QUICK BITES
Vegetarian group at 1,000 members
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
Plant-based eating seems to be on the rise. The 11-year-old Vegetarian Society of Hawai'i (944-8344, vsh.org) last month welcomed its 1,000th member, Elizabeth Anderson, a founder of The Wellness and Healing Therapy Clinic here. The Great American Meatout last month celebrated the fact that the market for vegetarian food is doubling each year, with 22 percent of Americans routinely purchasing meat alternatives. Burger King rolled out a vegetarian burger on March 18. In Honolulu, Tony Spadero opened a Mr. Goodburger outlet a few weeks ago.
In sort-of related news, Down to Earth Natural Foods & Lifestyle store on South King Street is celebrating its 25th anniversary Saturday. A vegetarian cooking class is among the activities planned. Here's the schedule:
- 10 a.m., Terry Shintani discusses "The Good Carbohydrates Revolution," his new book.
- Noon, nutrition expert John Westerdahl talks on "The Power of the Vegetarian Diet."
- 1 p.m., naturopathic physician Thauna Abrin speaks about "Cancer Prevention through Nutrition and Lifestyle."
- 2 p.m. Carol Lent offers a vegetarian cooking class featuring a recipe using angel hair pasta and a Hawaiian party mix.
No reservations are required for the events. Call 947-7678 for further information.
Natural meats on the Big Island
If you're thinking of hopping over to the Big Island, consider going on the weekend of June 21 when the annual "Taste of the Hawaiian Range" event in Waimea will celebrate forage-raised (grass-fed), steroid-free, additive-free meats. There will be vegetarian dishes, too, from farmers in the area. Cost is $25 for the event, which takes place in the Hawai'i Preparatory Academy's cafeteria and features 35 of the Islands' premier chefs. The Taste is part of the annual Mealani Forage Field Day, a community outreach of the University of Hawai'i College of Tropical Agriculture. Reservations: (808) 322-4895 or e-mail gfukumot@hawaii.edu.
Chef's cooking demos on the radio
Chef David Paul Johnson, who has been on a sort of hiatus since he sold his self-named restaurant a while back, has formed a new partnership with the Whalers Village Shopping Center in Ka'anapali, Maui, giving cooking demonstrations and broadcasting them live in a one-hour talk radio program, aired 2-3 p.m. Wednesdays on KAOI-AM on Maui. In this, Johnson is right in the thick of it: We've been reading about the popularity of foodie radio shows all around the country. He plans to draw in chefs from Whalers' Village restaurants as well as visiting chef friends.
Send items of culinary interest to Food Editor, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu HI 96802. Fax: 525-8055. E-mail: taste@honoluluadvertiser.com.
