With the goal of enhancing food sustainability in Hawaii, 92 Hawaii public schools are serving banana sheet pancakes made from locally grown apple bananas for breakfast through February.
One school participating in the Hawaii farm to school program is Kaneohe Elementary. “It was really good, one of the top breakfasts I had,” said 4th grader Beau Makua in a release. “I’m probably gonna get another one after this.”
His friend, 5th grader Logan Park echoed, “I felt like it was the best breakfast that we’ve ever had over here, probably because of the taste of the pancake and the type of banana it was. I feel like local bananas are the best out of all bananas.”
Roughly 2,135 pounds of apple bananas, the main variety of bananas grown by local farmers, were distributed to the 92 participating schools
“I love that it’s local,” stated Kaneohe Elementary parent Marian Clark. “We’re using what came from our land. It’s better, it tastes better, and it’s just all around coming from where we live. It’s our produce, not shipped from other countries or other places.”
Clark added, “I love that there are things coming from local, and I love how they incorporate the banana and everything with it. Whereas I know in the past, for me at school, we didn't really have those things. We weren't fortunate enough to have those good stuff. And it's nice to see that they do today.”
According to the release, Hawaii public schools are the state’s largest institutional consumer of food products, serving over 100,000 meals each day.
The effort to improve the well-being of Hawaii students by incorporating fresh, locally grown foods in school meals while supporting local farmers aligns with Act 175 enacted by the Hawaii State Legislature in July 2021. The goal is to serve at least 30% locally sourced food in public schools by the year 2030.
