Sustainable Initiatives by Andrea Dean

Food Prep with Friends: Day 28- My Experiments with Food Truth- 60 Days of Eating Locally Grown


Food preparation time definitely increases when you eat fresh, local food. Cassava needs to be peeled and grated. Taro needs to be boiled a few times. Veggies needs to be washed and cut. Dressing and sauces have to be made from scratch.


By getting together with a group in the Stone Soup Club with Chef Greg Menke, we processed a variety of local ingredients and made a delicious gourmet meal. The idea is to get together and process together whatever is abundant at the moment. Working all together (and chatting and listening to music!) we process a big quantity of normally hard to prepare items. Then everyone brings home food. We made fresh coconut milk, killer fruit punch with lilikoi, lemons, limes, jaboticaba, grapefruit and orange juice, breadfruit pudding, breadfruit home fries, soup stock, fish dumplings, grilled and marinated local beef, a big salad, bags of fresh herbs, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and more!

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‘Ulu and a Lamb Education: Day 27- My Experiments with Food Truth- 60 Days of Eating Locally Grown


I am happy to report that my tapioca pudding made from the fresh cassava I got yesterday came out awesome! It was a hit at the Eat Local Challenge potluck in Waimea tonight. I probably over cooked it, because I have that tendency. I cut the cassava in half and peeled it. Then I boiled the big root pieces. I was faced with grating all of that cassava and decided that I had to get a food processor. I had to go to Kona today and stopped in at Costco and bought a food processor for $79, which is possibly one of the best gifts I have ever given myself. I grated up all of that cassava in no time. Then I pulverized a good deal of it with milk and added honey, fresh cinnamon (locally grown from Richard Benton!) and eggs. You just have to bring it to a boil for a few minutes with the variety of cassava that I got. Different varieties have different levels of toxic cyanogenic glucosides, so knowing what you have and how to prepare it is important. Just ask the farmer or grow it yourself. Thankfully my son was home and willing to hang out and stir while I went to visit with Ralph Blancato to score some ulu.


Ralph and Laura have an amazing place where they grow a variety of native trees, hardwoods, fruit (great mangoes!), ulu and more. I will be cooking up the ulu tomorrow in our Stone Soup Club. Ralph also raises sheep for meat and he explained to me the difference between sheep, mutton, weaver, ewes, lamb and rams!

Crazy for Cassava (and Asparagus): Day 26- My Experiments with Food Truth- 60 Days of Eating Locally Grown


Today I visited with Richard Liebmann at Lokahi Farms and got some Cassava and Asparagus.



Cassava, a.k.a. manioc and tapioca, is according to wikipedia – the third-largest source of carbohydrates for meals in the world. Cassava is not as popular in Hawaii as it is in the South Pacific and other parts of the world, but it should be! It is very easy to grow- low maintenance and high yield. My kind of crop. I got a few cuttings from Richard and am going to plant one each in a gallon pot. Richard showed me how to harvest the cassava and explained how to prepare it.





I have already cut and peeled my cassava and am about to go and grate it to make tapioca pudding for a local foods pot luck tomorrow night. I will report back about how it comes out tomorrow. Click here for an article that Richard wrote about cassava with links to other resources.


I was lucky because I called Richard just after he had his first asparagus harvest. I ate the asparagus tonight with my local Hula Cows butter and Kona Sea Salt. Totally divine! Have you ever seen what asparagus looks like when it comes out of the ground? I never had. Check it out:

Something in me is Changing: Day 25- My Experiments with Food Truth- 60 Days of Eating Locally Grown


Today I needed to feel the earth and reach into the center of myself. Too much time on the computer connects me to others but leaves me feeling slightly disconnected from myself.


Some say that it takes 30 days to change a habit. I don’t whether that is true or not, but I can say that today, at day 25, I feel changed. My body feels great. I feel light. I feel comfortable in my skin. Good in my clothes. I was craving taro. My relationship with food has altered. I made a salad for myself and saw it as truly beautiful. And it tasted so good.


Despite all of this attention that I am placing on food at the moment, I am usually a very utilitarian eater. Eating is something that I do to maintain my body. In my spare time. Often while driving or working on the computer.


I think I eat a healthy, fruit and vegetable diet, but I fear that the slippery slope of bread and cheese dominate my diet more than I care to admit, or notice. I am so busy that I often reach for fast and convenient. Eating 100% fresh, not prepared foods requires more preparation time. Washing, cutting, cooking. Making fresh dressings and salsas. Pouring off the taro water multiple times. The term Slow Food definitely applies.


Am I so unusual? Eating 100% locally grown has forced me to hold up a mirror to myself to see what I have been eating. What I do in my mind and what I do in reality are two different things. I went to the CDC’s Fruit and Veggies Matter website and entered in my age, sex and level of physical activity and it popped out the following recommendation:

5.5 cups of fruits and vegetables a day is actually a lot for me. It is pretty hard for me to achieve unless I maintain a tight focus on fruits and vegetables. Not toast and eggs for breakfast. Fruit. Not a sandwich with lettuce on it for lunch. A salad, roasted vegetables. Not cookies and chocolate (that one hurts) and kashi bars for snacks. Dried fruit, fresh fruit. A cup of tea.


Last night my husband made a birthday cake for my son. I was not even tempted. Not even the haupia ice cream was as interesting to me as maintaining this feeling that I have. Clean. Clear. Full of energy.


There is disciple involved in this endeavor. But I am a strange lover of self imposed disciple. Wherever there is discipline I am learning and growing.