Media

Hawaii School Garden and Farm to School Events June 2013
June 17, 2013
A quiet movement is taking root in the islands of Hawaiʻi. The movement’s message is so powerful and inspiring that it unites kumu, kupuna, teachers, gardeners, farmers, chefs, educators, children and parents alike. At the heart of the movement is our schools, where classroom and school learning garden teachers are working hand-in-hand to create educational learning spaces in the outdoor school learning gardens, as well as bring more and more fresh, healthful, local food into the cafeteria, snacks times, after school programs, homes, and virtually anywhere that food is eaten.
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Soil, Sun and Fun Encourage Healthful Choices for Kids
March 13, 2013
Quietly, in groups of two, three and four, students at St. Catherine’s finish lunch then gather at the school garden. These students enjoy gardening so much that they have created their own impromptu gardening club. Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunchtime under the guidance of science and math teacher, Ms. Henriques, they weed, dig, till and plant; eat, laugh and play.
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Chef Paris Nabavi: a passion for philanthropy grows from a backyard garden
February 1, 2013
Chef Paris Nabavi, who owns and operates Cilantro Mexican Grill in Lahaina and Pizza Paradiso Mediterranean Grill in Honokowai, decided to build an edible organic garden in his backyard when his daughter, Layla, was nine years old. “I wanted to teach Layla how to cook,” he recalls. “Not to be a chef, necessarily, but fundamentals like the importance of using the freshest of ingredients. Layla’s friends started visiting the garden, and they thought it was really great. So we dedicated the garden to Layla, calling it ‘Layla’s Edible Garden.’” Last year, Layla’s Edible Garden produced some 375 pounds of tomatoes, as well as 90 pounds of mint, parsley, and habaneros, which were utilized in the two restaurants.
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Kalaheo Keiki Get Big Picture on Gardening
26 November 2012
by Colleen Carroll Ed.D., director, Kaua‘i School Garden Network
For the past four years, Kalaheo third grade teachers Monique Gannon, Clyde Hashimoto, Bridget McCoy and AnnaLisa Riviera have made gardening fun for their combined 100 or so students, involving them in learning about local healthy food, soils, life cycles, diversity and farming. They’ve planted crops together once again, gathering on a Saturday morning this Fall for the school year’s first garden workday. In just two hours, the teachers and keiki, along with parents and grandparents, weeded, cleared rows, captured bugs for fun and prepped for planting. Their efforts will yield food for a grade level — but how do you plan crops for a village? To learn more about the bigger picture of farming on Kaua`i, the teachers arranged a field trip to Kekaha Community Garden.
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School Garden Network Flourishes
25 October 2012
by Colleen Carroll Ed.D., director, Kaua‘i School Garden Network
On-campus gardens are on the rise as schools make the connection between the healthy food they grow and a healthy lifestyle. From Hanalei to Kekaha, school teachers, parents and students are digging in and growing their outdoor learning environments, focusing on everything from social agriculture and Hawaiian culture to nature’s life cycles and a student favorite — harvesting and eating the plants they grow. St. Catherine’s Elementary School, for example, increased its garden from a few beds to over 1,000 sq. ft. of new garden space, thanks to the efforts of Sam Henriques, a 6th- through 8th-grade teacher there and a team of community volunteers.
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