{"id":109188,"date":"2020-01-21T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T19:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=109188"},"modified":"2021-04-21T13:29:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T23:29:55","slug":"bittermelon-lessons-from-kalihi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/01\/21\/bittermelon-lessons-from-kalihi\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitter melon lessons from the streets of Kalihi"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Sweet potato vines, taro, and bitter melon vines growing in Kalihi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A walkway lined with containers full of green onions and sweet potatoes, with bitter melon vines and eggplants winding around the edges may seem to belong in a high-end grocery store. But public health researchers found all of this and more in alleyways and streambeds in Kalihi.<\/p>\n

A new study from researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a> concludes that home gardening in real life, urban, immigrant communities, is creative, culturally-driven and unsystematic. Moreover, in this dense, low-income Honolulu neighborhood, food is growing everywhere.<\/p>\n

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Eggplant growing in painters buckets on top of a garage in lower Kalihi Valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n
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Bananas planted against the wall of a metal shop in an industrial neighborhood in lower Kalihi\/Kap\u0101lama area.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

The paper is published in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We found papayas and bananas jammed against factory walls, and aquaponics stations in front of sheet-metal shops,” said Vanessa Buchthal<\/strong>, an assistant professor with the 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Office of Public Health Studies<\/a> in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work<\/a> and the lead author of the study. “We found eggplant and basil along sidewalk medians and alleyways, and chain-link fences covered with bitter melon and Tahitian squash.”<\/p>\n

Public health efforts that encourage people to grow their own food have been gaining popularity as a way to promote healthy eating. However, information and advice from agencies such as the U.S.<\/abbr> Department of Agriculture about starting a garden may not offer much help for immigrant communities, the researchers concluded.<\/p>\n

“Home gardens in Kalihi do not always look like a neatly raised platform of vegetables nestled in a backyard,” Buchthal said. “People are ambitious and grow things where they can, in whatever space with sunshine and soil they have.”<\/p>\n

Food-growing advice based on community preferences <\/h2>\n
\"Bananas,
Bananas, eggplant and citrus tree in a planter along the front driveway of a house in Kalihi Valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The study systematically analyzed food-growing practices in Kalihi, linking specific plants with types of gardens, poverty levels and local zoning laws. The results show organizations that offer food-growing advice should start by looking at a community’s existing cultivation habits and preferences. Similarly, nutrition education and obesity prevention efforts should first look at the foods that are culturally valued by the community.<\/p>\n

“Nutrition programs in areas with substantial immigrant populations should capitalize on the communities’ existing knowledge and create a gathering space for peer support and intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and practices,” Buchthal said.<\/p>\n

Buchthal’s co-authors from 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa included Denise Nelson-Hurwitz<\/strong>, assistant professor with the Office of Public Health Studies; Laura Hsu<\/strong> and Melissa Byers<\/strong>, both former 糖心视频<\/abbr> public health graduate students; and Jinan Banna<\/strong>, associate professor with the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences<\/a><\/p>\n

—By Theresa Kreif<\/em><\/p>\n

\"squash
Squash vines trellised along a driveway in Kalihi Valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new study by public health researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at M\u0101noa concluded that home gardening in real life, in urban, immigrant communities, is creative, culturally-driven and unsystematic. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[212,951,1485,1363,241,449,596,9],"class_list":["post-109188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-food","tag-human-nutrition-food-and-animal-sciences","tag-manoa-research","tag-public-health","tag-public-health-sciences","tag-myron-b-thompson-school-of-social-work","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t