Your Oahu Slow Food chapter is emerging from the years of the pandemic with energy and enthusiasm. New board members and volunteers are pulling together finances, planning events, writing & editing website content, posting social media content, and putting together grants. Our website is being revised and reconstructed. Expect to see expanded and updated sections on our Terra Madre delegates, the Hawaii Ark of Taste, highlights from last year’s Banana Festival, and more. If you’d like to help us with writing, photography, social media postings, grant writing, or event planning, please contact Nina at nina4goodfood@gmail.com.
In 2023 SFO already conducted two pig processing workshops. These sessions, conducted by Doug Young, have introduced wild pig butchery to a number of folks who are regularly face-to-face with these invasive, furry animals. As we’d like to expand our ability to offer this class to a wider community, we are looking for grant money as a way to subsidize the costs involved and offer lower fees, especially for younger folks.
Your Slow Food Oahu board is working hard to get more events scheduled for the upcoming summer months. Presently, we are working on reviving our Chinatown tours, a tour of Aloha Tofu, brewery tours, and additional farm visits. If you have ideas or connections that make Slow Food sense, let us know.
Upcoming events
MA‘O Organic Farms Tour & Lunch
Saturday, May 20, 2023, 9 am – 1 pm HST
MA‘O is Oahu’s preeminent organic farm, conceived of in 2000. This Waianae farm has focused on much more than growing fruits and vegetables over these twenty years. It has had a major impact on its community by providing education, jobs, wellness, training, and community renewal. For more background on MA’O, check out their website maoorganicfarms.org
Over the years, SFOahu has supported MA‘O Farms by funding travel and securing lodging for MA’O staff to attend the biennial Terra Madre event in Turin, Italy. We are proud of our long-standing connections with MA‘O and will be excited to hear about the impact Terra Madre has had on their organization. Founders Gary & Kukui Maunakea-Forth will be on hand, along with other staff, to talk about their experiences in Italy and how those have affected their desire to expand and grow more food and more people.
MA‘O has recently acquired a large parcel of land (250 acres) with which to expand their operations in Lualualei Valley. We will tour the new packing facility, which is almost complete. This will be followed by lunch, prepared for us by a young mahi’ai (farmer).
MA‘O Organic Farms Tour & Lunch
86-148 Puhawai Rd, Waianae
Carpooling is recommended
Limited tickets available on Eventbrite
$20 for Slow Food members
$25 for the public
Sweetland Farm Tour & Potluck
Saturday, June 17, 2023 | Save the date — details still being worked out
Second Annual Banana Festival
Saturday, October 21, 2023 | Waimea Valley, Oahu
