 Aloha, welcome to Lillian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lillian Cumick, with Think Tech Hawaii. Today's show is Vegalution of Food in Hawaii Schools, Hawaiian Plate Lunches of the Future. Very excited to introduce my guest today. He is a public advocate, environmental activist, and veteran high school and coach, and teacher, and financial advisor. Welcome to the show, Andrew Orodean from Honolulu. Aloha. Aloha, thank you so much. Lillian, for having me today, really excited to talk about this shared passion that we have and all the good work that there is to do. It's a pleasure to have you on, Andrew, and talk about something that is a very, very serious topic, which is educating children in schools about the plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle. So first of all, Andrew, please introduce yourself to the viewers, tell us a little bit about you, whether you are vegan or not, whether your family's vegan or not. Please go ahead. Yeah, yeah, so once again, I'm Andrew Orodean, and I've been a teacher in Hawaii really for over 15 years. So I had a great chance to work in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, with students in all kinds of capacities, and even in food service and student leadership. So I really, in my career in Hawaii, which span schools on Oahu, the big island Maui, I really just got a good look at, you know, how different students are eating, all the different food cultures, and options are out there. And I also saw some opportunities for improvement too, that I'm excited to talk about. So how long have you been vegan for? Yeah, and so I think this is, you know, to clarify, I honestly, I consider myself an aspirational vegan. I really, I'm not perfect. It's really important to me to make deliberate health choices and to understand the implications of all my choices. 95% of the time, I'm in a vegan category, but also, you know, eggs, I eat fish on the margins. So, you know, even that's something that I'm exploring for myself. But I think one of the things I hope we talk about today is how there's room for all kinds of people on the spectrum. And when we're inclusive and we can kind of expand, you know, have a bigger tent, then we can actually be more successful in achieving the values that we care about when we're making intentional food decisions. Mm-hmm. Andrew, many studies point to teaching children about veganism to help solve some of the planet's issues, including topics such as the obvious, which is healthy eating. And I think when you look at a place like the state that we live in, in Hawaii, you'll see that there's so much illness here. But studies are saying that around half of the population of Hawaii is either suffering from diabetes or pre-diabetic. That is a huge number. So what is the importance of teaching children at a younger age about health, eating healthy? Also environmental issues, animal rights issues, what are your thoughts about that? Yeah, I mean, these are such core, they're almost existential issues for our community and society in the schools are often the place where we hope and believe and aspire that we will teach our children and they will make better decisions than we did and they will move the world forward. What can also happen though is a kind of modeling, you know, where the habits of previous ways of doing things, you know, persist for all kinds of reasons, for convenience, inertia, affordability, familiarity and comfort. But, you know, that's again something I'm excited unpacked today with you. It's just how can our schools, you know, really strive closer to their mission, which is to prepare our children to succeed in their world, which has changed. Even since the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, we are, they're facing problems that we understand better and that are more clear than even they, some of our problems back then. So, rambling a bit, but I'm just excited for the prospect of this change. And you asked, you know, about the students in particular, really, you know, in the elementary and middle levels, they're hungry, they're just hungry to learn about the world around them. And I, just from my 15 years in schools, there are more opportunities for students to build community and learn about their food and to be a part of the solutions than we've taken advantage of so far. There's more good work to do. Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. Andrew, a lot of our viewers, I think, are going to be familiar with this person that I do wanna bring up, James Cameron, who is an amazing movie producer, director. He also was part of the team that produced the Game Changers, which is an amazing Netflix documentary that covers topics like the protein issues when it comes to plant-based eating and excellent, excellent documentary for anyone who is wanting to know more about how a plant-based diet works in regards to protein working out and whether you're an athlete or not. This is an awesome show to watch. I just quickly, I second that endorsement and it really set off my more intentional vegan journey when I, you know, 10 months ago, I think I saw it. But yeah, extra plug, Game Changers. Yeah, absolutely. You know, a lot of people have actually gone vegan after watching that show, The Game Changers. So it's a very powerful show and it does bring about some truths and some shocking evidence that is gonna really change the way you think about the food that you have been eating thus far and thought was the only food that could give you energy and fuel enough to be a very strong athlete. So anyway, amazing show. James Cameron and his wife, Susie, I would like to show the first slide. Susie and James Cameron's vegan news school is now offering virtual learning in all 50 states. This is amazing. The learning platform will actually be available to districts across the country from 20 to 21, the academic schools. So amazing news. Go online if you're interested in enrolling your child into something like this because this school is actually