Papa Ola Lokahi collaborated with Hawai'i Budget & Policy Center to assess how the monies brought in to state agencies for Native Hawaiians were being used. This is a report of our findings.
Holoiʻa ka papa, kau ʻia e ka manu. Where there is food, people gather.
Food is central in every culture, fostering traditions and a sense of community, while also providing us with the nutrients we need to live. In ‘Ai Pono, we will explore the interconnectedness of Native Hawaiian food systems and access, nutrition, and sustainability. Through this series, we will attempt to draw connections between traditional Native Hawaiian food and health/well-being.
To start this series, we will take a glance at how kalo, which is also referred to as “The Staff of Life,” has fulfilled this title and the role it plays in Native Hawaiian diet and culture.
From the beginning, we can see the significance of kalo in Native Hawaiian culture. The origin of kalo comes from when the sky father Wākea and earth mother Papa gave birth to their first child Hāloa, who did not survive and was buried. Fromthe spot he was buried, the first kalo plant sprouted.¹Wākea and Papa had a second child, Hāloanakalaukapalili, whose children became the Hawaiian people. Thus, kalo has come to represent the idea of a family with the main stalk representing the parent and the offshoots as the children.² We can see this even in the etymology of words like ‘ōhana, as the ‘ohā derives from the word for the shoots that sprout from the main kaloplant.¹
Pre-contact, kalo was the primary crop grown in wetlands. By the end of the 19th century, though, the acreage of land devoted to kalo farms had decreased from 50,000 to 30,000, and since 1965, only around 400 acres of land have been devoted to kalofarms.³ After western explorers colonized the Hawaiian Islands, the demand and supply for kalo fell as kūpuna with agricultural knowledge died from diseases that settlers introducedand resources that previously were dedicated togrowing and nurturing kalo were diverted to growing foods like rice and sandalwood for export.⁴
Kalo was also a highly nutritious food and one of the staple carbohydrates in the traditional Native Hawaiian diet. All parts of the kalo plant are edible as the leaves and stems can be cooked as greens and the tubers baked, boiled, mashed, steamed, or cooked.² Additionally, the main corm plant provides potassium, fiber, calcium, and iron, while kalo leaves provide sources of provitamin A carotenoids, vitamins C and B₂, and vitamin B₁.¹ Withthe decreased prevalence of kalo and other traditional Native Hawaiian foods in peoples’ diets came higher rates of obesity and diabetes – issues that Native Hawaiians continue to disproportionately experience today.⁷
It was estimated that, pre-contact, Native Hawaiians ate up to 15 pounds of poi a day.⁵ Over the years, though, the price of taro and poi have been rising as the price of taro rose from 57 cents per pound in 2006 to 62 cents per pound in 2008, and the price of a pound of poi rose from $4 to anywhere between $5 and $7.99 or higher at grocery stores.⁴ Today, a pound of poi at Safeway can cost anywhere from $6.99 to $11.99 or $7.99 to $12.99 at Foodland. This is a lot compared to the average price of a meal in 2020 in Hawai'i, which is estimated at being around $3.39, according to Feeding America.⁶ Asthe prices of traditional foods rise over time, it becomes more difficult for people to incorporate it into their diets when they become unaffordable. This leads people to turn toward purchasing cheaper,oftenless nutritious foods, in turn, impacting their health.
The resounding impacts that a decreased prevalence of and harder access to kalo has had over time demonstrates the important role that food plays in our lives. Over the next couple of months, we will continue exploring topics of food access, nutrition, andfood systems, and how we can connect with food on a deeper level.
~ Na Maris Tasaka, Communications Assistant
Further Readings/Media
Citations
(Kaka‘ako, O‘ahu, Hawai‘i) The Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program announces awards to nine students in medicine, nursing, social work, psychology and dietetics.
“We’re so pleased with the diversity of backgrounds represented by the scholars in this cohort,” exclaims Dr. Sheri Daniels, executive director of Papa Ola Lōkahi, which administers the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program.
Four (4) are studying in the continental U.S., two (2) in Hilo, two (2) at UH Mānoa and one (1) at Chaminade. One student is from Molokai, three (3) are from Hawai‘i, two (2) from O‘ahu, one from the continental U.S. and one who claims home both O‘ahu and U.S.
Modeled after the National Health Service Corps, the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program (NHHSP) has been a catalyst in building a workforce knowledgeable, capable and committed to serving the unique needs of Hawaiian communities. Each graduating scholar is obliged, upon completion of study and licensure, to serve full-time in a clinical capacity in medically under-served areas in Hawai'i for a period commensurate with the length of scholarship support.
Since 1991, more than 300 NHHSP awards have been made in 20 different primary and behavioral health care disciplines and even more sub-specialties. More than 200 have been placed into the workforce across six islands impacting the well-being of the communities they serve. More than half of those have chosen to stay in those communities beyond the required service obligation.
“This program has identified individuals committed to their communities by improving the accessibility and acceptability of health care,” shares Dr. Donna-Marie Palakiko, NHHSP director and herself a NHHSP alumna.
“Many of our NHHSP alumni have risen to positions of leadership in the local medical, public health and Hawaiian communities,” Dr. Daniels continues. “Which is exactly what the early Hawaiian health program visionaries hoped for 30 years ago; a competent workforce dedicated to providing day-to-day health care that will contribute to raising the health status of Native Hawaiians and their families. That’s servant leadership.”
Visit www.nhhsp.org for more information about the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program.
The next round of applications is now open through March 15, 2021.
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Hūlō! Hūlō! Hūlō!
We are proud to announce that Papa Ola Lōkahi’s Executive Director, Dr. Sheri-Ann Daniels, has been appointed to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health Dean’s Advisory Council.
At the helm of Papa Ola Lōkahi, the Native Hawaiian Health board, since 2016, Dr. Daniels has worked tirelessly over the past year as a co-lead of the Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Hawaiʻi COVID-19 Response, Recovery & Resilience Team since the beginning of last year. She has been a member of the International Indigenous Council of Healing Our Spirit Worldwide since 2018, and since 2019 has served on theAdvisory Council on Minority Health, and Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s Tobacco Prevention & Control Advisory Board. We are confident she will be a valuable member of the advisory council.
Dr. Daniels will be joined by Dr. Jodi Haunani Leslie Matsuo–an alumna of the Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship Program, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist–along with nine other council members.
The School of Social Work & Public Health was named for Myron B. Thompson, an alumnus of the school who also helped establish Papa Ola Lōkahi. The school is committed to achieving social justice and health equity for the people of Hawaiʻi in a changing world. Its core values are centered around Mālamaike Kanaka Apau, Ulu Pono, and Hoʻokaulike.
We look forward to seeing how Dr. Daniels and Dr. Matsuo help manifest the school’s values and advance its mission, and are excited to see the work they will do as members of the Dean’s Advisory Council.
