ʻAiaola

ʻAiaola can be interpreted in multiple ways. Our two most meaningful translations are “eat for well-being” and “food for health.” Long before Western medicine, Native Hawaiian and other Indigenous cultures understood the inseparable connection between food, environment, and health.

It is essential that we continue to share and educate the wisdom of our kūpuna — our elders — as we move forward in today’s world. Our deep relationship with the land, the elements, and native plants once sustained a thriving population of 800,000 to 1 million people without outside imports. Early explorers observed that Native Hawaiians were strong, healthy, industrious, and highly knowledgeable in both earthly and astronomical sciences.

While Food is Medicine is a national movement, Native Hawaiian knowledge of ʻai pono — eating in a way that is proper and health-sustaining — is unique and foundational to how Food is Medicine is implemented in Hawaiʻi. These practices, passed down through generations, guide our work.

Today, as we continue the work we have always known — that food is medicine — we remain grounded in ola, or health.

Our Pathways

Education for Health Professionals

The first pathway centers on education for health professionals and organizations serving Hawaiʻi. Many providers practicing in our communities have not had the opportunity to learn about Native Hawaiian cultural norms, traditional foods, and medicinal knowledge.

We are creating opportunities for healthcare professionals to integrate their medical training with local and Indigenous knowledge. By doing so, we strengthen clinical practice, deepen relationships, and improve health outcomes for Hawaiʻi residents.

ʻAha ʻAi Pono Gatherings

Our second pathway is the ʻAha ʻAi Pono gatherings — created to cultivate and support Indigenous relationships within our local food system. These gatherings are more than events. They are journeys of learning, action, and transformation rooted in Native Hawaiian knowledge, culture, and community power. Their purpose is to inspire

action:

  • How will we apply what we have learned?

  • How will we nourish our people?

  • How will we sustain our culture?

  • How will we strengthen our lāhui?

Each ʻAha follows a cyclical path, building upon the last:

  • Birth of the ʻAha ʻAi Pono in Pālehua

  • Collaboration in Waiʻanae

  • Application and action in Waimānalo

  • Education and perpetuation at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina in Kalihi Valley

Together, these gatherings serve as a living culmination of collective wisdom, relationships, and shared responsibility — uplifting a growing community of practitioners, farmers, healers, and leaders.

We remain committed to supporting future `Aha `Aipono place based gatherings throughout the pae`āina of Hawaiʻi.