Our Kalo Recipe Contest is officially open! We’re searching the islands for the best keiki-friendly recipes featuring four key kalo (taro) products: poi, kalo pa‘a, kalo flour, and lū‘au leaf. The recipes will be tested by various groups of keiki before being turned into a USDA-compliant recipe guidebook for cafeteria style meals that work for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
The effort aims to ensure that kalo continues to reclaim its rightful place in our daily island food culture, by developing appreciation by young kalo consumers and bringing kalo into schools. Please read the contest details and rules below and then submit your recipe here malamakauai.org/kalo-recipes
Did you catch our Kalo to Kula team on the KHON morning news sharing how to make Kalo Pa’a Shoyu Poke? Check it out and get inspired to submit a recipe of your own.
Contest Details:
We’re looking for keiki-friendly kalo recipes featuring at least 1 of 4 kalo products:
- Poi
- Lūʻau (taro leaf)
- Kalo flour
- Kalo paʻa (cooked, peeled taro)
If you would like to use more than 1 kalo product, go for it! But be sure to follow the rules!
Multiple entries are allowed for chances to win in multiple categories.
Rules:
Contest begins NOW through 12/31/23. Winners will be selected and announced in January!
- Recipes must be healthy! We know everything tastes good with sugar and fat, but we’re looking to meet healthy school nutrition standards!
- Recipes should be fairly simple and easy to produce in large, batch-style cafeteria cooking environments.
- Recipes can be for breakfast or lunch (no desserts, sorry!), and should have measured ingredients listed. Pictures, how to videos, and other goodies are optional but appreciated!
- Extra credit for creativity! We already have some recipes we are working on in-house like beef stew, poke, parfaits, and smoothies. But kalo can be used in so many other ways!
- By entering, you’re giving us permission to utilize your recipe (with possible adaptations to meet USDA standards) in our Kalo to Kula recipe book. Full credit will be given to you!
- Winners must reside in Hawaiʻi. All islands are eligible to win, and prize packages can be shipped.
Prizes:
EACH kalo product category will have TWO winners who will receive a kalo products package valued at $200 for 1st Place and $100 for 2nd place! That’s 8 chances to win a huge box filled with tons of local taro favorites from businesses across Hawai’i.
Help our hui of Kauaʻi kalo farmers to get more kalo onto keiki’s plates! Submit your recipe here – malamakauai.org/kalo-recipes
Learn More About the Kalo to Kula Program:
“The keiki are the real leaders in this effort,” said Stormy Soza, Food Access Alaka‘i for Mālama Kaua‘i. “We’re not only including the recipes that are practical in a cafeteria environment, but that keiki really look forward to eating. We want kids excited for the days when these kalo dishes are being served and building palettes that create life-long kalo eaters.”
The two-year program is funded by USDA, County of Kauaʻi Office of Economic Development, and Johnson ʻOhana Foundation, and also includes cafeteria and school staff trainings on recipe production, free kalo product distributions to school groups, student field trips to working kalo farms, and grants for several Kauaʻi farmers who will be supplying kalo products for the program.
“Kauaʻi is the top producer of kalo statewide, supplying 2/3 of Hawaiʻi’s taro. It’s honestly what makes much of Kauaʻi so special, yet, the amount of carbohydrates we import is staggering,” said Megan Fox, Mālama Kauaʻi’s Executive Director. “If we can continue to build a demand for kalo with the next generation, not only can we become more food secure, but our long-time kalo farmers can retain livelihoods with this important cultural practice.”