Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 7, 1 July 2015 — Vegging out on the Waiʻanae Coast [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Vegging out on the Waiʻanae Coast

By Mary Aliee Ka'iulani Milham Students in Wai'anae and Nānākuli intermediate schools got to "veg out" this school year thanks to a project called 'Ai i ka Lā'au that provided them with lots of healthy fresh fruits and vegetables and taught them how to prepare them at home.

The project brought weekly cooking classes to campus through a partnership between Hi'ilei Aloha LLC, OHA's nonprofit subsidiary, and After-School All-Stars, a free afterschool program for intermediate and middle-school students. Founded in 1992 by former California Gov. Amold Schwarzenegger, ASAS provides fitness, enrichment, tutoring and extracurricular activities to students in 12 states, including on several campuses on O'ahu and Hawai'i Island. Funding for the project eame through U.S. Department of Agriculture and Hawai'i Medical Service Association grants. The idea for the project grew from a desire to address issues like poor nutrition and poor availability of fresh, healthy foods that disproportionately impact youth on 0'ahu's West Side. These nutritional issues, project leaders found, are especially hard on middle-school students, who fall into a gap in federal nutrition programs. "The USDA fresh fruits and veggies program is only available to elementary school students,"

explains Nalani Takushi, capacitybuilding manager for Hi'ilei Aloha. "However growing adolescents deserve the same nutritional foods

to increase healthy eating habits, to reduce the onset of chronic illness in adulthood." As a former heahh services coordinator, Takushi was aware of the challenges Leeward Coast families face in the area of healthy food, including a survey by Nānākuli teachers showing most students had no food in their stomachs before class. "There was a high percentage, close to 90 percent, did not have breakfast in the morning," says Takushi. Knowing how this would negatively impact their students' ability to learn, teachers were buying food for their students to make up for what they weren't getting at home. Approximately 300 participating students, about 150 from eaeh school, learned new recipes eaeh week using fresh fruits and vegetables - oranges, apples and bananas as well as foods like kale and Swiss chard that many of them had never eaten. The weekly classes also taught the students about dietary intake and guidelines for different food groups.

The project was also fun for ASAS staff, who adapted their class recipes to incorporate the free fruits and vegetables. "For me it was great because it was a ehanee for my staff to be a little more creative with their food," says Maria Glidden, ASAS site coordinator at Nānākuli intermediate. Including 'ohana was an important part of the project. Says Takushi, "We were thinking that if we encourage the adults to eat better they would then be better role models in

eating in front of the children." Parents were also invited to join their kids on field trips to MA'O Organic Farms to get a firsthand look at where food comes from and how it goes from farm to table. Monthly cooking demonstrations on eaeh campus were given by Tasia Yamamura, of MA'O Organic Farms, another partner in the project. "To be in the schools and interact with youth, that's the key to a successful endeavor, to be involved in a real personal way," says Kamuela Enos, MA'O Organic Farms director of social enterprises. Working with the schools' Makahiki clubs, the project also left a legacy of lā'au on campus by providing native plants - including coconut, hanana and sugarcane, as well as medicinal plants - whieh were planted by students throughout the school year. At the end of the school year, project leaders cooked up the perfect way to celebrate what the students had learned - an Iron

Chef-style competition held at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Heahh Center's Mākeke Mahi'ai 'o Wai'anae, farmers' market. Using at least two ingredients from the farmers' market, the student teams had to prepare, eook and present their creations before judges and a live audience. One teammade lettuce wraps and vegetable quesadillas and the other bruschetta and ehieken Alfredo. The result was nothing short of a culinary conquest, with the students as well as the Wai'anae farmers' market, whieh have asked for a repeat performance. "They definitely loved it, says Glidden, of Nānākuli intermediate. "They're really excited to be able to do it again next year." ■ Marv Ali.ce Ka'iulani Milham is afreelance kanaka writer. Aformer newspaper reporter and columnist from California 's Central Coast, she lives i.n Mākaha, O'ahu.