RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Chisa Dodge serves a plate of quesadillas at the Aloha Aina Cafe in Waianae.
Waianae project teaches
youths the value of farming
The Aloha Aina Cafe sits across Farrington Highway from the Waianae McDonald's. It's an interesting juxtaposition: Aloha Aina's plantation-era, soothing green, all-wood decor vs. McDonald's plasticine ambiance. Alona Aina's organic greens vs. McDonald's french fries.
Buy organic
Produce from the Mala 'Ai 'Opio organic farm can be found at these locations:Mini-farmers' markets: Noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays at Kaiser Permanente clinic in Nanakuli, Waianae Coast Comprehensive Care Center and Leeward Community College
Aloha Aina Cafe: On the menu at 85-773 Farrington Highway, open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
Saturday market: 9 a.m. to noon at the cafe
Also: On occasion at Kokua Market and the Saturday Farmers' Market at Kapiolani Community College
It's as though the anti-McDonald's had set up shop on the steps of a shrine to fast food.
"We're kinda the odd corner out," says Kukui Maunakea-Forth, who helps run the café. It's not just McDonald's that makes up their neighborhood; there's a KFC down the street and all manner of modern quick-eat joints nearby.
It seems that Aloha Aina was born to be different.
The cafe opened barely a year ago and has just two employees. It is an offshoot of Mala 'Ai 'Opio, an organic farm in Waianae that goes by its nickname, MA'O Organic, an internship program for low-income youths. Training goes beyond planting and harvesting, however. Marketing is key to success, so the participants are expected to become proficient in that area as well. Thus, they sell their produce at mini-farmers' markets and volunteer at the cafe.
The cafe is an extension of the farm, providing a teaching laboratory for restaurant work, as well as a way of turning crops into cash. It also provides a certified commercial kitchen, Maunakea-Forth says, which allows MA'O to produce value-added items such as laulau and kim chee made of items grown on the farm.
The menu is homespun and simple: banana pancakes, chili, quesadillas, salads made with the farm's organic greens, a killer pumpkin crunch dessert.
Chisa Dodge, the cafe's cook, says the cafe was the one way she could make use of her Leeward Community College culinary training while staying close to home. "I really like working in my community. I was born and raised in Waianae. Every generation in my family is here."
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
The nonprofit restaurant serves greens and other produce grown on the MA'O organic farm, an internship program for youths.
MA'O was founded by the Wai'anae Community Re-Development Corp. in 2001 as a "community food security initiative," with the aim of fighting hunger and improving nutrition in the area. It's full name, Mala 'Ai 'Opio, means "youth garden"; its acronym, MA'O, is the name of a cotton plant endemic to Waianae.
A first group of 11 youths has passed through the 10-month training program and a second group of eight is now enrolled. Recruiting is under way for a third, larger group to begin training in August.
The program is meant for ages 17 to 25, offering them training in youth leadership and organic farming, while giving them part-time pay for their labors on the farm. The opportunity is a rare thing in Waianae, where unemployment can run three times the state average. And their are other benefits, as well, Maunakea-Forth says. "They get to take home compost, they get to take home produce. For some of them it's such a blessing."
The participants will grow bananas, taro, mesclun greens, choi sum, radishes, spinach and much more. The aim is to have at least a dozen items available for sale every week.
It is a mark of the program's success that two members of Group 1 have been hired on to help teach Group 2, manage the farm and run the farmers' markets. "They have found a career," Maunakea-Forth says.
Those two, 19-year-olds Manny Miles and Kanoe Burgess, say they had never imagined becoming farmers. Miles says he had it in mind to become a plumber. But working outdoors suits them and they see what they do as a direct benefit to the community.
The farm has changed them in many ways.
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Manny Miles and Kanoe Burgess tend the fields at Mala 'Ai 'Opio organic farm.
"Before, I never used to eat any vegetables," Burgess says.
"No more fast food," Miles adds.
The program is run by Maunakea-Forth and her husband, Gary, a former New Zealander who came to Hawaii to coach rugby. Gary came from a small farming town where he maintained an interest in organic farming. Kukui also comes from a farming background; they met while both were working on a community-service project.
MA'O is a non-profit enterprise that survives on grant money, but projects such as the markets and cafe, as well as being teaching tools, are necessary to supplement income. The cafe has actually become self-sufficient.
"Our major mission is to teach the participants, but we're trying to bring in income," Gary Maunakea-Forth says. "That's really, really important because grant income is up and down."
The program also does its part to keep Waianae from losing its youths and its character to that driving force of the Hawaii economy -- tourism -- he says.
"Everybody says you have to keep the country, country, but in Waianae, where hardly anyone farms, how do you do that? There's no point in getting annoyed by the tourist industry if there's no alternative."
Brown turkey and onion in vegetable oil. Add garlic, oregano and cumin; sauté. Add beans, tomato sauce and chili powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.Aloha Aina Cafe Turkey Chili
1 pound ground turkey
1-1/2 to 2 cups chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced, or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fresh chopped oregano
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 cup canned pinto beans
1 cup canned black beans
1-1/2 cup tomatoes sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder, or to taste
Approximate nutritional analysis, per serving: 450 calories, 22 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 920 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrate, 29 g protein
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