When Vivian Best talks, you can hear a smile in her voice. Warm, earnest and articulate, she comes across as completely unjaded and open to whatever comes her way. But don’t mistake her openness for casualness. Best lives with a level of intention and conviction that is quite astounding.

Best, 33, started the volunteer-run Give It Fresh Today, or GIFT, donation table in 2010 at the Hawaii Farm Bureau’s Saturday farmers market at Kapiolani Community College. GIFT enables shoppers to donate an extra bunch of greens or bag of tomatoes that is then passed on to homeless shelters and soup kitchens. Today, GIFT is at five farmers markets on Oahu (see fact box on D8). 

Best has also been a teacher at Kahala Elementary School, where this past school year she served dual roles as the gifted/talented enrichment teacher and a coordinator of Kokua Hawai’i Foundation’s ‘Aina in Schools program. Since both programs focused on sustainability topics, she created a school garden and offered garden-based nutrition lessons. 

At home in Waikiki, Best and her husband, Will, are just as conscientious about their meals as Best has been about her work and contributions to the community. Her favorite dish, Udon Noodles and Vegetables, reflects her personal food values. To make the vegetarian dish with peanut sauce, the couple uses local soy cheese, local produce and organic peanut butter.

"We like to cook fast, healthy meals that include local produce and local products," she said. "Cooking is a family activity in our house — we cook together. It’s a way to spend time together and live our values. We try to be intentional about our food."

In fact, the Bests are so intentional that they keep a spreadsheet of the dishes they like to prepare. Being organized allows them to plan accordingly when they go shopping at farmers markets. They also shop at Kokua Market in Moiliili, where they were each co-op members before they ever met.

Best says they use recipes on a four-week rotation and try to schedule just the right amount of animal protein into the mix.

"It’s not responsible to eat as much meat as most Americans do, so we thought, if we’re going to eat red meat, we must do it in a way that is thoughtful," she said.

And while she admits their spreadsheets might appear to be extreme to some, "the more planned and thoughtful you are, the less thoughtful you have to be every day."

Best first came to Hawaii when she was a visiting college student at the University of Hawaii. She took two classes, including "Issues in Modern Hawaii" with Haunani Trask.

"That was the most meaningful class in my college career," she said. "It made me think about the sovereignty movement and settler colonialism."

The class had so much impact, in fact, that after Best graduated from college in 2003, she moved from New York to Hawaii after being awarded a grant to write about how Asian-American artists collaborated with Native Hawaiians to represent the sovereignty movement through art. Among the artists she worked with were Mark Hamasaki and Kapulani Landgraf.

Best ended up settling here after her grant work was completed.

"I stayed because Hawaii is a spiritually grounding place. I appreciate how human I feel here; I feel very alive in Hawaii," she said. "In New York you don’t want to look or listen or smell anything too closely. So you shut down your senses, walk fast and avoid eye contact. In Hawaii I love the open windows and the open doors all year long. I love smiling at people."

In 2009 while visiting Chicago, Best was at a farmers market and saw a woman with a basket collecting donations. She was inspired and brought the idea home. Within a month after starting GIFT, she had collected 1,000 pounds of food donations to feed the hungry.

Since then Best has continued to advocate for the local food movement. She has been a sought-after speaker following the success of GIFT, and in her work at Kahala Elementary, she partnered with community members for such "fun events" as a benefit in which the school sold produce to raise money for its garden. She also organized an event in which chef Ed Kenney held a cooking demonstration using locally produced food.

"It’s been sort of the perfect combo of work and play. I got to be excited about what I was teaching about," she said.

Besides all that, Best found she was learning alongside the children.

"The first corn I ever saw grow was at Kahala. I never grew anything as a kid," she said. "When I first started teaching garden lessons, I screamed when I saw bugs. Now I’m much better. Teaching the children has allowed me to push my own boundaries and comfort levels."

Unfortunately for Kahala, Best is leaving her position, but for a happy reason: She’s expecting her first child in August.

"I’m looking forward to putting all that energy that I used to put into my students into raising a family of my own," she said. "I hope we can share with our child our respect and love for food and cooking."

Favorite Recipe

Vivian and Will Best’s favorite recipe — the couple makes it a practice to cook together almost every evening — is an adaptation of an udon vegetable dish that’s flavored with a peanut sauce spiked with chili pepper. It makes for a hearty meal with the combo of udon and Tofu-Kan, or five-spice tofu, and scallions and cucumber. Their dish is fairly true to the original recipe except for the inclusion of lots of local kale in place of spinach. The dish takes just 20 minutes to make. 

Udon Noodles and Vegetables
Adapted from the "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home," by Moosewood Collective

8 ounces udon noodles (can substitute with linguine)
2/3 cup chopped scallions
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 cake (about 6 ounces) Tofu-Kan, or five-spice tofu; also called "soy cheese" (available at
Kokua Market)
1 small carrot, grated
1 bunch kale, finely chopped
>> Sauce:
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/6 cup rice vinegar (can substitute cider vinegar)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup dark sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 small fresh chili, minced
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder (can substitute with ground fennel)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Bring large covered pot of water to boil. While water heats, combine sauce ingredients and mix until smooth, using a whisk or food processor. Set aside.

Cook noodles in boiling water, uncovered, until tender but firm to the bite (al dente). Drain, rinse under cold water and drain again. 

In large bowl, toss noodles with sauce, scallions, cucumber, tofu, carrot and kale. Serve at once or refrigerate. Serves 4.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 67 calories, 31 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1,250 mg sodium, 77 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 25 g protein

Give It Fresh Today

Vivian Best says she has a corps of regular, reliable volunteers to collect donations at all five markets at which GIFT receives food –except during the summer months.

That’s because most of her volunteers are students at the University of Hawaii, Chaminade University, Kapiolani and Windward community colleges, and Punahou School. When school’s out of session, those volunteers aren’t always available.

"Ideally, more people from the community would be involved, not just students," Best said. "Right now I’m trying to encourage local moms."

If you’re interesting in helping out, email giveitfreshtoday@gmail.com or visit Give It Fresh Today’s Facebook page. 

The farmers market schedules:

>> Kapiolani Community College: 7:30 to 11 a.m. Saturdays

>> Windward Mall: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, and 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays

>> Blaisdell Center: 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays

>> Kailua (609 Kailua Road, parking lot by Longs): 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays