When my kids were little, we had a garden in our backyard. It wasn’t extravagant, but we did grow lettuce, carrots, and tat soi along with basil and parsley. What I noticed is that the kids would come with me into the garden and pick from what was growing, expanding their palate by being part of the whole process.
One of the gifts of living on this beautiful island is the year-round growing season. While the weather of the four seasons is more subtle than in other places, locally grown food can be thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated—from the bursting of mango trees in June, tangerines in the winter, and bananas all year round.
We can cultivate a sense of wonder and culinary curiosity in our kids by exposing them to a range of experiences that help them know where the food they eat comes from. This does not require you to create an entire homestead in your backyard, though it might be tempting.
Instead, look around our community for opportunities to explore what people are already doing. Maybe a neighbor has a garden that you could help weed and harvest, or has chickens you could collect eggs from. Fishing onshore or on the water is a delightful way to know where dinner came from, while teaching patience.
Encourage your child to talk to the vendors at the farmer’s market about what food they are growing, especially ones that are unfamiliar to them. Visit places such as Homestead Maui (formerly Maui Bees), where you can sit and enjoy your fresh-baked treats as the friendly bees happily harvest nectar from the flowers, and Kula Country Farms, which offer U-Pick strawberries and pumpkins.
O’o and Oko’a farms in Upcountry both offer guided tours and farm-to-table experiences, while Common Ground Collective welcomes volunteers to both work in their community garden in Haʻikū or to help collect excess produce from bumper crops island-wide. Grow Some Good is a local non-profit that is doing exceptional work bringing gardens into schools. Check with your kid’s school to see what they have going on.
By tapping into a rich source of local farmers, fishers, hunters, and growers, we can help our kids understand the food web involved in getting food from the source to the table. That could unlock a deeper appreciation in them for the food they eat, and might inspire them to get their own hands dirty and get involved as they grow.
Kalia Kelmenson is the creator of The Salt in Us and founder of Maui Mind and Body. mauimindandbody.com. Follow her on Instagram at @thesaltinus.
