Anyone live in Hawaii?

[NYbutterfly]

Well, I can finally scratch one item off my list of "things to do before I die" because I just moved to Hawaii! I've always considered it my home away from home, but I'm so grateful to call it my true home at long last. I live on Maui, and island living hasn't let me down yet. It's always amazing out here, but now to be here and know that I never have to leave? It's an entirely different feeling! Such an abundance of local produce, too. A dream.

Anyway, I do have some sticker shock at the prices in my local health food store out here. Whoa! And... yikes! I love making dehydrated goodies at home, but it usually requires costly ingredients like raw cacao, coconut butter, a variety of raw nuts and seeds, raw agave, etc. I can't even find these ingredients at my local store (except the nuts and seeds) let alone afford them. Not to mention I think all the bugs in Hawaii would find my agave. I also LOOOVE raw seaweed but can't seem to find that either :confused:

So for anyone living in Hawaii, particularly Maui... where do you get your supplies? The internet? Do you just stick to produce to lower the cost of everything?

Mahalo in advance for the suggestions!

[spicyfull]

We use to have a few from Hawaii who posted regular but I haven't seen any post lately. Check out "StarFire" she had rave reviews of Hawaii. Just do a Member search.

[cara4art]

Way to go, for moving to Hawaii, fulfilling a dream - best of luck to you! Anyhow, do you live anywhere near Paia? There's a health food store with pretty good selection of lots of stuff it seemed. I haven't been to Maui since that first Hawaiian visit in 2003, so I don't know exactly what's there at that store. My friends who live on Moloka'i, that has only one teeny little health food store, would order from a supplier of bulk foods etc. located on the Big Island. Even with the shipping from there, it was financially OK for them. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the company, but you might ask around amongst longer term natural living advocates after you get settled. I have a friend who lives in Makawao, just up the road from Paia - she just moved there last September, and I keep in touch with her sometimes via Facebook.
My husband and I are heading to Hawaii a week from today in fact, to go to Moloka'i, the quietest and least-touristic of the islands(house-swap deal just up the road a piece from our friends there). We'll be there for 15 days. It's a whole lot easier to get to Hawaii now that we live in San Francisco(since late '06). We're very excited, and we will have organic veggies delivery while we are there too - awesome!

[Aleesha Sattva]

i would get ahold of jeremy safron... he lives on one of the islands... i've just finished an interview with him for the magazine... he lives on the slopes of Halaakala... where ever that is. ;)

[shani76]

I don't live in Hawaii but will be going there for the month of August. I'd love to connect with other raw fooders while there, so I look forward to seeing what others post. Still don't know which island i'll be on as I'm wwoofing and still selecting a farm. If I end up going to Maui for even part of the trip maybe we can get together.

Congrats on the move!

Shani

[MOTH]

I'm going in September. See you guys there! :-)

[cara4art]

RawHemp - you are going to LOVE it! My husband and I were there in early '06, and it's our favorite island so far. We came close to relocating there, but for our purposes we are better off in SF, and going out to the islands for trips. We were going out to Hawaii from New Mexico, so living here in SF makes it easier to get out to the islands. Anyhow, Hilo has a GREAT farmer's market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and just outside of Pahoa on Sundays is the Makuu market which is a combo of both farmer's market and flea market. Unfortunately, we didn't get to that market until literally the day we were leaving the island. Great community feel, and there were a couple of small raw food entities that were offering their goodies, just starting up. As you make friends in your new area, they will sometimes give you extra stuff as there is so-o much food growing. Many people who move to the Big Island get into gardening too as it is so easy to grow stuff. We spent most of our time in the Puna district, which is the most countercultural area of the island.

[NYbutterfly]

Thanks for the well wishes and great info, everyone. The health food store near Paia that was mentioned in Manna Foods, I believe. Good raw food stuff there indeed... I will have to make a trip over there, its not too far. And Aleesha, thanks for the contact suggestion. Haleakala is a mighty large crater... depending on which side he is on, it might not be too far from me.

Thanks again!

[*RayRay*]

wow, congrats on following your dream and living where you feel at home! I will be doing the same in a couple of months...(for me it's LA, CA) can't wait!!! If it was me, I would just not worry about the dehydrated stuff, nuts, etc... and enjoy the abundance of fresh local produce!!!

[deepsleep]

Hilo has a GREAT farmer's market on Wednesdays and Saturdays,

I'll be moving and going to school in Hilo this fall. I'm glad its easy to grow food there. I just started eating raw and my mom almost passed out when we calculated that $100 worth of fruits and veggies lasted me only 4 days! :eek: She told me I'll need to make my own garden. I'm looking forward to joining a community farm or something like it. Maybe I should garden a "special" green plant to help support my new healthy lifestyle. :D

[kaybee]

hey guys i think there are members in hawaii on giveittomeraw.com so you might want to ask there too. ive seen posts about foraging and intentional communities and stuff in hawaii on that board