Sustainable Initiatives by Andrea Dean

One of the hardest things about an eat local challenge like this is keeping up with the blogging! I caught up on the last few days with a video blog.





On the way to harvest breadfruit we stopped at Ken Love’s house. He had scored a durian fruit earlier in the day and wanted to share it with Craig Elevitch, who is a durian fanatic! I tried it for the first time.





How to tell if a breadfruit is mature (ready to pick).

I started the day with scrambled eggs with ahi and spinach. Half asleep, I was warming a tortilla over the gas flame when my friend Alex asked what I was doing. I reluctantly surrendered my nice, warm tortilla to Alex. I had a banana, strawberry, poi, honey and milk smoothie for lunch and a 1/2 avo for a snack.


It is Friday night, and my usual Friday night routine is dinner at the Kava Kafe. Every month is Eat Local month at the Kava Kafe–every Friday night they serve up local music with a local, vegan, organic meal lovingly prepared by Leia Lawrence. So what’s the problem? Watch the video to find out (Sorry for the dark video, just close your eyes and listen!)

So much for all of my excellent “How to Prepare for an Eat Local Challenge” tips that the Big Island Weekly has been publishing. On Day 0, I initially fell short on two accounts: I did not do enough reconnaissance and did not gather enough staples in advance. I didn’t starve and was able to stay local, but I didn’t have a lot of variety in my diet today. It was all about Sweet Potatoes! I had a banana, sweet potatoes and ahi poke for breakfast. And sweet potatoes, strawberries and banana for lunch. I went to a business mixer tonight. Guess what the locally grown food was on the buffet? You guessed it–sweet potatoes! I will have you know that I dutifully abstained from the non-local beer and wine. (Must find a free underground mead or wine source!) I came home and steamed up some baby kale. I am now fantasizing about a midnight banana (or two!).


Today I took my own advice did some serious local food shopping. My local food store (Takata’s) in Hawi does carry locally grown food–I was able to buy sweet potatoes, dasheen (Japanese potato), ahi poke and the strawberries. I could also have bought some other veggies-beets, carrots, luau leaf, etc.. Tonight I was in Waimea, so I went to KTA , which has played a key role in Hawaii in supporting local farmers and developing the consumer market for locally grown and made products through its Mountain Apple Brand. I scored some staples: milk, eggs, pumpkin and taro. I also threw in some avo and some mahi mahi for fat and protein. I swung by the health food store and picked up some local organic spinach, kale and bananas. I also bought Waipio Valley poi, but as I am reviewing the receipt right now, I see that the cashier, who was in the middle of telling a long and dramatic story to her friend while checking out my groceries, forgot to charge me the almost $7 for the poi! Food Stamp budget miracle #1!


Money Spent?


$80.13. YIKES. That is 25% of my monthly budget spent in two days. I guess the trick will be making this food last for a week. I am thinking food preservation. Cooking and freezing some of the taro and pumpkin. I may freeze some of the poi for soup later.


Was Local Food More Expensive than Imported?






At Takata’s the North Kohala grown organic sweet potatoes were 37 cents per pound more expensive than the U.S. grown sweet potatoes. At this point, that does not make a big financial difference to me, I am still quite willing to pay the extra .37 for local and organic. Talk to me in 29 days.


Local organic spinach was $9.75/lb vs. $7.98/pound for the imported spinach. I am fairly sure that I could get a better price on greens at the farmers market or directly from my local farmer (which is what I usually do), but they don’t take EBT.


Good news on the pumpkin front, though. The local pumpkins were 50 cents less per pound than the US squash. Starch for starch–that evens me out on the sweet potato front and puts me ahead. At KTA, the prices for local food do not seem to be a barrier. I will have to compare some more, but it appears that they have managed to get the prices to be comparable (and cheaper in the case of pumpkins) than imported food. KTA also carries local milk!






OK, time for that midnight blogger banana snack!

Last night was Day 0 (the day before I start!) in my 30 day Eat Local SNAP Challenge. For those of you who don’t know what SNAP is and are envisioning me snapping my fingers and rhythmically eating local foods… SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and was formerly called Food Stamps. Instead of using paper food stamps, recipients now use EBT cards that look like debit or credit cards. (More later in the month on how this impacted Farmers Markets).

Today I visited the local State Department of Health and Human Services to learn how much my SNAP food budget would be if I was a food stamp recipient. Well… I was kind of shocked to discover that I have had many years recently in which I probably could have qualified for SNAP. The life of a local foods advocate is not that lucrative–although it is abundant with food!


The maximum allotment under the TFP (Thrift Food Plan) is $314/month for a one person family. I could actually be making $24,936 gross per year ($2,078/ month) and still qualify for this amount of monthly SNAP benefits. I would get max $314 for food only if other deductions (there is a formula that takes shelter and other necessary expenses into account) brought my monthly income to zero.


For the sake of this experiment, my advisor at DHHS suggested that I use the $314/month figure.


What are my parameters?


1) My food budget for September is limited to $314.
2) I can only shop at places that take EBT. SNAP recipients are on a tight budget and would not spend cash that could be used on other necessities on food. They would shop at places where they can use their SNAP benefits.
3) My diet will be primarily locally grown foods from within the State of Hawaii. I am not going to be strict about small items–condiments and oils. You can read about my 60 Eat Local Challenge from last year which outlined my many adventures in seeking out salt and oil!


Any questions? Am I missing anything?


I am sorry to say that I did have a bit of a food hoarding mentality today. I was invited to a dinner and volunteered to bring the ice cream. I don’t usually eat ice cream, but felt compelled to buy three pints and shamefully stuffed myself with all three flavors.

From Nancy Redfeather:
I hope you’ve all had a chance to visit The Kohala Center’s Web site for the “Hua Ka Hua – Restore Our Seed” Symposium in Kona on April 16-18, 2010, at www.kohalacenter.org/seedsymposium/about.html.

The deadline to take advantage of the early registration discounted price is March 15. Before March 15, the registration fee is $100 for both days. After March 15, the cost goes up to $150. Spaces are limited, so register early to secure your spot at the Symposium. The Keauhou Beach Resort is offering a special rate for conference accommodations of $122.53 per night (including tax) for a single/double room with a partial ocean view and a daily buffet breakfast.

The Symposium will also feature a Seed Swap hosted by Regeneration Botanicals on Saturday, April 17, following the last session of the day. Information tables will be available in the foyer for a nominal fee, for conference participants who wish to share programs and information with the public.

This Symposium is an excellent opportunity to come together, expand our basic knowledge, connect with experts and resources, create island-wide working groups, and get our farmers and gardeners growing, selecting, processing, using, trading, and selling high quality seed. Seed is the foundation of a thriving local agricultural economy and food abundance. Please join us for this landmark event and let’s take charge of our agricultural future.

If you have any questions please call Nancy Redfeather at 808-322-2801 or e-mail nredfeather at kohalacenter.org. If you have already registered and are interested in an information table, please let me know. Mahalo! Please forward to all Farmers and Gardeners you know who are ready to take this step!