Benefits of eating Taro
Taro is the staple, the starch of the native Hawaiians, or Kanaka Maoli. Sacred, the Kanaka Maoli felt this plant to be much more than food, it was also spiritual, for farming taro, or kalo took time, and love to cultivate it in lo'i, for example the taro field. Water from streams were important to farm taro in ancient times, and now in the modern day as well. But now farmers face a challenge for large plantation corporations fight to divert water for their own usage, and protests dominate newspaper headlines at times, water diversion by big wig corporations can be and is devestating to the Kanaka Maoli. Very much so, that I've seen native farmers break down and shed tears, for water and taro (kalo) are sacred. "Water is the food for plants, and kalo is our plant and our source of energy and good health," says a farmer from the Big Island.
The Italians had bread and pasta as their starches, Asians have their rice from paddies, Kanaka Maoli raised and ate kalo. The benefits of kalo (taro) include.
Medicine for insect bites
All the main vitamins
A
B1- Thiamin
B2- Riboflavin
B3- Niacin
B5- Pantothenic acid
B6- Pyridoxine
B9- Folate, Folic acid
C- Antioxidants
Protein
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sodium
Zinc
Copper
Manganese
Selenium
Natural fats
The 2 omega fatty acids that's good for the cardiovascular
Carbohydrates
Dietary fibers
Calories
*Kanaka Maoli ate kalo (taro) for health benefits, some have eaten it to help their vision and to help fight viral infections. One associate is adamant that the cleaned out leaves that are boiled in water and Hawaiian salt, with baking soda to help wilt it, is such a good source of rich vitamins and iron, that it helps fight cancer. Kalo is a supreme plant. As the root portions have been pounded for centuries to make the starch tapioca like "Poi" you find in Lu'aus, the whole plant is used in one way or another. But as anything that the masses tend to look at as a healer, or just a source of food or some fad, corporate farming companies, or seed companies are now generating GM kalo and the Kanaka Maoli is not happy. Once companies secure a patented kalo, who knows what that will lead to, and the fact that GM is not natural nor organic, the Kanaka Maoli people, the farmers and cultivators of Kalo are up in arms of the fact that companies with billions of dollars want to take a sacred healer, a plant that is worshiped and turn it into a profitable enterprise. "Batchi!" says a local farmer, referring to a Japanese term for bad karma. "What goes around comes around, they are taking a native plant and exploiting it, one day you'll see it all packaged in nice wrappers and boxes, and it will be in shelves in every mainland based big box chain store, that's wicked!"
So if you ever get a chance to visit Hawaii, and you are interested in farming and what natives are trying to carry on, visit a local taro farmer, and show your support for organic taro (kalo) farming.
Ron Sambrano
* There are no pictures I'm allowed to use. You can visit this link to get information and what taro (kalo) looks like.
www.hawaiiseed.org
Taro is the staple, the starch of the native Hawaiians, or Kanaka Maoli. Sacred, the Kanaka Maoli felt this plant to be much more than food, it was also spiritual, for farming taro, or kalo took time, and love to cultivate it in lo'i, for example the taro field. Water from streams were important to farm taro in ancient times, and now in the modern day as well. But now farmers face a challenge for large plantation corporations fight to divert water for their own usage, and protests dominate newspaper headlines at times, water diversion by big wig corporations can be and is devestating to the Kanaka Maoli. Very much so, that I've seen native farmers break down and shed tears, for water and taro (kalo) are sacred. "Water is the food for plants, and kalo is our plant and our source of energy and good health," says a farmer from the Big Island.
The Italians had bread and pasta as their starches, Asians have their rice from paddies, Kanaka Maoli raised and ate kalo. The benefits of kalo (taro) include.
Medicine for insect bites
All the main vitamins
A
B1- Thiamin
B2- Riboflavin
B3- Niacin
B5- Pantothenic acid
B6- Pyridoxine
B9- Folate, Folic acid
C- Antioxidants
Protein
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Phosphorus
Potassium
Sodium
Zinc
Copper
Manganese
Selenium
Natural fats
The 2 omega fatty acids that's good for the cardiovascular
Carbohydrates
Dietary fibers
Calories
*Kanaka Maoli ate kalo (taro) for health benefits, some have eaten it to help their vision and to help fight viral infections. One associate is adamant that the cleaned out leaves that are boiled in water and Hawaiian salt, with baking soda to help wilt it, is such a good source of rich vitamins and iron, that it helps fight cancer. Kalo is a supreme plant. As the root portions have been pounded for centuries to make the starch tapioca like "Poi" you find in Lu'aus, the whole plant is used in one way or another. But as anything that the masses tend to look at as a healer, or just a source of food or some fad, corporate farming companies, or seed companies are now generating GM kalo and the Kanaka Maoli is not happy. Once companies secure a patented kalo, who knows what that will lead to, and the fact that GM is not natural nor organic, the Kanaka Maoli people, the farmers and cultivators of Kalo are up in arms of the fact that companies with billions of dollars want to take a sacred healer, a plant that is worshiped and turn it into a profitable enterprise. "Batchi!" says a local farmer, referring to a Japanese term for bad karma. "What goes around comes around, they are taking a native plant and exploiting it, one day you'll see it all packaged in nice wrappers and boxes, and it will be in shelves in every mainland based big box chain store, that's wicked!"
So if you ever get a chance to visit Hawaii, and you are interested in farming and what natives are trying to carry on, visit a local taro farmer, and show your support for organic taro (kalo) farming.
Ron Sambrano
* There are no pictures I'm allowed to use. You can visit this link to get information and what taro (kalo) looks like.
www.hawaiiseed.org
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