On Saturday, March 10,2012, I got an opportunity for a once in a lifetime chance to travel with Chef Alan Wong. We first went to UH Hilo for an Adopt-a-Beehive event. I was really excited because we got to showcase food samples for the guests that contained honey. We had local greens with a honey lime poppy seed vinaigrette and even kalua pulled turkey with Honey BBQ sauce. This was a great opportunity to show people that honey can be used for a variety of things and their imagination is the only missing ingredient! When I took a stroll around the event, I was surprised to see how many beauty supplies can be made with the byproducts of bees or that we can chew on the beeswax like gum with an intense honey flavor. Honey extraction is also another activity we tried and I didn't realize that honey was so meticulous to collect. I met Dr. Lorna Tsutsumi for the second time and she is a character you will never be bored with. She is so nice and her love for bees are over the top. I loved how her love of bees goes on to her students and she just aspires to teach her students the best she can.

After the event, we got to "suit up" and visit the beehives. This is when I realized that the students put so much care, effort, and attention to each beehive rather than treating it like another school project. I was just intrigued at how much information each student knew about bees and how comfortably they handled the hives. To them, the beehives are not just a nuisance that they have to take care of but it is something they look forward to doing everyday. I truly believe that these students are great at what they do and they are taking one big step towards sustainability while doing what they love.

Another opportunity we had on the Big Island was to visit Hawaii Island Goat Dairy which is run by Dick Threlfall and brother-in-law Jim. They were so welcoming and full of aloha that it didn't even feel like we met for the first time. They were so informative on what they do at the farm from milking, breeding, making cheese, and taking care of the young keiki goats (which were so adorable!). I couldn't believe that such a farm like this existed that Dick and Jim could tell you the names of each goat by looking at the face or even the behind! I got to milk the goat, feed the babies, meet Chef's adopted goat, Tuxedo, and even watch Dick scoop the curd to make cheese. After that, he was so generous to let us try every kind of cheese that they carry. There was Havarti, Feta, Chipotle BBQ, Macadamia Nut Basil Pesto, Dill & Garlic, and just the regular goat cheese. Although I was not a fan of goat cheese before, I would eat Hawaii Island Goat Dairy's Goat Cheese any day with some crackers. It was sad to say goodbye because Dick & Jim were so hospitable and felt like family already.

Overall, this trip is one to never forget. The information we grasped was of great benefit especially to me as a FOH food runner because we know the sauces, components, and items on each dish but that is because we ask the chefs what is in it or because of menu analysis sheets. Now I know the story behind the Panaewa honey we use or the goat cheese from Hawaii Island Goat Dairy. So when a customer asks me about the goat cheese we get, I won't just tell them the facts we read on paper but make them visualize like they are actually on the farm and watching the process of cheese making right before their eyes. I believe that this trip really opened my perception of these locally grown/made items because to me, now it isn't just goat cheese we get from Hawaii Island Goat Dairy that Dick and Jim made BUT now it is goat cheese that came from the hard work of a family that has a passion for creating quality products for the local communities. The same goes for the Panaewa honey we get through the Adopt-A-Beehive program. I think that this is because I could see and appreciate the hard work of people that love what they do and the process it takes to make it happen. It hit me that this trip was only possible because Chef has such a close knit relationship with the proprietors and I think that this is the way it should be with chefs and farmers. I really appreciate that I had the opportunity to travel to the Big Island with Chef because I am sure people would kill for this kind of an opportunity.

To think that this opportunity came about because Chef thought "why don't we eat pancakes with honey?" is amazing. To see that a small restaurant in Oahu is taking it's environmental responsi"bee"lities is breathtaking.