Farm to Table, Hawaiian Style

Bryn Yasui
Jul 28, 2017 · 5 min read

When it comes to eating food, there is always a story beyond the plate. At the Blaisdell Farmer’s Market every Wednesday, there is a huge variety of small local farms selling their week’s crops to the residents in town. I’m walking around, finding more vendors who are smiling next to bags of fresh arugula and small piles of dragonfruit. The amount of local farms has grown since I’ve visited these events as a kid. There is more traffic than before of everyone from aunties to restaurant owners searching for the freshest organic ingredients.

Oahu is ideally the best place on earth to grow produce. There is sunshine everyday, scattered showers of warm Hawaiian rain and 80 degree weather. As I’m driving through town, more and more restaurants are converting to “locavorism”, a term coined in 2005 meaning someone who only eats food grown or produced locally. Is Hawaii finally moving towards being completely self-sustainable and feeding itself?

Tucked in the Lualalei Valley is Ma’o Organic Farm, a nonprofit organization devoted to educating consumers and chefs alike about a deeper connection for food. Highly-renowned restaurants on Oahu such as Town Kaimuki, Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room and MW Restaurant rely on Ma’o to provide clean fruits and vegetables for their dishes.

“If you buy from us, you must know why and what we do and how we grow our food,” Executive Director Kukui Maunakea-Fourth says. Similar to Hawaii’s newfound obsession with farm to table dining, Ma’o Organic Farm is still premature with only 15 years of producing under their belt. Their vision has been a long journey in educating the future of Oahu to a more sustainable food industry that will help everyone.

The problem with living on a land mass in the middle of nowhere is the constant struggle to feed so many mouths with what little resources. Hawaii imports 90 percent of their food annually from the mainland or other areas to sell in our grocery stores, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Where the food is coming from and how it is cultivated remains a mystery. Additionally, locals cough up double the price for produce and groceries than those in the states do. Paradise costs a pretty penny. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.

In Oahu, there’s a saying that goes around. “Try Buy Local” has become a movement, spreading island-wide and making its way to our plates. The government has been struggling to keep money within the island’s economy. Unfortunately, the increasing migration of visitors thus spawning a demand for immediate supplies has forced Hawaii to turn to outside help. This dependency on imported products is detrimental to our job market, our land, our health, and our food quality. However, turning back to the land we have provided for us here could be the answer right under our noses.

At restaurants like Mahina and Suns, owned by locavore Ed Kenney, sourcing local ingredients for guests is the only way he knows how to serve. Even the chefs have changed their cooking philosophy under the tutelage of Kenney to a more sustainable practice in their food. Hundreds of guests who enter the trendy Surfjack Swimclub Hotel on Lewers street in Waikiki can expect responsibly sourced meals on their plates from executive chef Sean Priester. The partner chefs and long time friends create quality dining for their guests consistently and with heart — the only way it should be.

Whoever said the future of farming is dead has not seen the silver living that lies in Hawaii’s eating culture today. There are 20 organic local farms alone on the island of Oahu that are fully functioning and cultivating fresh crops. When supplies are low, Priester calls a farmer who provides for his kitchen for what they can offer. Sourcing locally makes all the difference when it comes to the dish and the integrity behind it.

“There’s literally food coming out of the ground that we’re putting on the plates at Mahina and Suns. Heck yeah it’s going to be much fresher and the flavor is going to be much different,” Priester says.

While it may be true that local produce is costly, the groceries from the mainland are almost the same price and sometimes even more. Priester says eating foods in season is one of the challenges and blessings behind being an avid locavore.

“It seems easy for farm to table to happen but it really takes a lot of diligence and resilience to have a sustainable restaurant,” Maunakea-Fourth says. Farms such as Ma’o Organics are part of this local movement not only because it is good for the earth and for our conscience but it also benefits the farmers who make a living out of growing the produce. At Ma’o, the farmers know every detail of the cultivating process down to the type of soil that certain crops such as kale need for the best results. Hawaii is beginning to appreciate and connect with the earth and it is giving back. At the end of the day, being conscious entails knowing that the earth is an uncontrollable force.

“Under other conditions at different restaurants, you could find an imported product to carry on what you’re making. Under these circumstances, we’re committed to cooking by freshness, seasonality, and supporting what the farmer has,” Priester says.

I made a reservation to test out what Mahina and Suns has to offer from the farm to the table. To be a locavore, the job requires creativity in cooking with what’s in season. The first thing that caught my eye on the menu was a 12 grain salad tossed with shaved yellow and orange carrots, pickled mushrooms, pistachios and cucumbers topped off with seared white tuna.

The hostess I spoke to noted that almost everything on the plate was local. Like many other restaurants in Oahu that are taking the pledge towards this sustainable eating constitution, they put their utmost effort into sourcing everything locally. The reality of the situation is that not everything can be found in our backyards.

Though the idea of a self-reliant food system on Oahu is difficult and premature, it is not unattainable.

“We have the land, the resources, and the knowledge. We would have to look more like an indigenous food environment,” Maunakea-Fourth says. “We are a far distance away from that right now. We are working on the social capacity and the human capitol. That’s why we support education and these farming practices so that we’re creating a parallel system. The other system will ultimately fail.”

SOURCES:

Sean Priester 808–542–8749

Kukui Maunakea-Fourth 808-696-5569

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Aspiring lifestyle reporter and writer

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