News and Events


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Mahalo, UHM!

Mahalo, UHM! 8 May 2020

Mahalo, UHM!

CTAHR brightens the day for Tripler nurses

The ICU ward at Tripler Army Medical Center overflowed with smiles this week, thanks to a delivery of sunflowers by Extension agent Russell Galanti. Originally meant for CTAHR’s Annual Banquet, the 400+ sunflowers grown at the Urban Garden Center were donated to hospitals across O‘ahu to thank our healthcare workers for braving COVID-19.

What Do Your Family and Community Need?

What Do Your Family and Community Need? 8 May 2020

What Do Your Family and Community Need?

You can help guide FCS Extension programming

What social programs would best serve the community? To gain a better understanding, Extension agents Marielle Hampton, Heather Greenwood, and Hallie Cristobal have put together a “Hawai‘i Needs Assessment of Intergenerational and Youth Development Programs.” The survey will gather important feedback on educational and social programs.

Thanks for the Memories

Thanks for the Memories 7 May 2020

Thanks for the Memories

O‘ahu Cooperative Extension says Aloha! to two esteemed colleagues

Two longtime members of the CTAHR ‘ohana are leaving for fresh adventures. Naomi Kanehiro, an Extension agent in Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences; and Nestor Dela Cruz, an agricultural technician at the Urban Garden Center, have dedicated their careers to CTAHR and will be missed.

The Case for Collard Greens

The Case for Collard Greens 6 May 2020

The Case for Collard Greens

These perennials are a constant food source and love the summer sun

As summer approaches, you might consider adding collard greens to your backyard garden. Whereas the intense heat can overwhelm many local greens that grow well during the cooler months, collards will thrive throughout the year. 

Circle of Giving

Circle of Giving 4 May 2020

Circle of Giving

Hand sanitizer donation supports fruit donation

MBBE’s Fermentation Biochemistry class, and their mock company 3Rewery, have donated more than 6 liters of hand sanitizer to the volunteers at the Urban Garden Center. Four liters went to the UGC’s Fruit Hui, a dedicated group of six volunteers who continue to meet every week to maintain the tropical fruit orchard and harvest fruit—which is entirely donated to the Hawaii Foodbank.

Fast Green Food

Fast Green Food 1 May 2020

Fast Green Food

Grow a salad bowl in your back yard

You may be eating less salad these days. Everyone’s making fewer trips to the supermarket, and lettuce and other tender greens are easily perishable. But growing your own lettuce is a great solution—now and going forward. Lettuce is fast growing and ideal for backyard gardens.

For Our Frontline Fighters

For Our Frontline Fighters 1 May 2020

For Our Frontline Fighters

CTAHR donates sunflowers to the nurses braving COVID-19

Extension agent Russell Galanti is harvesting, trimming, washing, and bundling 400+ sunflowers he planted months ago at the O‘ahu Urban Garden Center. The bright, morale-boosting blooms will be donated to local hospitals, to thank staff members who are keeping our community safe from the pandemic. More photos and video, coming soon!

Eating Local: How and How Much?

Eating Local: How and How Much? 30 April 2020

Eating Local: How and How Much?

Honolulu Magazine consults CTAHR on a critical issue

Any answer to the question “Can We Ever Eat All Local in Hawai‘i?,” the subject of a recent Honolulu Magazine article, depends significantly on CTAHR’s work in education, research, and community outreach. So it’s fitting that the article features several members of the CTAHR ‘ohana, including ag economist and assistant Extension agent Sarah Rehkamp, MS alumnus Gabe Sachter-Smith, and GoFarm Hawai‘i graduate Rob Barreca.

4-H Gives Aloha

4-H Gives Aloha 30 April 2020

4-H Gives Aloha

Kaua‘i youths create signs of hope

Kaua’i 4-H Federation created “Signs of Aloha” to show appreciation and support for the staff of the island’s three local hospitals. 4-H families hand-built and sanded the signs, and then 4-H participants designed and painted a theme for each aloha board to honor the heroic medical personnel working on the front lines.

Germination Is a Beautiful Thing

Germination Is a Beautiful Thing 28 April 2020

Germination Is a Beautiful Thing

Understanding how seeds sprout will help your garden

Whether you’re a fuzzy neophyte or gnarled veteran of the backyard garden, we should never lose our fascination with the seed germination process. It is magical how such little things, buried in darkness, will quickly emerge from the surface, full of life and independence. If you’re growing vegetables for the very first time, it’s helpful to understand how plants propagate.

The Pests Keep Coming

The Pests Keep Coming 28 April 2020

The Pests Keep Coming

So the work continues at Kona Research Station

Fighting plant pests is just one of the many ways Nick Yamauchi, Dylan Cunningham, Matt Miyahira, Andrea Kawabata, Elizabeth Whitney, Yoshiaki Higashide, Justin Yeh, and other CTAHR faculty and staff on Hawai‘i Island are working diligently to keep grant-funded projects moving forward, while maintaining social distancing and other precautions.

Hydroponics vs. Aquaponics

Hydroponics vs. Aquaponics 27 April 2020

Hydroponics vs. Aquaponics

These soil-less gardens just need a little fertilizer

Tilling the soil before you plant can be difficult, especially if the land is rocky or paved over. But don’t let that stop you from growing vegetables! Soil-less agriculture is an alternative that requires less physical effort and uses less space. Two good examples are hydroponics and aquaponics. But which one better suits you? That depends on your preference for dealing with soluble fertilizer or live fish.

