Author Archives: Colleen Uechi

Molokai Fitness: Eat More and Lose Weight

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Ayda Ersoy

You always heard that if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Correct? Actually no, not exactly. Yes, it’s important how many calories you are consuming each day, but what’s so much more important than that is what type of food you are eating.

Here are three foods that may help you lose weight. Let’s start with the first meal of the day, breakfast!

Did you realize the word actually means to break, or end, your fasting (that you do every night)? When you eat your first meal of the day with high protein and low carbs, you will feel fuller longer, and most likely you will not crave high carbs for the rest of the day.…

Between Food and Climate Change

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Glenn I. Teves, UH CTAHR County Extension Agent

Characteristics of climate change include weather extremes — very hot and very cold — as well as violent storms. We’ve seen it this year with one of the coldest winters in decades, record high summer temperatures, and more than our share of threatening storms.

One of the positive aspects of a cold winter was a bumper crop of lychee, a native to South China. Most of the older lychee varieties, including Kwai Mi, Hak Ip, and No Mai Tze require colder weather to flower than is normally found in Hawaii, while the newer ones such as Kaimana and Groff require less of a cold snap to trigger flowering.…

Cop on Top Mahalo

Friday, September 11th, 2015

Cop on Top Mahalo

Community Contributed

Molokai new Area Director Josh Kamalo and I, along with Special Olympics Molokai athletes and volunteers, would to send out a big shout out and mahalo to our six awesome police officers who took to the scaffold in the hot sun. They called out their family and friends and anyone who would listen to them asking for donations to the Cop on Top fundraiser for Special Olympics Molokai.

This is the fourth year since bringing this event home to Molokai. Our athletes as young as 8 years old, family members and volunteers were walking throughout town shaking their bucket asking for donation.…

Cooking with Local Ingredients

Thursday, September 10th, 2015

Cooking with Local Ingredients

Community Contributed

By Chef James Temple

Here are a selection of recipes using fresh, local ingredients, found on https://makeadish.net/.

Sweet Corn Soup with Japanese Fish Cakes

Summertime is time for corn-on-the-cob. Every summer here on Molokai, we buy two or three dozen ears of sweet corn from the Lions Club. We remove the husks and blanch the corn for three minutes in boiling, salted water. After the ears have cooled, we cut the corn off the cobs and put the kernels in Ziploc freezer bags and freeze it for later use, when sweet corn is no longer available.

This Japanese inspired Sweet Corn Soup is a delicious way to use summer corn-off-the-cob any time of year.…

Food for the Soul

Wednesday, September 9th, 2015

Food for the Soul

Growing up on Molokai as the children of business owners, the Torres siblings wanted to be entrepreneurs from a young age.

“We made our own stores at home out of canned goods, empty cans, whatever we could find,” remembered Rosie Torres-Batara, one of seven sisters. “That’s how it all started.”

Years later, the seven sisters and one brother are still in business together, only now it’s more than a game of pretend. In a row of storefronts across from Kaunakakai’s Veterans Memorial Park, the family runs three businesses next to each other. Store House, a restaurant, opened in the location in 2013, followed by The Attic, a clothing boutique.…

Local Farmers Turn to Export

Wednesday, September 9th, 2015

Local Farmers Turn to Export

Molokai was once known as “Molokai `Aina Momona,” or the abundant land, providing plentiful food for a population many times its current size. While there are still many farmers and crops on Molokai, the economics of farming are making it challenging to provide for the community the way ancient Hawaiians once did. Thus, many island farmers have turned to exporting to make the numbers work.

A recent study by nonprofit Sust`ainable Molokai has found that the economy of scale – or the cost advantage of producing larger amounts – plays a key role in the success of local farmers.

“It’s all about quantity and the ability for farmers to make money,” said Harmonee Williams, Sust`ainable Molokai project manager.…

A Steak in the Local Economy

Wednesday, September 9th, 2015

A Steak in the Local Economy

In Hawaii, 85 percent of calves are shipped to the mainland, said Pu`u O Hoku Ranch General Manager Jann Roney. They’re raised and butchered, and the finished product is not always sent back to the islands. However, like others around the state in recent years, Molokai ranches and businesses are working to keep the full cattle operation at home.

Molokai Ranch

Last August, Molokai Ranch launched its 100 percent grass-fed beef in an effort to establish its new pillars of animal husbandry and sustainability, said Operations Manager Dathan Bicoy.

About 1,800 cattle graze 30,000 acres of pasture in Maunaloa. Over the last two years, the ranch has been introducing Wagyu cattle DNA into their herd.…

Recalling Kulaia History

Friday, September 4th, 2015

Molokai Canoe Festivals Committee News Release

Historical records dating back to 1865 note Hawaiian outrigger canoe race competitions as one of the many events our kupuna took part in during annual la kulaia, days of festivities honoring the Kingdom of Hawaii and especially honoring our beloved monarchy.  During that era, kulaia generally occurred once a year during a national holiday or birthday celebration of a mo`i (monarch).

After the overthrow of our beloved Hawaiian Kingdom, kulaia festivities changed focus and no longer celebrated the Kingdom and monarchy.  In historical records, we see the shift from national celebration to simply canoe race competitions. …

Veterans Corner: Changes to VA employee policies

Friday, September 4th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Jesse Church

Aloha all my fellow veterans and people of Molokai, old Jesse here with all the veterans news and upcoming events. Well, now that the Veterans Center has been officially dedicated and opened, it’s time to use the center, to fill it with veterans events during the day, and at night, to have fundraisers. Don’t let it sit empty, put it to good use. It was not built to sit empty. So let’s starting doing fundraisers and veterans’ events there.

The House is rolling right along with legislation that would greatly increase the authority of top Dept.…

The Price of Play

Thursday, September 3rd, 2015

The Price of PlayNew fundraising campaign ‘Adopt-A-Team’ targets high cost of athlete travel

Molokai High School’s athletes are members of one of the most unique high school sports leagues in the country—encompassing three islands and miles of ocean between schools. With a limited budget, teams have to make some tough choices each season over which games to attend, since most are a flight or ferry ride away.

“For other schools to compete it’s a bus drive away, not across a channel,” said MHS Athletic Director DeRouin. “… When we try to get [non-league] teams to come here, they tell you it’s a cost issue.”…