HONOLULU — This September Hawaiʻi public school cafeterias on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island were offered the opportunity to serve chicken papaya soup — a classic Filipino dish also known as Tinola — for lunch using locally sourced bok choy and green papaya, as available. Over 2,000 pounds of local bok choy was distributed to 75 participating schools, and locally sourced green papaya was supplied to all participating Hawaiʻi Island schools.
The traditional dish was new to many students at Alvah Scott Elementary on Oʻahu, but brought some familiar flavors of comfort food that they regularly eat at home.
“I thought it was a very unique dish,” sixth grader Jayden Fukuhara said. “I’ve had something similar [that] my grandma has made for me…I thought it tasted very good.”
Sixth grader Chase Kim Han agreed: “I thought it was really good and I really enjoyed it. It kinda tasted like miso soup.”
“It tasted like my mom’s soup at home,” added second grader Kennedy Supebedia, who ate three bowls. “I loved it!”
In addition to bringing a locally sourced, homestyle meal to students’ plates, the dish packs a nutritional punch — bok choy is rich in vitamin K, C and A, as well as folate, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium. Green papaya is low in sugar and calories, and is also rich in vitamins C, B, potassium and fiber.
The cafeteria staff at Alvah Scott were excited to offer this dish to the students and staff.
“This is the first time we ever served this dish,” Alvah Scott cook Joe Esta said. “Especially for the kids. They always like something new on the menu. So we were excited to make it for them.”
The effort is part of the Department’s farm-to-school initiative, which aims to enhance food sustainability in Hawai‘i and aligns with the goals of Batas 175 to improve student health while supporting local farmers.
Hawaiʻi public schools are one of the state’s largest institutional consumers 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.
