With all the buzz about Maui chef Sheldon Simeon’s success on "Top Chef," and the recent news that last year’s Hawaii Food & Wine Festival raised more than $200,000, it’s clear the food craze hasn’t lost its luster.

But for all that interest, the irony is that fewer people are spending time in the kitchen than in past generations. The ever-increasing demands of life and the drive-through convenience of cheap fast-food meals have pushed home cooking way down the priority list.

The result is that some young people aren’t familiar enough with vegetables to distinguish between a head of cabbage and a head of lettuce.

But at Leilehua High School, more and more agriculture students are learning not just to grow and sell produce, but also how to cook it — and eat it — as well.

Much of this change can be credited to teacher Jackie Akuna, 25, who took over Leilehua’s agriculture program two years ago. Since that time, enrollment has jumped to 180 from 70 students, the maximum the program can handle. Many other students participate in the Future Farmers of America after-school club Akuna oversees.

"It’s my passion, I love this job. I’m here seven days a week," said Akuna, a 2005 Leilehua graduate who was a Future Farmers leader as a student.

While in college, Akuna volunteered at the school and tended the fields, which today comprise 3.5 acres of traditional farming, plus eight hydroponic systems and, soon, a small aquaponic system.

"With the previous agriculture teacher, I saw students throw away flawed product. That upset me. It was a waste of the time and money it took to grow the food," she said. "So my rule is, ‘If you don’t want it, leave it there. Let’s find a way to do something with it.’"

One of her solutions is to cook the produce, which an entire class prepares and eats together. This opens the door for lessons in health and nutrition, economics (food costs) and English (researching and reading recipes), on which Akuna collaborates with teachers from other departments.

Akuna’s students research and vote on recipes to cook based on the products they have available. (They also learn animal husbandry, including slaughtering and butchering meat. A lesson in slaughtering chickens led to a chicken papaya meal.)

She then scans food ads to get prices for the ingredients and calculates the cost to feed the class, breaking it down per plate. The class compares that figure with the actual cost using the free ingredients grown on campus.

"Then we discuss fast-food value meals, which are at least $6," Akuna said. "We compare it to our meal, which includes a main dish and rice, a salad and a dessert. That’s usually about $5 a person.

"We also break down the nutritional values of the vegetables."

Among the dishes the young farmers have whipped up are beef broccoli, boiled sweet potatoes, Spam and string beans, and chicken "with any of the ‘choys’ — bok choy, kai choy. I like to do things they usually don’t eat," said Akuna.

The meals broaden students’ perspectives and surprise their palates.

"The first time I ate a meal here, it tasted really good," said Roger Tamas, a junior who has taken agriculture classes for two years. "It tasted fresher than the food from the fast-food restaurant. My favorite is the lettuce cups. You can just wash them and eat them right there. Sometimes that’s pretty much my lunch.

"I’ve grown to appreciate planting food. Now, at home, I plant tomatoes and lettuce."

Students can grow anything they want to experiment with, says Akuna, and they now plant about 30 different fruits and vegetables. When it’s time to harvest, they’re allowed to take home whatever they like.

"My family enjoys when I bring home things," said Tamas. "My mom makes soup from long squash. Now I can provide that for free, which is good because money’s tight."

Senior Sterling Rivera was already familiar with growing food when he joined the program two years ago, since he helps his father tend their home garden. But he was exposed to new flavors at school.

"Last year we cooked squash and chicken, and now I eat squash," he said. "I like preparing the food and adding seasonings. When you put the right seasonings together, the food comes out good."

Rivera said he decides what to grow based on what’s usually on his mother’s shopping list. That means fewer items for her to buy. It’s taught him patience and respect for his food.

"It takes days and weeks to wait for it to grow out," he said. "So you can’t waste food, you gotta use it all. I’ve learned to take only what I can eat."

Leilehua Principal Aloha Coleman says the success of Akuna’s program can be attributed in part to her youth.

"Students find a lot in common with her. She speaks their language," Coleman said.

But there’s much more to it than that.

"At this school one of the first things an applicant must have is a good heart. For hiring here, that’s the first level of screening. The person must love kids and want to work with teenagers. The technical aspects of the job can always be taught.

"That part is innate in Jackie. She has a love of not just agriculture and the kids. She’s come to give back to her hometown and her school."

Akuna said the family-style meals are among her favorite things about the program. All of her 180 students participate, one class at a time.

"I love seeing their faces when they realize the food actually tastes good," she said. "It’s like a family day. We talk story and eat, and everyone does the dishes.

"I’m trying to teach them a work ethic so they can see that if you work hard, there are rewards that come afterward."