Hawaiʻi schools add local ʻulu, kalo dishes as farm-to-school program reaches 66,000 students

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education is serving new school meals made with locally grown ʻulu, green papaya and other crops this school year, and a related classroom program reached about 66,000 students across four islands last year, according to the department and its partners.

The department, Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative and the Hawaiʻi Farm to School Network announced the figures during National Farm to School Month in October.

New menu items

The 2026-27 rotating menus include dishes made with crops from the cooperative, the organizations said. They listed ʻulu-kalo hamburger stew and loco moco with ʻulu gravy as among the dishes served at all schools. After-school snacks include ʻulu banana bread and ʻulu blueberry crackers.

Lunch menus also feature other Hawaiʻi-grown ingredients, the groups said. These include green papaya in a Filipino-style chicken soup, kabocha squash and honey in a vegetable roast, Okinawan sweet potatoes as a side mash and bok choy.

Some recipes came from the federal Local Food for Schools grant program. Chefs at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific and the Culinary Institute of America developed others under contract with the department, according to an announcement.

The department is working to meet Act 175, a 2021 state law that requires public schools to spend 30% of their food budgets on local agricultural products by 2030.

“HIDOE is committed to local food procurement, developing appealing student meals, and strengthening partnerships with Hawaiʻi farmers, to connect our keiki to the ʻāina and strengthen their sense of belonging,” said Anneliese Tanner, School Food Services Branch administrator for the Department of Education.

Classroom program

The Hoʻopili ʻAi program provides free sampler boxes of locally grown and value-added foods to classrooms, along with videos, recipes and lesson materials. It is part of the state’s Harvest of the Month initiative and introduces students to ʻulu (breadfruit), kalo (taro) and ʻuala (sweet potato), as well as pumpkin, local honey and macadamia nuts.

The program’s 2025-2026 impact report says it reached about 66,025 students at 134 schools on Hawaiʻi Island, Oʻahu, Maui and Kauaʻi. That is nearly three times the number of students reached the previous year, according to the report. The program distributed more than 7,000 pounds of locally grown food, which the report says represents $149,000 invested in Hawaiʻi’s agricultural economy.

Program partners include the University of Hawaiʻi College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, the state Department of Health and Chef Hui. The release did not provide a breakdown of participating Maui schools or students.

Farmer markets

Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative, founded in 2016, works with more than 230 member farms across four islands, the organization said. It supplies the department with ready-to-use ingredients for school cafeterias.

Dana Shapiro, the cooperative’s chief executive officer, said school purchasing creates steady demand for local growers.

“Our farmers need dependable markets to keep growing, and our schools need consistent access to nutritious, locally-grown food,” Shapiro said.

The Hoʻopili ʻAi impact report is available at eatbreadfruit.com/pages/hoopiliai. More information about the department’s school food efforts is at hawaiipublicschools.org.