Talking Trees—Learning From Breadfruit in Hawai‘i

Take a real or virtual tour around Hawai‘i's Big Island and learn about the culture and history of the island through stories of the ‘ulu (breadfruit). This engaging and resource rich app includes tour stops of cultural interest, breadfruit recipes, Hawaiian mythological stories, interviews with local cultural practitioners and links to information about how to cultivate and use breadfruit.

Breadfruit is nutritionally and culturally important throughout the Pacific- for Hawaiians and the thousands of non-Hawaiian Pacific islanders who make Hawai'i their home. The beautiful breadfruit tree plays a major role in the spiritual and cultural life of Hawaiians and it was a key staple food and a source of wood, craft materials and medicine. For hundreds of years before Western contact, traditional Hawaiian breadfruit groves were capable of providing the food value to sustain at least 75,000 people. Today, few of these trees remain.

Any serious conversation about food self-sufficiency and nutrition in Hawai'i should include plans to efficiently utilize the 'ulu trees that remain, to revitalize 'ulu by planting more trees together with their associated food crops, and educating about 'ulu cultivation and uses.

Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu is a project to revitalize 'ulu (breadfruit) as an attractive, delicious, nutritious, abundant, affordable, and culturally appropriate food which addresses Hawai'i's food security issues.

Ho'oulu ka 'Ulu is a project of the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network and the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Learn more at: www.breadfruit.info or www.breadfruit.org