Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 9, 1 September 1989 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE]

ʻAi Pono, E Ola

y - ' By Terry Shintani, M.D. Kalo and Hawaiian nutrition celebration

As the Wai'anae Diet Program begins on Sept. 11, kalo (taro) takes center stage. In the month of September, in addition to the Wai'anae Diet Program, there will be two Kalo celebrations in the state of Hawai'i. Wai'anae Diet Program As you may know, the Wai'anae Diet Program is a community effort sponsored by the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. In this program 15 native Hawaiian individuals from the Wai'anae Coast will be placed on a traditional Hawaiian (Maka'ainana) diet for 28 days. Of course Kalo is at the center of this diet. This is an exciting effort intended to demonstrate how the traditional Hawaiian diet promotes weight loss; a decrease in cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and a number of other measures of health. Wai'anae: "Kalo Celebration" Also in Wai'anae, there will be a "Kalo Celebration" from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 23 at the Wai'anae regional park next to the Wai'anae Library. Parking will be available at the Wai'anae Intermediate School. This celebration will be sponsored by the Opelu Project and Ka'ala farm along with the Wai'anae Coast Community Alter-

native Development Corporation. It will also be supported by the efforts of the many organizations and individuals of the Wai'anae Coast area and from other parts of the state. Eric Enos of the Opelu Project and Ka'ala Farm elegantly describes the importance of Kalo. "Kalo is not just a food. Kalo is the hub of Hawaiian eulture" he emphasizes. "It represents the land, the water, health, work, education and so forth." The goal of this Kalo Celebration is "to awaken the people to the importance of Hawaiian culture as their culture and that they have a responsibility to protect expand and live that culture and to revive the ahupua'a concept." There will be numerous displays, food samples, lectures, and sharing of mana'o. Some of the organizations represented include the Kalo farmers from Wai'anae and Waipi'o, and others including the Bishop Museum, Wai'anae High School, and community Kupunas and the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center with the Wai'anae Diet. There will be music, poetry and art that reflects the central theme of the festival. It will be an exciting and fun filled event.

Windward: "In Celebration of Taro" Earlier in September on the Windward side of the island, there will be a Kalo celebration called "In Celebration of Taro". This festival was rained out in July, but it generated so mueh interest that , by popular demand, it will be held Sept. 16 at the Windward Community College from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will be a "free family day" at whieh people ean learn everything they want to know about taro. There will be cooking demonstrations, home gardening advice, plant sale, taro related games, Hawaiian legends for children, lectures on the medicinal, health, and cultural aspects of kalo, food booths, crafts, health screening and more. Together these three events, the Wai'anae Diet Program, the Wai'anae "Kalo Celebration", and the Windward "In Celebration of Taro,"represent great ways for people to leam about Kalo. In this, the Kalo and Hawaiian Nutrition Month, please take notice of the lessons of the Wai'anae Diet Program and attend both celebrations for a fun way to leam about, enjoy, and appreciate kalo in our everyday lives. This event will be a way of highlighting the importance of this forgotten food. It will be a way to reach people of all ages, including children, to communicate the cultural, historical, and health value of kalo in a fun way.