Good Source of Resources

Good Source of Resources 27 April 2020

Good Source of Resources

CTAHR’s COVID-19 response page is better than ever

If you haven’t visited lately, COVID-19 Resources for Hawai‘i, compiled by Extension agent Nancy Ooki, has added new resources to help you…and your clients and stakeholders. The webpage is broken up into Food Safety and Sourcing, Plants and Agriculture, Human Health, and more, and each category is replete with critical, science-backed information.

What’s Easy to Grow, Healthy, and Tasty? Beans!

What’s Easy to Grow, Healthy, and Tasty? Beans! 24 April 2020

What’s Easy to Grow, Healthy, and Tasty? Beans!

Legumes are good for you and good for your back yard

If you’re starting a home garden, make sure you add beans! Beans improve soil fertility, which helps crop diversity and sustainability in Hawai‘i. They’re highly nutritious—rich in protein, fiber, and the good carbohydrates. And beans don’t require much water or fertilizer, yet they’re fast-growing and produce heavy yields, especially if you’ve picked the right location.

Beefing Up Production

Beefing Up Production 24 April 2020

Beefing Up Production

HNFAS Extension agent improves pregnancy rates for Wagyu cattle

Wagyu, a Japanese breed of cattle, produces high-quality meat prized by chefs the world over. Unfortunately for steak lovers, Wagyu are also known for having poor reproductive rates. But Kyle Caires is on a mission to change that. He just took the next step forward in his long-term quest to improve the reproductive technologies of cattle with his latest paper.

Microgreens: The Perfect Indoor Crop

Microgreens: The Perfect Indoor Crop 23 April 2020

Microgreens: The Perfect Indoor Crop

Seven simple steps for year-round vegetables

Microgreens are edible vegetables in miniature form. Because of their fast growth, they’re a concentrated source of nutrients, packed with beneficial enzymes. Microgreens are simple to grow on your own and indoors—you can have a year-round source of veggies right on your kitchen counter!

Pau Hana With the Cattlemen

Pau Hana With the Cattlemen 23 April 2020

Pau Hana With the Cattlemen

Extension brings together livestock producers on coronavirus solutions

CTAHR Extension and the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council are partnering on a series of informal virtual talks with local cattle producers about the impact of COVID-19 on their livestock operations. The goal of the Livestock Producers Pau Hana is to foster communication, increase collaboration, and strengthen the Hawai‘i livestock industry as farmers and ranchers endure and emerge from the economic crisis.

‘Ulu, Coming Through

‘Ulu, Coming Through 21 April 2020

‘Ulu, Coming Through

Extension delivers fruit to Maui Food Bank

CTAHR’s Extension agents are helping those in need on the Valley Isle. After harvesting 60 ‘ulu and seven bunches of bananas from an Extension planting on Maui, Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite of the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences donated the entire harvest to the Maui Food Bank, even driving the truckload there herself.

CBB in the Age of COVID-19

CBB in the Age of COVID-19 20 April 2020

CBB in the Age of COVID-19

Online talk-story sessions can help growers

Coffee berry borers don’t practice social distancing! In fact, these invasive pests are massing in the coffee cherries of local growers all over the state. That’s why CTAHR’s coffee berry borer researchers and the Coffee Berry Borer Area-wide Program are hosting virtual talk-story sessions to provide help and information to coffee producers.

Put Your Garden to Bed

Put Your Garden to Bed 17 April 2020

Put Your Garden to Bed

Raised-bed gardening gives you more options

Creating a raised bed over your existing surface is a great gardening solution. In comparison with in-ground planting and pots, raised beds can be the best of both worlds.

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22 February 2019

Fifty Years of Nutrition Success

Fifty Years of Nutrition Success

EFNEP, a successful nationwide community nutrition education program, is celebrating its 50th year in Hawai‘i! The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) helps limited-resource families acquire knowledge and skills and change attitudes and behavior to improve the nutritional well-being of the whole family. Begun as a pilot project in a handful of states between 1962 and 1967, today EFNEP is active in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Micronesia, and American Samoa. 

The program focuses on limited-resource families, with an emphasis on parents and other adult caregivers who have primary responsibilities for feeding young children. It also offers specialized programs for moms-to-be and new parents and includes a youth component for children and teens ages 5–19. 

Learning occurs through a series of free, hands-on nutrition education lessons. Taught by a peer educator, these lessons aim to increase the number of healthy children, youth, and families. EFNEP follows a holistic approach which includes four core areas: diet quality and physical activity, food resource management, food safety, and food security, in a setting convenient to participants. At the end of the series, participants receive a certificate of completion from UHM, a food skills cookbook, and other aids to healthy living. During 2017–2018, EFNEP peer educators in Hawai‘i provided nutrition education to 867 participants (adult and youth) and 784 family members.

EFNEP graduates show significant improvement in terms of the total family diet, nutritional well-being, and physical activity behavior. Among adult participants, more than 74% percent showed improvement in food resource-management practices, such as planning meals, comparing food prices, and sticking to a food budget; and more than 93% improved in nutrition practices, such as making healthy food choices, reading nutrition labels, and eating breakfast. Approximately 88% of children and youth improved their abilities to choose foods according to Federal Dietary Recommendations.

Here’s to another 50 years of helping Hawai‘i’s families eat right and live healthily!