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Wai (water), waiwai (wealth). An abundance of water meant an abundance of food in Hawaiʻi. The wealth of a taro farmer could be measured by how many people they fed, so too, a chief.
Sharing information, huli (planting material), food and educational opportunities with farmers, students, youth and families is how we grow.
Collectively, we ensure the next generations will have the knowledge, tools, and experience they need to feed their families, improve local food security and food sovereignty, and restore the natural habitats around them that are a part of the foundation that leads to abundance.
One huli at a time
Sharing huli direct from the farm, through festivals and partner organizations such as the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, supports farmers and families in growing Hawaiian kalo varieties, increases
biocultural diversity on farms and in gardens, and public awareness about the viability and importance of traditional Hawaiian food crops.
The things we grow support cultural and community events, and feed our community of friends and families.
Intergenerational Learning
Curriculum development, classes and workshops, kuʻi ʻai (poi making) and pōhaku kuʻi ʻai (poi pounder making stone-on-stone) sessions, volunteer work days, one-on-one mentoring of young farmers and future habitat restoration practitioners, publications, videos, and even family Zoom-detox days during the COVID pandemic, are some of the many ways we share information, practice together and encourage intergenerational learning.
Hālau O Hāloa
Hālau O Hāloa (HoH) is a school of deep learning, training the next generations of caretakers in the wisdom, knowledge, and traditions of kalo and Hawaiian agriculture ensuring that these traditions will continue to live. Following the exemplary model set for us by Awaiaulu, new HoH students are carefully selected and make a commitment for a minimum of three to five years of study. Students become trainers and mentors for new program participants after completing the first level, and can choose to continue on to higher levels of study, as well. The first cohort are now trained cultivar specialists and teachers, each in their own way, and becoming scholar farmers in the footsteps of notable Hawaiian planters and statesmen of the past.
