Eat Your Prana: A Farm to Table Event in Hawaii

Last night yogis in Hawaii got to experience a farm to table event that featured some of the best the island has to offer: two of the best yogis on the island, the best of organically grown Waimanalo fruits and veggies, and one of the most enthusiastic farmers I’ve ever met! The first Eat Your Prana event was planned and organized by Monica Ross Yoga and Tara Lavery of Moonstruck Yogi in partnership with Green Rows Farm in Waimanalo, Hawaii. Yoga teachers, students, farmers, friends came from across the island to celebrate the coming together of food, farming and yoga.

Monica and Tara are super gifted yoga teachers, but they also passionate about the local food movement here in Hawaii. In addition to featuring the talents of these yogis, we celebrated local agriculture at Green Rows Farm, a three-acre farm in Waimanalo. Green Rows Farm, spaced evenly between the mountains and the beach, is run by Sean and Kai. Though these two farmers are quite young, they are super passionate about good food and organic practices. The work to build soil fertility naturally and grow food well using compost, cover crops, mulching, and more. The farmers and the yogis were matched up by a mutual friend, Doug Groenveld, who has his own awesome business designing edible landscapes in Hawaii.

The event began with a farm tour, in which Sean provided the entertainment of the evening by getting way too excited about the microorganisms, chickens and beneficial flowers that make the farm thrive. All the greens, herbs, flowers and vegetables we saw in the ground found their way onto our plates later for the dinner, in combination with beans, cucumbers and more greens from their friend Doug’s farm.

Yoga class began at 6pm, led by Monica and finished by Tara. Class began with some chanting, to ground ourselves to the Earth and to celebrate the joy of practicing outdoors. Our vigorous Vinyasa class ended with a grounding sequence from Tara, and then yogis were able to relax during a stunning sunset, which Farmer Sean says was a the perfect, rare, beautiful evening for Waimanalo. And then dinner!

The 30+ yogis feasted on fresh green salad, homemade baba ganoush, yogurt sauce, mini fritattas, quinoa salad, and fresh-caught fish for the omnivores. A crew of farmers and yogis worked hard to create the meal, which was clean, simple and totally delicious. Wine was shared among new friends, and dinner went much longer than expected, as perfect dinner parties tend to do.

After dessert of fresh banana ‘ice cream,’ we spread blankets and yoga mats onto the ground for a screening of the film Ripe for Change. This foodie documentary looked at California’s agriculture and the shift towards a more sustainable future. It featured immigrant farmers, third-generation farmily farmers and the iconic Alice Waters. Alice is one of the chefs credited with creating California cuisine at her Berkeley restaurant Chez Panisse, but she is also an activist for school nutrition– and a major inspiration for the farm-to-table movement. Full of inspiration and gorgeous food images, the film brought to life many of the issues faced by farmers, and was a perfect follow up to our truly sustainable dinner.

Hopefully we can look forward to more Eat your Prana events! Check out the Eat your Prana Facebook page to learn more and stay in touch.