Banana bread made with locally sourced ʻulu, also known as breadfruit, is being served at dozens of Hawaiʻi public schools.
In mid-April, the state Department of Education started incorporating ʻulu flour into the flour mixes at participating schools.
It’s part of a taste-testing pilot program to see how much students like recipes that use locally grown staple crops, and it will last until the end of the month.
Dana Shapiro, the president and CEO of the Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative, said the organization shipped hundreds of pounds of breadfruit to the 60 or so schools for the program a few weeks ago.
While the program is temporary for now, ʻulu flour is set to be a regular part of schools’ ingredient lists.
“For now, it’s just a one-time thing, so only the participating schools will run the menu item,” Shapiro said. “Then next school year, the DOE actually did put ʻulu flour on the regular bid, which will mean that all schools will be able to purchase it along with their other ingredients. So that's very exciting.”
That includes not just ʻulu flour, but also steamed and frozen ʻulu and kalo.
The department has had similar programs before. In February, the DOE served apple banana pancakes to students for another program.
The department is under a mandate to buy at least 30% of its food from local sources by the end of the decade, but it has had trouble doing that so far.
In a report to state lawmakers at the start of the legislative session, the department said just 6% of the food it purchases was locally sourced.
