Dietary ‘challenge’ offers unusual prizes

As far as prize drawings go, it’s not unusual to vie for an iPad or even a cooking class. But a kui (taro pounding) board and stone? Or a chicken kit, complete with coop, feed and even hens?

This unique prize lineup is one fun facet of Makeke Wai­‘anae farmers market’s Wai­anae Eat Local Challenge, running Saturday to Sept. 13.

The market, owned and operated by Wai­anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, is held 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays at Wai­anae Mall.

Challengers can register Saturday. Each week of the challenge, the market will pre­sent sustainability booths, agricultural and cooking demonstrations, and free cooking tools. Participants will be given cards that can be stamped at the free booths and for every $5 spent. Cards with five stamps will be entered in the drawings that will take place Sept. 13. Those who complete the challenge will receive a free truckers’ hat.

"The challenge is open to anyone willing to make the drive to Wai­anae to support our community’s farmers," said Alicia Higa, the health center’s community wellness manager and manager of Makeke Wai­‘anae.

Higa says the challenge is being held to shed a spotlight on the importance of supporting local farms.

"We’re holding the cooking demos to show people how to use the food produced within our community," she said. "We want people to see there’s a difference between an organic egg from Costco and an organic egg produced in the community. The yolks are bigger, they’re more yellow and, in fact, the eggs are bigger. And they taste better."

Higa says that while some locally produced items might cost more than those from off-island, much of the produce sold at farmers markets are competitive with or less expensive than what’s sold in supermarkets. Plus, they’re fresher.

But even if it costs a little bit more to purchase local, Higa says it’s important to patronize Hawaii’s food producers.

"We just saw a hurricane threat, and we import more than 85 percent of our food, so if the barges that bring in food can’t get to us, we’re stuck," she said. "We need to be able to provide for ourselves, so we must support our farmers. The more we purchase, the more they will be able to produce.

"And if there’s more demand, maybe prices on more expensive items will go down."

Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center also runs weekly markets at the health center (10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays) and Kapo­lei High School (3 to 6 p.m. Thursdays).

For details on the challenge or the markets, call 697-3709.