the first of its kind in the nation. And I do wanna go back to you, Andrew. What are some ideas that you're proposing in regards to changing the education system? What curriculums we can add in order to give our children the education they need in regards to health and environmental issues? Yeah, I think that there's a lot of good answers to this question, but I wanna answer it with a bit of a story. So about eight years ago on Maui, a group of Maui students who were leaders at their various high schools banded together and decided they wanted to bring awareness to the issue of smoking on Maui beaches and all of the cigarette butt litter that they were picking up made of microplastics and everywhere. So this club of 40 student leaders got together, made a plan to clean up all the beaches on the island, count all the cigarette butts and then deliver them to their representatives. That was part of a student led movement that led to legislation banning smoking on Maui County beaches. And I think it was an incredible movement, an incredible result. And it really demonstrates the power of youth, the power of teenagers who are motivated to get together and share what their passion about what they care about and then implement change and advocate for change. I think Greta Thunberg being the sort of face of this global climate movement, it's there's something very special about having the most years ahead on this planet. When you know that you have 70, 80, 90 years ahead of you, you're invested in a different way. So there's something powerful there too, but practically the potential power, the untapped power of Hawaii students to build community and implement changes in their schools and their communities is real. And so I'm excited about student leaders and all the people in their communities, principals, teachers, advisors, the chefs, foods, everybody kind of working proactively toward more sustainable solutions. And I think that the students having a key seat at the table or a driving seat accelerates positive change. Absolutely. I do wanna show the second slide, Andrew, about the new school. So film director James Cameron and his wife environmental advocate, Suzy Amos Cameron. They've partnered with public school districts across the United States to use online learning platform news virtual, which is an expansion of their California-based vegan school news global school. The school was actually founded in 2006 by Suzy and her sister Rebecca Amos. And the mission is to inspire and prepare young students to live consciously for the planet. I think this is just really groundbreaking stuff. I'm not sure if other countries have done it, but definitely a first in the state. So can you imagine if there was something like this available in Hawaii? Right, I mean, exactly. And this is the beginning, like this is part of a zeitgeist. They're all over, it's still at the margin, but 2015 was the first school to do it. I have heard of some schools in New England. I think there's a school out there that's maybe it's just vegetarian, but I know that there are schools that are considering mission and vision that do build food values in really intentionally. But man, it's exciting. And why not? I mean, we have so many different kinds of private school models here. And for public and charter schools, it's different in terms of what they can actually do. The charter schools would have more freedom to make choices around food, but even in just the broader institution, there are ways that the DOE and there are ways that they have done good work. Just wanna keep supporting those changes. Absolutely. And implementing things like a plant-based menu in schools or at least having that option in schools, I think is extremely important. We are so far behind in terms of having options for people who are plant strong or vegan or vegetarian. So I think this is definitely a conversation that we need to address and at the higher level. Andrew, we are going to take a short break for some messages to the viewers. Please stay tuned and see you in one minute. Aloha. I'm Dan Leif. I go by Fig because I was an Air Force fighter pilot for 33 years and you have to have a nickname. I get to host, I'm think tech Hawaii, two shows. Figments, the power of imagination and figments on reality. The power of imagination introduces you to some of my incredible friends and their life experiences. Astronauts, war heroes, Hollywood writers, you name it. They're on it and you'll be inspired and entertained. And on reality, I'll give you something hard to find, non-political commentary on today's events. That's right, non-political because the vitriol doesn't help folks. So figments, the power of imagination, figments, on reality, both on think tech Hawaii. Welcome back to the show. I'm Lillian Cumick with think tech Hawaii, host of Lillian's Vegan World. Today we're talking about a vegetarian of food in Hawaii schools, Hawaiian plate lunches of the future. Speaking of the future and the vegan food and plant-based cooking, I am also the cookbook author of the awesome book, Little Hawaii, A Vegan Paradise. This was just released last November, 2020. It has over 120 plant-based recipes inspired by the islands. I've actually veganized Hawaiian food. It is a first and it's an amazing book if you love Hawaii and the food here. My next book, Tasting Hawaii Vegan Style, is going to be launching this year in November, 2021. So look out for that. I'm very excited for its release as well. I would love to welcome back to the show my guest today, Andrew Orodean. Welcome back to the show, Andrew. Thanks, Lillian. We're talking about schools, the future of curriculums that we can perhaps try to implement in schools. Andrew, give us some ideas. I know that you have prepared some slides for us. Give us some ideas what you think schools would really benefit from in terms of learning more about food, awareness of environmental issues and stuff like that. Yeah, you know, I can share, in a past school I was at, there was a group of students