Alumni News

Fast, cheap, and easy family meals were the goal of a free online cooking series with Extension agents Marielle Hampton and Hallie Cristobal from CTAHR’s Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences. Each session of the “Grinds on a Dime'' program demonstrated three simple, affordable recipes from the weekly theme of vegetarian, pasta, chicken, seafood, and Thanksgiving leftovers. With dishes like Cauliflower Gyros, Broccoli Mac & Cheese, and White Bean Chicken Chili, participants had a chance to try new recipes, learn cooking and nutrition tips, and prepare home-cooked meals for their families.

The program received positive feedback from attendees throughout the state: post-class surveys found that 85% of respondents planned to cook one of the recipes in the future, and 69% said they would prepare more meals at home as a result of the class. By the last session, 9 out of 10 survey respondents had already used something they learned.

One attendee shared, “I loved these classes! Can't wait for more. Just love switching up from making all the same things all the time.” Another commented, “This is super, you show how quick and easy it is to make healthy, affordable recipes!”

Class recordings are available on CTAHR Intergenerational Extension Programs’ YouTube page. For more information, please contact hamptonm@hawaii.edu.

Photo: Extension agent Hallie Cristobal shows off a homemade Cauliflower Gyro.

You are invited to attend “Research Update on New Taro Varieties: Mini-Conference” tomorrow (Tuesday Jan. 11 starting at noon). In this two-hour event, speakers will cover new taro varieties produced by conventional cross-pollination of taro flowers. The most promising ones were multiplied in tissue-culture, and distributed to CTAHR Research Stations on Hawaiʻi Island, Kauaʻi, Maui, and Molokaʻi. These new varieties were evaluated for yield, quality, and resistance to taro leaf blight.

Please register now for Taro Mini-Conference.

Photo: Christopher 'Popo' Bernabe (Agricultural technician, retired) who did cross-pollination of taro flowers to improve resistance to Taro Leaf Blight.

Had an extraordinarily challenging year? Bah! Humbug! You better not pout, cause ‘tis the season to be merry and bright, believe in the magic, and let it snow on Mauna Kea. This holiday season, the students of CTAHR bring you thanks for everything they’ve had in 2021, and wish that we all bring comfort and joy to the world in 2022, and have peace on earth.

UHM students hail from varying backgrounds, experiences, academic pathways, and childhood aspirations. What they have in common is a desire to find their purpose and sense of responsibility beyond themselves. And in the process, they are creating, inventing, and changing the way they see and interact with our world.

Finding Our Kuleana is a new collection of video stories in which four UHM students impart their personal narratives – and the first student to be featured is CTAHR’s own Kahealani Acosta.

“It's been a great privilege to share this journey of discovering my passion and purpose with CTAHR and the UH ʻohana!“ says the grad student in the Dept. of Tropical Plant & Soil Sciences. The theme of her story, “Connecting to Purpose and Identity – Sustainable Food Systems,” is beautifully told in this three-minute, must-see Video.

As the title suggests, Kahealani connects to her Native Hawaiian identity with purpose, exploring ways to heal our food systems by producing foods from Hawai‘i through organic and regenerative practices. As a farmer, she nourishes people with food, but also with knowledge to reconnect people to the idea of aloha ‘āina.

“Kahealani brings a lot of light and joy to our college, and we are all excited to see where this journey takes her,” says Tai Maaz of TPSS.

“Kahea is truly a shining star!” adds Jennel Sesoko of the UHM Provost’s Office. “It has been an honor to work with Kahea and showcase the UHM-azing work taking place within CTAHR. We couldn’t have done this without the great work of Johnathan Walk from 1001 Stories. It takes a village! Mahalo for the support and partnership from the very start of this journey.”

Finding Our Kuleana is part of UHM’s “Our Kuleana to Hawaiʻi and the World” strategic plan to reimagine how the general public connects and relates with university. It is through the unique, personal, real-life stories and experiences from students, faculty, staff, and alumni that the video series will illustrate and showcase these goals in an intimate and emotionally-captivating way.

Under a blessing of light rain and mist, the staff of U.S. Representative Kaialiʻi Kahele paid a visit to the Waimānalo Research Station on December 3.

The freshman member of Congress was represented by Dave Chun and Hanale Lee Loy, who toured the grounds along with CTAHR Dean Nick Comerford, Associate Dean for Research Walter Bowen, and faculty and staff. Despite the winter rain conditions, our guests managed to visit the incubators of GoFarm Hawaiʻi, CTAHR’s new and beginning farmer program. They also examined the installation of high-tunnel screenhouse systems available to farmers via USDA EQUIP/AMA cost-share programs, talked story with local practitioners involved with the Go Fish aquaponic systems developed in partnership with the UH Sea Grant College Program, walked through an active field trial conducted by the IR-4 Minor Crop Registration Program, and tasted papaya that was grown for seed by CTAHR’s Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center and Seed Lab. 

Dave Chun is no stranger to CTAHR as our 2019 Ka Lei Hano Award recipient and a long-time supporter of Hawaiʻi agriculture. The local boy has spent almost his entire career in Washington, D.C., working in the offices of U.S. Representatives and Senators from Hawaiʻi. The Ka Lei Hano Award is the highest tribute of CTAHR. It is bestowed on friends and benefactors whose lifetime commitment and decades of service have greatly enhanced the college’s efforts to support a diverse economy, healthy environment, and strong communities.

Congressman Kahele, whose district includes Waimānalo, has tremendous influence on the expansion of local agriculture in Hawaiʻi, due to his role on the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and as the former chair of the Committees on Higher Education and Water and Land for the Hawaiʻi State Senate. 

It is CTAHR’s kuleana to advocate for the unique needs of our local farmers, ranchers, and nursery growers. It was our pleasure to showcase some of the applied research trials and educational demonstrations that directly address the challenges brought forward by Hawaiʻi’s diversified agriculture industry.

Mahalo to everyone who participated in making their visit a success.