Hawaii Sheep & Goat Association releases imu demonstration video

Agricultural nonprofit, the Hawaii Sheep & Goat Association, has teamed up with the Men of Pa‘a to stage and produce a unique imu demonstration video.

Filmed on location in Puna, the video includes step-by-step instructions on how to build and utilize an imu. The video also highlights the use of local lamb.

“In order to promote the production of local food and cooking techniques, we wanted to spotlight the use of Hawaii grown, grass-fed lamb, using this ancient Hawaiian way of cooking,” said Julie LaTendresse, HSGA vice president. “The video illustrates that all different types of food can be cooked in an imu.”

The Hawaii Sheep & Goat Association is a nonprofit whose mission is to support, improve, and strengthen Hawaii’s sheep and goat community. It provides networking opportunities, coordinates educational and promotional events and serves as a unified voice to represent island sheep and goat producers.

The organization received a promotional grant from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. With this grant, they were able to produce a local cookbook including recipes for cooking lamb and goat, as well as recipes utilizing milk, cheese and many other local ingredients.

“In order to get people to eat locally we need to highlight great local foods and ways to cook that food,” said Amy Decker, a goat farmer in Kona.

Executive Director of Men of Pa‘a Iopa Maunakea was the Kahu imu for the three days. He brought together all the parts and the knowledge passed down from his Kupuna to execute the imu.

“It’s important that we pass the food wisdom that was given to us by our ancestors. We want to teach our keiki how to do imu like it was taught to us. And by using local ingredients like sheep, kalo and sweet potatoes, we can try to pass on the importance of food independence and sovereignty for Hawaii,” said Maunakea.

The video can be viewed at the Hawaii Sheep & Goat Association’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/channel/UChEMfohO16v1LezldIkHE3g.

For more information on HSGA, visit https://www.hsga.net. For more information on the Men of Pa‘a, visit www.facebook.com/Men.of.PAA.