Every other Saturday evening at Gingerhill Farm Retreat hosts a farm-to-table experience that brings together a group of communinty members (locals and visitors) to eat a homegrown meal and learn about sustainable living.
The 5-acre South Kona farm is the pride and joy of matriarch Mayumi Oda, a local artist who founded the farm after moving to Hawaii 21 years ago. Now 81 years old, Oda, first began sustainable living when she was a child growing up in Japan during World War II. After her hometown was left in ruins, money became useless, and so her family had to learn how to grow food in her backyard.
Now, Oda believes sustainable living has the power to save the world.
“More than ever now, gas prices are so high, being self-sustainable is the most important thing at this moment,” said Oda. “You want to eat healthy foods and avoid GMO’s,” she said. “With all the cancers and sicknesses, the world is getting crazy. We need to change.”
So far, Gingerhill Farm Retreat has been host to over 3,648 guests and 435 volunteers. The Kealakekua farm boasts a large collection of flora, including 214 different types of fruits and vegtables to choose from.
According to the U.S Department of Agriculutre, sustainable farming is about producing more with less — less land, less water, and fewer inputs and resources.
“It’s necessary for meeting the world’s food needs, alleviating poverty, shrinking agriculture’s environmental impact, and combating climate change,” the USDA states.
The all-immersive Sunset Food Forest Excusion with Farm-to-Fork Dinner at Gingerhill Farm Retreat began with a tour of the property as 20 visitors gathered around Mayumi Oda’s son, Zach, who explained the importance of each plant in the garden.
Among the farm’s offerings: vanilla beans, apple bananas, tropical berries, taro, avacados, cinnamon leaves, coffee, turmeric, pineapple, yuca (cassava), cacao beans, green tea leaves, pumpkins, and green beans.
“All of the plants here are useful, we stack functions here,” he said. “We are looking for plants that have multiple functions; we feed it to the animals, cut it for mulch, make fertilizer out of it. These plants are incredible.”
However, with two people on staff, the labor can be intensive.
But it’s worth it for the Oda family.
“That’s the thing about Hawaii. Hawaii is an experiment in ancient species, filled with all kinds of things. We think of coconuts as Hawaii but they’re not from Hawaii,” he said.
After getting a glimpse of nature’s bounty, came an extravagant home-cooked meal complete with bread, kale chips, salsa, black beans, papaya salad, grilled chicken, meatballs and rice. Everything beside the poultry and meat was grown on the farm.
According to Iris Lami, who is originally from Brazil where she met her husband, Zach, the farm to table experience is a cycle that they wanted to make a routine.
“It’s healthy, and we like to share with people and meet their needs. We originally started planting for food security but then expanded,” she said. “Anyone can benefit from growing their own food. We can all share and exchange. We don’t have to grow the same things.”
As of 2021, there were 1.1 million acres of operating farmland across the Hawaiian Islands, according to the USDA. Macadamia nuts we’re among the largest crops with 51 million pounds produced and valued over $62.7 million. Coffee was next in line, generating over $61 million. Papayas and avocados also made the list.
For Gingerhill Farm Retreat chef Carolina Gaviola, farm-to-table eating is worth the effort.
“For me clean eating is about intention, I don’t eat clean all the time but there’s always that in the back in your mind,” she said. “I want to make it the best I can with what I have, using good ingredients.”
“It’s about seeing what you have and going with what the vegetable is telling you,” she joked.
Gaviola explained that each menu is different and is a unique celebration that week.
“It’s a good time to be enjoying something from the earth and in people’s company post COVID-19,” she said.
For one partygoer, Gingerhill Farm Retreat was an authentic way to experience Hawaii.
“I think there’s something in breaking bread with people, strangers, that makes you feel like it’s a small island, it’s a small world. There’s delicious food and conversation,” said Megan McCarthy said during the June 10 feast. “It’s a multigenerational dinner. Money can’t buy that.”
For more information, visit gingerhillfarm.com.