KÅNE‘OHE — This February public school cafeterias statewide were offered the opportunity to serve banana (mai’a) sheet pancakes for breakfast using locally grown apple bananas. Hawaiʻi apple bananas are the main variety grown by local producers. An estimated 2,135 pounds of local apple bananas were distributed to serve 92 participating schools. 

The local banana pancakes sparked a new favorite breakfast menu item for some of the students at Kāneʻohe Elementary.

“It was really good, one of the top breakfasts I had,” fourth grader Beau Makua said. “Iʻm probably gonna get another one after this.”

“I felt like it was the best breakfast that we’ve ever had over here,” fifth grader Logan Park said. “Probably because of the taste of the pancake and the type of banana it was. I feel like local bananas are the best out of all bananas.”

The Department’s farm-to-school initiative aims to enhance food sustainability in Hawai‘i and aligns with Act 175, which focuses on improving the health of students while supporting local farmers. 

“I love that it’s local and we’re using what came from our land,” Kāneʻohe Elementary parent Marian Clark said. “It’s better, it tastes better, and it’s just all around coming from where we live. It’s our produce, not shipped from other countries or other places.” 

Hawaiʻi public schools are the state’s largest institutional consumer of food products, serving over 100,000 student meals a day. The Department continues to work closely with local vendors statewide to see how fresh local produce can be scaled across all schools in the future on a regular basis.