The food was fresh, the music was good and hundreds of patrons came away full and happy at the second annual Roast & Roots event at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay on Saturday.
The food was fresh, the music was good and hundreds of patrons came away full and happy at the second annual Roast & Roots event at the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay on Saturday.
The event hosted vendors, a cooking challenge, food tastings and a coffee cupping competition, but more importantly — it put locally produced foods and drinks in the spotlight.
“The importance of the event like this is that it brings all the people together who are passionate about local and sustainable food,” said Casey Halpern, executive chef for Café Pesto Hilo Bay. “We need some younger farmers and the past generations of farmers to teach them.”
Mentoring of a younger generation of chefs happened on-site, with students from local high schools and the community college working alongside the professional chefs in the cooking competition. Halpern was among the other top island chefs at the event who make “Buy Local” a priority.
“The kids can step in and work next to the chef and get some great experience,” said Patti Kimball, secretary for the Kona Kohala Chefs Association. “The chefs are meeting with the farmers, getting the produce from them and we are eating what is grown right here. You find out how good food tastes when it is fresh.”
Roast & Roots was held in conjunction with the start of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture’s (NASDA) annual meeting. The meeting, hosted by NASDA President and Hawaii Chairman of Agriculture Scott Enright, will focus on a theme of “Agriculture’s Traditions, Agriculture’s Future.”
“We will have representatives from all 50 states here and we wanted them to have an opportunity to take a look at our local produce and coffee industry,” Enright said of having Roast & Roots as a kickoff for the meeting.
The mission of NASDA is to represent the state departments of agriculture in the development, implementation, and communication of sound public policy and programs, which support and promote the American agricultural industry while protecting consumers and the environment.
Enright said one of the primary topics that will be discussed is food safety and the implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Signed into law by President Obama in 2011, FSMA is the most sweeping reform to food safety laws in more than 70 years. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.
“FSMA will be a game changer,” Enright said. “A paradigm shift for agriculture in this state and across the country.”