Saturday, June 18, 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

'Licious Dishes is a raw, vegan, gourmet food production company (nothing cooked over 118 degrees, so no refined foods, no animal products).  It's so flavorful, you don't need to be a vegan to like this food!  Join Slow Food O'ahu and Sylvia Thompson of 'Licious Dishes for a meal to remember, prepared with locally sourced ingredients.  You can learn more about 'Licious Dishes at their website: http://www.e-liciousdishes.com 

There will also be live jazz at the event.

This event will take place on Saturday, June 18 from 3 - 6 p.m. at The Shops at Dole Cannery (650 Iwilei Road Honolulu). Please RSVP to Michelle by Tuesday, June 14 at sfo.reservation@gmail.com.  Please include in your RSVP your name, member status, phone or email and the name of any nonmember or member guests you would like to bring.  The cost for members is $35 and $40 for nonmembers.  Payment MUST be received by Friday, June 17.  Please note:  Due to the nature of this event and the necessity of purchasing ingredients beforehand, if cancellations are required after the RSVP date and we are unable to fill your spot, you will be responsible for payment.  Payment information will be sent to you following your RSVP. Final details will be sent to all confirmed guests a few days prior to the event.

Transition Oahu is sponsoring another gardening workshop on Saturday, June 25 from 2:30 to 7pm. at Ailani Gardens, a family run CSA in Wai'anae, inspired by permaculture principles.  Farm owner Jason Leue turned his one acre property into a thriving organic garden that he shares with the community through the CSA.   He will give a tour of the farm, show us how they operate and guide us in hands-on learning.  

The focus of the day will be seed germination, transplanting, and soil and bed preparation.  This class will inspire and equip you with the skills to go home and make or improve your own home garden.  Don't have an acre? No worry, most of us don't.  The learning can be applied even if you have a very small space.  

The cost is $10 and includes a delicious homemade vegetarian dinner -- well worth it!    Pre registration is required.  To register or for more information call 696-7616 or 349-1077 or e-mail  ailanigardens@gmail.com.  

"Food Security is Everyone's Issue: A Land Use Perspective"- Free Lecture

Free public lecture and discussion by Dr. CN Lee 

Sunday, June 26, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Dr. Lee has worked in agriculture in Hawaii for 20+ years.  He is a currently professor in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawai'i.  He has a Ph.D. in Reproductive Physiology and Endocrinology from UW-Madison, with a minor in Agricultural Economics and Dairy Sciences.  He was the Executive Director for the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) from 1995-96, which was formed to address the land left vacant following the closure of the sugar companies.  He has traveled vastly and given talks and training mostly in Africa and Asia.  Dr. Lee is passionate about local agriculture.  He co-authored the chapter on agriculture in "Hawai'i 2050."  In the talk, he will share his perspectives on food production and land use. Come and share in this animated and informative session.

The lecture will begin at 2 p.m. on the UH campus, room 204 in the Ag. Science III Building, 1955 East West Road. (The building that is just beyond the Korean Studies Center and next to C-MORE Hale on your right.)  Parking is free on Sundays.

There are a limited number of seats available, please RSVP to Michelle at sfo.reservation@gmail.com

The School Garden Teachers will be gathering from across the state this summer in Makaha at the oldest school garden in the state, Hoa 'Aina O Makaha.   The 4th Annual Summer School Garden Conference,  "Planting Seeds of Hope:  Growing the next Generation" will be held July 7-9, 2011 at the Farm that adjoins the Makaha Elementary School and has enjoyed a long 25 year relationship.  Gigi Cocquio is the inspiring Director of the Farm.    

Last summer at our conference at the Mala 'ai Culinary Gardens of the Waimea Middle School, Slow Food Hawai'i helped us by coming and preparing breakfast for all of us.  It was very fun and of course the 75 teachers attending enjoyed greatly the special meal that was prepared. (2 photos of our meals are attached)

This summer as they are on Oʻahu and have asked if Slow Food Oʻahu could come and help prepare one of the lunches on July 7 or 8, 2011 at 12:30 p.m.  On July 7 there will also be Principals from across O'ahu for an afternoon Administrator's session on Farm to School/School Garden Programs, featuring the long relationship between Makaha Elementary and Hoa 'Aina O Makaha Farm. Costs for the meals are already covered; we just need hands to prepare the meals.  Contact Kaliko Amona, Program Director of 'AINA In Schools, at kaliko@kokuahawaiifoundation.org

The Executive Committee of the O'ahu Group of the Sierra Club (SC) inquires if any of our readers would like to help fight DR Horton's proposed Ho'opili development? Some of you may not have time to read all the way to the end.  In case you cannot, please email Anthony Aalto at   abaalto@gmail.com and let him know if you would be willing to help in such a campaign.  If there is a particular activity you like, please indicate: Fundraising, writing testimony, organizing rallies, researching testimony etc...

The SC is the largest grassroots environmental organization in Hawai'i and it has had a great history of winning important battles and shaping state policy most recently by getting the state to adopt the 2030 clean energy goals

Amongst the actions necessary, if we are to fight this campaign seriously, we will need to find an attorney and persuade him or her to work pro bono (or for very little money) against one of the most powerful adversaries in the state.  We will have to locate expert witnesses, research testimony for expert witnesses, raise funds to pay the attorney's incidental expenses (which typically are quite substantial), lobby the media intensely to secure balanced coverage of the issue, recruit regular people (non-expert witnesses) to testify, write testimony for them, prepare email blasts to members, mount letter writing campaigns, organize rallies and protests etc.  This is not a campaign to be entered into lightly.

The SC is painfully aware of how important the Ho'opili issue is.  By some accounts it represents ten percent of the best remaining farmlands on O'ahu.  By some accounts it is the most productive farmland in the state.  To the extent that O'ahu residents are able to purchase locally grown produce in our supermarkets, much of it comes from the Ho'opili farmlands.

The SC is pressing the State Legislature to adopt food self-sufficiency standards (20 percent by 2020, 30 percent by 2030, 50 percent by 2040).  Some may think these targets are far too modest, others have may say they are overly ambitious.  Whichever characterization is correct, those targets will become significantly harder to achieve if Ho'opili is paved over.

However the SC also believe that Hawai'i's gross dependence on imported food leaves the state extraordinarily vulnerable to supply disruptions and oil-price driven inflation that could eventually cause food insecurity for many more people here.  And the SC believes that backyard vegetable gardens and aquaponics on their own will not be sufficient to confront that challenge.  Commercial farms will remain an essential part of the mix.

In this circumstance, to allow the Land Use Commission to change the designation of Ho'opili from agricultural to urban is unacceptable.  But, to mount a defense of ag land takes dedicated volunteers who are truly prepared to share in the workload.

If you would be prepared to give the SC some of your time, please email Anthony Abalto abaalto@gmail.com and indicate what level of commitment you might be prepared to make.

Beeline- Efforts to Best Deadly Pests That Threaten Hawaii's Bee Colonies  

by Dan Nakaso in the Star Advertiser (6/12/11) 

by Melanie Bondera in the Honolulu Weekly (6/8/11) 

by Amanda Corby in the Honolulu Weekly (6/8/11)

Hawaii's One Sided Love Affair with GMOs  

by Al Santoro in the Civil Beat (6/11/11) 

Factory Farmed Meat: Why it's Not Good For Us  

by Jocelyn Broyles in Yahoo News (5/20/11) 

The Moral Crusade Against Foodies  

by B.R. Meyers in the Atlantic Monthly (March 2011) 

Slow Food O'ahu Convivium website Slow Food Hawai'i Convivium website