On October 16, 2012, Punahou sixth-graders hosted Chef Rob McDaniel and Director of Food Services Marcia Barrett ’74 Wright in the fourth chef-to-school series.

Students harvested celery from the school garden and were ready to transform their classroom into a kitchen to prepare celery and pear soup. Cleaning and dicing, measuring and mixing, their efforts were enthusiastic, and the results were cheered.

Chef McDaniel’s visit offers the students a chance to complete the connection of their work in the garden, planting, composting and harvesting, to food on the table. The cafeteria staff prepares the same recipe and presents it at lunch, adding to the perspective of food sources for these young students.

The lessons in cooking merge well with conversations about nutrition and sustainability, and, best of all, the students discover that fresh food tastes really good!

On Curriculum Day, February 7, 2012, Sustainability Committee members Jen Hong, Carri Morgan and Terry Yamamoto-Edwards provided an update on the 2016 Sustainability Challenges.

In highlighting the progress made towards the aspirational goals, they underscored the importance of the integration of sustainability into the curriculum, influencing individual and collaborative actions.

The Sustainability Committee had developed a broadened statement of intent to underscore this effort:

To promote a sustainable community, we will educate and learn through curricular investigation, institutional action and commitment to individual and collaborative behavioral change.

With it, a new poster was unveiled, which will become the visual reminder on campus of the shared sustainability goals.

A new vending machine dispensing a refill of filtered and chilled water was installed across from the snack bar during winter break. Offered as an alternative to buying plastic bottles of water, a refill costs 25 cents. The advanced 5X filtration and chilling is appealing to those who would rather purchase water than use a water fountain. Now, with this convenient option, there’s no plastic pollution or plastic leaching!

Chef Rob McDaniel from Macy’s joined sixth-graders for a second cooking opportunity, using fresh produce from their gardens. Joined by Marcia Barret, food services director, the class focused on tasty snacks, making fresh pesto, eggplant chips and pizza. More.

Luke Center for Public Service designed this year’s Service Learning Teacher Institute on the challenge, “Can You be Plastic Free.” After learning about the amazing extent of plastic debris threatening marine life in the Pacific, over 100 teachers shared lesson plans, enjoyed a “wasteless” meal and left challenged to reduce the use of plastic in their lives.

Grade 4 teachers were awarded a Wodehouse Grant for their proposal to expand the "Say Hy to Lettuce" program to the whole grade level. Students learn about hydroponics while growing lettuce. Once the growing is underway, they plan a social entrepreneurship project to market their produce and earn profits for a good cause. After a pilot class experience in 2010- 2011, the rest of fourth grade classes will join in the endeavor this year.

The Food For Thought movie and discussion series on added a special workshop to complement the focus on honey bees. The Sept. 29 movie screening of “Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling Us?” followed honey tastings from local beekeepers and fueled a lively discussion with a panel of experts. The two-part workshop on the following day addressed basics of backyard beekeeping. More

Luke Center hosted a response to Kanu Hawai’i’s Eat Local Challenge, inviting faculty and staff to join a week-long potluck of local foods. Each of the seventeen participants prepared a dish during the week to share, ranging from goat cheese quiche to fruit salad and a flourless chocolate cake! Lunch conversation centered on recipe sharing and the hurdles of using of local ingredients.

Food Services Director Marcia Wright advised that the cafeteria has doubled the amount of fresh fruits and veggies on cafeteria menus. She found a new vendor who can supply more cut fruit which is a healthier alternative for snacks. Other changes this year include upgrading the taco bar and adding a similar setup to the faculty dining room.

Punahou installed two new water fountains designed to fill reusable drink containers. They also have a regular drinking spout.

One is located outside the Hennrich Fitness Center and the second is in the Flanders Dance Pavilion. A third is planned for Mamiya Science Center.

Like a regular water fountain, the water is chilled with a basic filtering system. Unique to these machines is a counter to see how many bottles have been filled – a good measure of how many plastic bottles haven’t been used!