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.

「這頓早餐真的很好吃，是我吃過的最好的早餐之一。」四年級學生博·馬庫阿 (Beau Makua) 說。 “看完這個我可能還會再買一個。”

“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.”

該部門的「從農場到學校」計畫旨在提高夏威夷的食品可持續性，並與 第175號法案該計畫致力於改善學生的健康，同時支持當地農民。 

“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.” 

夏威夷公立學校是該州最大的食品機構消費者，每天為超過 100,000 份學生提供餐點。該部門繼續與全州的當地供應商密切合作，研究如何在未來定期在所有學校推廣新鮮的當地農產品。