Celebrate Farm to School Month 2024!

October is National Farm to School Month, a celebration of the vital connection between keiki and our local food system. This year's featured Harvest of the Month Crop in October is ʻuala—sweet potato—a traditional Hawaiian staple food valued for its resilience in dryland farming systems and excellent nutritional value.

Harvest of the Month Schedule:

October 2024: ‘Uala (Sweet Potato)
November 2024: Pala‘ai (Pumpkin)
December 2024: ‘Ulu (Breadfruit)
January 2025: Kalo (Taro)

The full Harvest of the Month Calendar for Hawaiʻi’s 2024-25 school year can be found here. You can contribute by sponsoring an ʻuala sampler box for a local school of your choice through Hoʻopili ʻAi – Hawaiʻi’s Harvest of the Month Program, or by donating towards this program whenever you check out on the Co-op Shop! 

Watch our Get to Know ʻUala video featuring Aunty Kehau Marshall from Ulu Mau Puanui.

Good News for Hawaiʻi Schools!

This year, Hawaiʻi schools have something extra to celebrate – in April 2024, the USDA published new rules allowing any vegetable (including ʻuala, ʻulu, kalo and palaʻai) to meet the “whole grain” component of reimbursable school meals. That means Hawaiʻi schools can now serve locally grown ʻuala in place of imported rice or even ʻulu flour in place of wheat flour to meet federal nutrition guidelines!

Learn more here

Schools participating in the Hawaiʻi Child Nutrition Program (HCNP) Team Nutrition Grant can now order ʻuala and palaʻai (Kabocha-style pumpkin) directly from the co-op and get reimbursed. Resources for schools can be found here, and training videos for each approved recipe are available to view on YouTube! 

Share this blog to a school food service team member, teacher or principal who needs to know!

 

Join Hoʻopili Ai – Hawaiʻi's Harvest of the Month!

 
The ‘Ulu Co-op is proud to be a founding partner of Hawaiʻi’s Harvest of the Month Program - Hoʻopili ʻAi, which means uniting youth and food crops. School-based education around agriculture and healthy eating can foster community wellbeing for generations and reduce public healthcare costs. 

Hoʻopili ʻAi provides Hawaiʻi-grown staple crop sampler boxes to local schools across the pae ʻāina along with multimedia curriculum and a Harvest of the Month Activity guide. Over the past two years, this program has distributed over 10,500 pounds of local food and served nearly 30,000 students, teachers and ʻohana! 
 
Help us expand this program’s reach by donating a Hoʻopili ʻAi box to a school or classroom of your choice, or by making a contribution to this program through our website whenever you check out.

This year, we are able to sponsor 175 boxes through the generous support of Hawaiʻi County's Ka Wai Wai Grant, and teachers can request a FREE sponsored Farm to School sampler box by completing the form.


Sign up here to receive the Hawaiʻi Farm to School and Harvest of the Month Newsletters, and to get the latest updates on farm to school issues, resources, and events across the Hawaiian islands. Visit the Hawai‘i Farm to School Resource Hub to learn more!
 
Quick Links for Farm-to-School Resources:
  • Educational Videos for Keiki
  • ʻUlu Education Toolkit
  • School Resources
  • Child Nutrition Program Resources for Foodservice Staff
  • Kid Friendly Recipes
    • Our goal is to provide every child in Hawaiʻi the opportunity to build positive, lifelong relationships with Hawaiʻi-grown food crops, especially staples – which play a critical role in our islands' food security yet currently represent the food group in which we are the least self-sufficient.

    You can make a difference by contributing to this important initiative. Sponsor a Hoʻopili ʻAi box for a school of your choice or donate a few dollars toward this program whenever you check out on our website.
     
    Mahalo & Happy Farm to School Month 2024!
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