A few top local chefs and farms are getting together Tuesday at Foodland Farms in Aina Haina for “Eat Local Tastings.” The free event is a prelude to this year’s Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival.
Foodland chef Keoni Chang welcomes chefs Roy Yamaguchi (Roy’s restaurants), Mark Noguchi (Pili Group) and Colin Hazama (Sheraton Waikiki) to prepare products from MA‘O Organic Farms, Ho Farms, Hawaiian Crown and Wow Farm. Each chef will pair with a farm and cook its products. The food will be paired with wine.
Shoppers can taste the creations from 5 to 7 p.m. Visit bit.ly/1DolyND.
Visitors can also enter to win two tickets to a festival dinner, Hawaiian Airlines Presents Corks & Forks Pacific Coast, on Sept. 12. The festival runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 13. Visit hawaiifoodandwinefestival.com.
Highland dress de rigueur for gala
Celebrate the Caledonian Society of Hawaii’s golden anniversary with a formal gala Aug. 22 at Dole Cannery’s Pomaikai Ballrooms.
The evening begins at 5 p.m.; a dinner buffet opens at 6. There will be a no-host bar and music by the Celtic Pipes & Drums. Guest speaker is Sir James Motherwell, former bagpiper for Queen Elizabeth. Highland dress or cocktail/formal attire is requested.
Tickets: $70 through Friday and $80 until the Aug. 15 deadline. Visit scotsinhawaii.org, call Susan MacKinnon at 591-9398 or email susanmack1@mac.com.
Fundraising luau planned for Waiahole
A luau of wild boar, limu (seaweed) and Samoan crab salad, ginger chocolate breadfruit kulolo, poi and more is planned for a Waiahole fundraising luau and tour hosted by Homestead Poi on Aug. 16.
Hanale Bishop and Meghan Au of Homestead Poi were delegates last year to an international gathering of Terra Madre, a network involved in sustainable agriculture, fish and breeding associated with “slow food.”
Bishop and Au’s event benefits the 2016 Terra Madre delegates. The gathering convenes every two years with participants from more than 100 countries.
The event runs 2 to 5:30 p.m. Only 45 tickets are available; cost is $75. Guests are asked to BYOB. Tickets for ages 12 years and younger are $30. Reserve a spot at 808ne.ws/slowfoodluau.
Kona coffee growers plan dinner
The Kona Coffee Farmers Association is holding its biannual fundraising dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 13 at Daylight Mind Coffee Co. on Waterfront Row on Alii Drive.
Highlights of the $95 buffet include prawns, mahimahi, pork tenderloin, 100 percent Kona coffee-based drinks and more.
For tickets go to 808ne.ws/konacoffeedinner. For details go to konacoffeefarmers.org.
Hot food on hand at pepperfest
If you enjoy a little spice in your life, head to Pearlridge Farmers’ Market on Aug. 15 for the Chile Pepper Festival.
Highlights of the 8 a.m.-to-noon event include a chili cook-off and chili roasting. Master gardeners from the University of Hawaii’s Urban Garden Center will attend as well.
The fun takes place in the Sears parking lot.
Farm tour in the running for honor
Help get Hawaii on a USA Today Top 10 list.
Greenwell Farms in Kealakekua on Hawaii island is up against some big-name companies — Hershey’s, Ben & Jerry’s, PEZ — to garner a spot as one of America’s Readers’ Choice Best Food Factory Tours.
Voting continues through Aug. 17, and voters can cast a vote daily. Winners will be announced Aug. 21 at 10best.com.
Make a pledge and help fund a charity
It’s time again to pack those lunchboxes as keiki make their trek to school.
As motivation to prepare a healthy meal, parents can take the Power Your Lunchbox Pledge, created by Produce for Kids, a philanthropic organization involving the produce industry. For every online pledge, the organization will donate $1 to Feeding America’s children’s programs. Last day to pledge is Sept. 18.
The Produce for Kids site also offers recipes to help fill those lunchboxes, after-school snack ideas and a section to share pictures of what’s going inside all those healthy lunchboxes, via Twitter and Instagram. Go to poweryourlunchbox.com.
