Minds and Bellies Nourished at Lahaina Farm to ECE Event

On the slopes of Pu‘u Pa‘upa‘u, at Princess Nāhi‘ena‘ena in Lahaina, the Hawai‘i Farm to School Network team put on their long-awaited Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) event – Gardens of Growth: Nourishing Young Minds & Bellies. The October 19 event was a collaboration with the Center for Getting Things Started; the Maui Farm to School Network lead, Grow Some Good; and Maui PATCH. It was offered as part of the Gardens for Resilience and Climate Education (GRaCE) USDA rapid response grant. The event was an intimate family-friendly space for early childcare providers from Maui and Lāna‘i to learn about the healing power of Farm to ECE.

The day started with a farm-to-school-inspired movement and breathing series led by Rebecca Rhapsody. The group then split in two and dove deeper into the two spotlighted food plants – kalo (taro) and ‘ulu (breadfruit). Active hands-on learning happened in the form of art and cooking demonstrations. With Eileen Carr and Rebecca Rhapsody, participants created art pieces using naturally-made dyes and ‘ulu skin for printing. With Koh Ming Wei and Noel Shaw, participants cooked up ‘ulu poke seasoned with hand harvested pa‘akai from Moloka‘i and a creative poi parfait featuring poi from a seventh generation kalo farm based in West Maui.

To end the day, Lacey Abercrombie, the school garden coordinator for Princess Nāhi‘ena‘ena Elementary, led a garden work day for the group, planting Native Hawaiian plants donated by the University of Hawai‘i – Maui College and TipuTipu. Koh Ming Wei said, “This event affirmed yet again the joyful importance of playing with food. Knowing the plant so that you will eat the plant is something Tiana Kamen always says. At the cooking session, we saw young children cutting, mixing, licking their lips and fingers, and eating tasty, healthy locally grown food. Joy!”

The intentionally selected all-star vendor list for Gardens of Growth included food from Moku Roots and the Aloha Lifestyle, ‘ulu and kalo from the Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Co-op, poi from Pūlama ‘Āina, waste management from Maui Huli Au, and produce box giveaways from Maui Food Hub.

Mahalo nui loa to Princess Nāhi‘ena‘ena Elementary School for the space to host the event, Center for Getting Things Started (the mastermind behind the event), Grow Some Good, and the many volunteers who helped put on a successful event.

GRaCE is supported by the A1712 Rapid Response to Extreme Weather Events Across Food and Agriculture Systems program, Project Award no. 2024-67019-41620, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

For more information, contact Noel Shaw at noel@hiphi.org.