A challenge to residents of Hawai‘i Island to eat locally grown food for the month of October 2007 See the Calendar!

Slow Food Hawai‘i is part of an international movement with more than 80,000 members active in 50 countries worldwide, 14,000 members in the U.S., and more than 100 on the island of Hawai’i. The goal of Slow Food is to preserve artisanal and local foods through education, support of school gardens, the protection of biodiversity and threatened animals, fruits, vegetables, and plants, and to foster a slower, more harmonious lifestyle.

The Eat Hawai‘i Island Grown Challenge
We invite you to Eat Hawai‘i Island Grown products during the month of October. Celebrate the abundance and goodness of foods grown here, right at home. Do it for a day, a week or the whole month. Set your own rules:

• Be strict and eat nothing from outside of Hawai‘i Island.
• Allow a few imported items like rice, wheat and oil.
• Pledge to stick with Hawai‘i Island Grown fruits and vegetables only.

Make it your challenge to Eat Hawai‘i Island Grown in October!

To find out more about the Eat Hawai‘i Island Grown challenge and where to buy and eat Hawai‘i Island Grown foods, go to our website: slowfoodhawaii.org

Five Reasons to Eat Hawai‘i Island Grown

• Hawai‘i Island Grown products are simply fresher and better for you. The food has not traveled thousands of miles to get to your table. The fresher the food, the higher the nutritional value and the greater the value for your food dollar.
• Eating Hawai‘i Island Grown is one thing you can do to support a cleaner environment and decrease our dependence on oil. Eating locally lessens the need for fossil fuels to transport food from thousands of miles away and the carbon emissions that are linked to environmental deterioration and global warming.
• Eating Hawai‘i Island Grown supports local farm families and our local economy. Local agricultural provides jobs for those of us that live here and the dollars you spend on food stay here in Hawai‘i instead of going back to companies thousands of miles away.
• Eating Hawai‘i Island Grown means you know where your food is grown and how it is grown. Get connected to local farmers and learn how they grow your food. Choose safe food at fair prices.
• Eating Hawai‘i Island Grown helps to preserve the green spaces that are so important to us on Hawai‘i Island. Imagine if farmers stopped farming and sold their land for residential or commercial development. Let’s keep land in agriculture!

What can you eat that’s Hawai‘i Island grown?

• Foods we grow in limited quantities: grass fed, natural beef and lamb, pork, fish,eggs, milk, honey, papayas, bananas, strawberries, oranges, lemons, limes, mangoes, avocados, tropical fruits too numerous to name, lettuces and salad mixes, sprouts, tomatoes, won bok, bok choy, cabbage, eggplant, cucumber, celery, zucchini, pumpkins and other squashes, green beans, green peppers, green onions, ginger, soy beans, beets, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, chocolate, goat cheese, coffee, macadamia nuts.
• Other foods to eat from within the state of Hawai‘i: plantation raw sugar from Maui; macadamia nut oil; pineapple; watermelons; honeydew and cantaloupe melons; sweet onions.
• What are some of the foods we take for granted that are not grown in Hawai‘i? Rice, wheat and wheat products like breads and pastas, cooking oils, dried spices, salt (except from Kona), pepper, most pork and chicken, cooking onions, garlic, carrots and celery, apples, grapes, stone fruits, soybeans and soy products, butter, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese and ice cream.
• There are numerous foods like tofu, artisanal breads and baked goods, snack foods, preserves and beer that are locally produced with ingredients from outside of the state. Read labels and signs and ask where items come from!  Choose Hawai‘i Island Grown foods!

Shop at Farmers’ Markets

 KINO‘OLE FARMERS MARKET (*)
 Saturdays, 7 a.m. to noon, 1990 Kinoole St., Hilo
 WAIMEA HAWAIIAN HOMESTEAD FARMERS’ MARKET
 Mamalahoa Hwy., 2 miles east of Waimea town Saturdays, 7 a.m.-noon
 KEAUHOU FARMERS’ MARKET (*)
 Keauhou Shopping Center, Keauhou Saturdays, 8 a.m. - noon

   For more information about Eat Hawai‘i Island Grown, farmers’ markets, events and recipes go to slowfoodhawaii.org and see the Slow Food's Guide to  to Hawai‘i Island Grown Food and the October EHIG Calendar.

Eat Hawaii Island Grown sponsors: