In the year In 2022, a team of University of Hawaii CTAR Extension agents and a specialist received a two-year, $350,000 grant to promote virtual cooking and gardening to international families in Hawaii.

Funding from a USDA/NIFA Rural Health and Safety Education grant helped expand the ‘Ohana Garden & Grindz Extension Program.

The program gives youth the opportunity to work with their parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles to develop skills in the kitchen, gardening and family food security. The project was originally designed in 2018 to support Hawaii Homelands housing families to work as a team to increase agricultural production on Molokai.

Participating families receive gardening and cooking supplies, participate in weekly online learning sessions to learn how to grow plants and cook healthy meals at home, and complete household chores in their gardens and kitchens.

Keki and their ‘ohana use beans, lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables and harvests to make local recipes like Aunt Jennifer’s famous som salad, incorporating more garden-fresh vegetables and reducing the sodium and fat content.

Families on Kauai with keiki ages 9 to 12 are eligible for the free program. The next session starts on Saturday. It is a four-week program that runs until February 16. Space is limited.

For more information, call 808-274-3473 (leave a message) or email-halliec@hawaii.edu.