Naked Cow Dairy Farm

You may think you know what the Hawaiian Island of O’ahu has to offer. But you’d miss a lot of the grassroots story unless you include some of the places that will give you the best of the current Oahu culinary story. Some offer educational programs in beautiful locations, all have passionate people striving to do the right thing which in Hawaiian is called “pono”. Take a trip to the west side of Oahu near Wai’anae. Long a place for agriculture and home to many small family dairies, today there is only one dairy remaining. At Naked Cow Dairy Farm & Creamery Tour, you’ll mingle with the animals if you wish, learn that all of the cows, sheep and goats have names and that no antibiotics and hormones are given them as a regimen. The animals are fed on Hawaii-only sugar cane molasses, pineapples, kiawe beans, macadamia and kukui nut by-products and graze freely. Sisters Sabrina St. Martin and Monique Van der Stroom with a small staff milk their animals and produce ethereal butters and cheeses that taste of their dedication and hard work. You’ll find their products at higher-end restaurants and markets around Oahu and you can also order them online. Inventive flavors like a guava wood cold-smoked cheese called “Vog“ or a “Pika Moon“ made with local Hawaiian chili peppers, and the “Kona Buzz” a full wheel of cheese rubbed with Kona Coffee, mixed with local honey and then sprinkled with Kaua’i salt from Hanapepe, are just a few of their delectable array. Their flavored butters are divine too. Try “Big Island Honey Butter” or “Hawaiian Gourmet Sea Salt” slathered on your cracker. Book a tour to explore the fresh flavors of the artisan cheese of the Naked Cow Dairy Farm & Creamery and come to appreciate this spot in “da country”. https://nakedcowdairyhawaii.com Kahumana Farm is just down the road from the Naked Cow in Lualualei Valley and is situated in this great bowl of valley of the stunning Wai’anae Mountain Range . The Lualualei ahupua’a was historically a favored agricultural area evidenced by remnants of lava rock terraces and the fact that Kamehameha III recognized its value and reserved the ahupua’a for himself. Today an organic farm on 50 acres here exists to educate the public about the bounty of the land in a state where 90% of the food is flown in. Stay for lunch: they offer their farm produce and local fresh-off-the-boat fish at their organic cafe. You can shop at the in-house farmer’s market for tropical fruit leathers or unusual fruit. They also feed the Hawaiian community via local outreach programs which is so important to the health and nutrition of this struggling native population. Schedule a visit and enjoy this under-the-radar place. https://kahumana.org Did you know that native Hawaiian sugar cane thrived 800 years before the sugar plantations covered much of the land? Sugar cane, called Ko in Hawaiian, was one of the “canoe plants“ brought over by the Polynesians to Hawaii. At KoHana Rum in Kunia, you can wander their impressive collection of the different Hawaiian sugar cane varieties from all over the island chain. It’s important to keep the heirloom cane from being destroyed by “progress” so they have collected cane from tutu’s ( granmother’s) yard, the side of the road, and botanical gardens. Here certain types of sugar cane is pressed to extract the juice, and that fresh juice goes into a still to create their agricole rum. What is important to note is that most rum today is made from molasses, this one is only from cane juice. Book a tour, you will enjoy it. https://wwwkohanarum.com/home Make sure you seek these places out to increase your understanding of Hawai’i. Make reservations and arrangements to learn more when you are planning your visit to Oahu. For these visits you will need to rent a car.