each workshop location will share about the culture and history of ‘ulu. Ian Cole is the Collection Manager and Curator for the Breadfruit Institute. He manages the breadfruit collections at Kahanu Garden in Hana, Maui and McBryde Garden in Lawai, Kauai. Craig Elevitch of Agroforestry Net and the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network will speak to the role of ‘ulu in traditional agroforestry systems. Andrea Dean, Co-Director of the Ho‘oulu ka ‘Ulu project, will discuss the statewide initiative to revitalize breadfruit.


Cost of the workshop is $40 per person or $70 for two. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Register by visiting www.breadfruit.info or by contacting Pedro Tama at pedro[at]hawaiihomegrown.net or 938-5618. Participants are asked to bring a brown bag lunch or food to share.


Revitalizing ‘Ulu (Breadfruit) from Root to Fruit is a program of Ho‘oulu ka ‘Ulu–a project of the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network to revitalize ‘ulu as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable, and culturally appropriate food that addresses Hawai‘i’s food security issues.