Special Meals Support Students and Agriculture

Gannon’s in Wailea. Courtesy image.

As part of Localicious Month in March, Gannon’s in Wailea and Haliʻimaile General Store upcountry are offering a special entrée to support the Hawaiʻi Agricultural Foundation (HAF). Here are the offerings:

Gannon’s: Local Snapper with winter root vegetable fricassee and saffron-orange glaze
Haliʻimaile General Store: Furikake Ahi and coconut shrimp with Molokaʻi sweet potatoes, baby bok choy, lemongrass-ginger butter and mango chili sauce

For each of these meals ordered between March 1 and 31, the restaurants will donate $1 to HAF’s Veggie U educational program.  The dishes are identified on menus with a Localicious sticker or logo next to them.

HAF launched Localicious Hawaiʻi in 2014 to raise public awareness of restaurants that are committed to sustaining our local agricultural industry. The mission also raises funds for agricultural education in our public schools. After it’s first year, Hawaiʻi State Legislature declared the month of March to be “Localicious Hawaiʻi Month” in support of the program.

The Localicious Hawaiʻi campaign runs from March 1–31 to coincide with National Agricultural Day, and partners with more than 126 restaurants statewide. Participating restaurants feature a specific dish made with a locally-grown, caught or raised product throughout the month.

HAF’s Veggie U Hawaiʻi program is part of the national Veggie U organization that supplies classroom garden kits and a robust five-week science program that combines science, health, language arts, and math into an engaging educational experience for students in elementary schools. Each restaurant that raises at least $500 will be able to adopt a public DOE 4th grade classroom that wants the program in their school.

Currently, Maui County schools that take part are Haʻikū Elementary and Kihei Charter School on Maui, along with Maunaloa Elementary School on Molokaʻi. The program is currently only offered to 4th grade classrooms with the intent to expand to other grade levels in the future.

Each year, the goal of the campaign is raise $50,000 and extend the Veggie U program to more and more classrooms across the state of Hawaiʻi. Funds will be used to purchase the kits, provide stipends, arrange ground and air transportation, and develop training materials for teachers.