Hawaiʻi is home to some of the world’s best agricultural lands. Lands so ideal that food production often happens unintentionally!

However, many people who find themselves with access to this abundance still don’t know how to feed themselves. Harvesting techniques remain a mystery, prepping that should be fairly straightforward is clouded by disreputable advice, and a lack of recipes keep people from thinking of local food as an immediately viable option.

Since we import close to 90% of our food here in the islands, it’s imperative that we step up our game to encourage local food production. Part of that production has to include education on how to use the food we already have.

Sustainability advocate Daniel Anthony on TEDx:

This site is a casual and humble effort to bring traditional Hawaiian food knowledge to the general population of Hawaiʻi in a modern era. The goal is to provide accurate information, alternate perspectives, and some context of why these foods are so important to the future of Hawaiʻi and its people.

Without a relationship to our food, our health and well-being suffers. Cultivating this relationship on a personal level is not difficult. But knowing where to start can be a big challenge. Hopefully together we can find new and old ways to take advantage of the amazing food resources in Hawaii.

You’ll see that the site is organized by food source. Each can be accessed from the home page and further exploration of each can be found within their respective pages. The site is a work in progress! We decided to start with the foods that seemed to be shrouded in the most mystery while also being the most important to feeding ourselves.

There’s lots of room for improvement! If you want to contribute your knowledge – a thought, an article, access to an expert, a how-to video, or a resource – please be in touch.

Nothing here is absolute. None of the writers are experts. There are lots of things we can learn from each other and there’s certainly more than one way of doing things. This is just how we know to cultivate and prepare these foods. Please share yours.