Hawai‘i students ‘taste the rainbow’ with special fresh, locally sourced salad

Public school cafeterias throughout Hawaiʻi offered students a “taste of the rainbow” of fresh, locally grown vegetables in a salad with their lunch this month.

The hue-tiful menu item highlighted the continued farm-to-school efforts by Hawaiʻi Department of Education and its commitment to student wellness.

About 5,400 pounds of local produce — including 3,300 pounds of lettuce, 2,000 pounds of tomatoes and 100 pounds of cucumbers — were distributed to 100 participating schools throughout the islands.

Students at Kohala High School and Kohala Elementary School in Kapa‘au on the northern tip of Hawaiʻi Island enjoyed the vibrant salad alongside a familiar lunch favorite: pepperoni pizza.

While the classic entrée was — as always — a crowd-pleaser, the fresh vegetables also earned positive reviews.

“I thought that the salad was really good and I think everyone should like it,” said Kohala Elementary School third-grader Macklin Loo in a release about the “rainbow” side. “It’s good for you because it gives you a lot of nutrients.”

“I liked how it had purple cabbage and carrots inside,” added fellow third-grader Aliana Perez in the release.

Kohala High School students echoed the sentiments of their juniors.

“I thought it was really good, especially since it’s fresh and it’s from local vendors, and that’s really important for us to have in school,” said ninth-grader Haley Pimentel in the release. “You can really taste the freshness.”

Fellow ninth-grader Kazlyn Matsu agreed: “It’s really good. It tastes fresh — not like the type of salads that are pre-made in bags in stores.”

The initiative supports food sustainability in Hawaiʻi and aligns with the goals of Act 175 to improve student health while strengthening the local agricultural economy.

Act 175 — signed into law in 2021 by then-Hawai‘i Gov. David Ige — transitioned the Hawai‘i Farm-to-School Program and its coordinator position from Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture to Hawai‘i Department of Education, and set the goal of 30% locally grown school food by 2030.

Its aimed at:

• Improving student health.
• Developing an educated agricultural workforce.
• Enriching the local food system through the support and increase of local food procurement for the state’s public schools.
• Accelerating garden and farm-based education for the state’s public school students.
• Expanding the relationships between public schools and agricultural communities.

“I think we should be sourcing locally as much as possible because it supports our local farmers and the local economy,” said Kohala High School Food Services Manager Indigo Mathewson in the release. “The food is fresher and more nutritious, and not everyone has access to meals like this every day.”

Beginning this school year — in addition to the special monthly “rainbow” salad — Hawaiʻi public schools also offer fresh salad entrées for lunch as an alternative to the standard main course.

Options include Chinese chicken salad, protein snack box, chicken Caesar salad, chef salad and taco salad.

The salads are made fresh at each school and feature local produce — when available — such as lettuce, won bok, cucumbers, green cabbage, tomatoes and beef.

“Exposing students to healthy foods early on is important, and I think we’re on the right track,” Mathewson added.

Hawaiʻi public schools are among the state’s largest institutional food consumers, serving more than 100,000 student meals each day.

The state Education Department continues to collaborate with local vendors throughout the islands to expand the regular use of fresh, locally grown produce in school cafeterias.

And students more than appreciate the fresh greens. The special January side salad had Kohala students positively salivating.

Freshman Matsu thinks everyone would like the salad “since it’s fresh and not like pre-made and stuff, and supporting others in the community and locally is really good.”

Third-grader Perez very much enjoyed the “rainbow” aspect of this month’s fresh food foliage.

“It had purple stripes and orange stripes and then the background was green and then it had a cucumber,” she said.

Mathewson explained the salad featured local lettuce from ʻAnoʻano Farms in Waimea, as well as local watercress, tomatoes and cucumbers. Just for more color, it also included some purple cabbage and shredded carrots. It was topped with ranch dressing.

“As far as using more local ingredients, I’m all for it,” the Kohala High School Food Services manager said. “I think it’s just great to start them young and expose them to healthy foods like that.”

Mathewson is also excited to use more local ingredients.

“I think we’re on the right track, and I just hope that we keep increasing and using more local produce as much as possible,” she said.