and teachers who came together to create a vegan cooking club. And once a week, they would bring in all their home cooked dishes and they would get together and they would just enjoy their delicious food and their community. And that, it led to a sort of movement. It had cachet that other students wanted to join and they had questions. And it was a really kind of positive and organic way that the community came about and grew. And I think that there's potential for more of that. In all of our schools, there are clubs that are student initiated, that have teacher advisors that support all kinds of passions, you know, could be robotics or esports. But it can also be vegan cooking and vegan values. And I think that's just one example, but making our schools really inclusive places, I think to be a 12 or 13 year old kid out there, sometimes like being a vegan puts, no, not sometimes you're in the minority or even if you're curious about it. And that is not an easy place to be when you're figuring out who you are. So making our schools places where the vegan kid is just as cool as anybody else making their choices or that it's not even a filter that's part of how people evaluate each other. It's just a positive thing, positive manifestation of that person. So the short answer there, the long short answer is clubs and communities that come from the students, but also there are ways to help invite students into those too, sometimes creating infrastructure and organizations that can help those schools or those teachers say, hey, where are the resources? What are some interesting events? How can I build energy behind this? Andrew, in regards to your daughter, you have a daughter who is how old and in what year at school? She's a six year old first grader. First grader, awesome. Is there anything like this in her school? Are there any clubs like you just mentioned or circles or something? That's a good question. So she's a little one and that's interesting too is that the student initiated clubs start to come in and play more in kind of middle and high school, whereas adults sometimes set the tone more in elementary school. So currently, I'm not sure at the moment, but it's another area for potential, right? How can we build these values in? That's also really important in that like it's not political, it's not threatening, it's not aggressive, it's really just, hey, there's a bunch of great things to learn about sustainable, intentional, vegan and vegetarian based eating. Let's share those lessons and see for whom it resonates. Yes, I was gonna say one thing that kind of bugs me personally is that, you know, animal rights and how animals are treated in slaughterhouses, things like that, it's just become socially acceptable that certain animals are going to have that fate, whereas other animals are treated differently. Are you, do you believe that's something that children should know about? The, what goes on in slaughterhouses, how food, some of their food ends up on their plates? So I do have, I'll ask you a question that we got from one of the viewers, which is, Andrew, can we teach children to grasp what is happening in the meat and dairy industry without frightening them? And is it okay to be a little frightened? I mean, you know, there's a lot of layers of that question and this gets so into how each family wants to raise their child and tell their story. There's a lot of myths that we keep alive for our children and for all kinds of reasons to protect them or insulate them from the harshness of the world or to crete match, but this is so elemental and core, right? I mean, when we're bringing food into our body every single day, this is not like a detail or an extra. So personally, my feeling is there are ways that we need to be really, we can be careful, but we need to share with them the full impacts of our food choices. And unfortunately, whether I'm five, 10, 15 or 20, that the impact is comparable, you know, on my body and the earth around me. And so I think it's a delicate conversation at certain ages, but by middle to high school, they can handle reality. You know, that's probably what you do. You prepare to go out in the world and be your own person. And so the veils got to come off at some point and say, okay, here's how it works. Exactly. I mean, you know, I don't have children. So I can't speak firsthand as a parent, but as, you know, as someone who promotes the vegan lifestyle and plant based diet, it is always concerning that if something is so shocking or frightening, like the slaughterhouses and how animals are just so mistreated, not only in slaughterhouses, in sometimes zoos, in circuses, there's a lot of animal exploitation. Now, if that is able to continue on, how does that, how does that, how is that acceptable? Like mentally, how have we become a society where we can turn a blind eye to such shocking things and pretend it's not happening and then try and protect our young children from seeing the truth and just allow it to happen? If that's the case, I don't think it should be happening in the first place. So hard. I mean, it really gets at kind of the core contradictions. You know, even in our schools, we're trying to lift up our students and prepare them to be stronger and better and kinder. And, but when, you know, there are contradictions on many levels built into our systems and our food system is definitely a part of that. So it's hard. It's like holding two things in mind that are oppositional, but, you know, I think we just recognize we agree on this. It's just how do we, so how do we get from where we are to where we want to be incrementally and effectively, which is, you know, in a more, we all want a more sustainable climate, you know, air and land and sea, we all want peace. Like we don't even, the carnivorous among us, you know, and I've been that it, you know, it's not the core desire doesn't originate out of a desire to be cruel. It's other things. It's, you know, salt, fat, grease, protein, flavor. Traditions come from food, culture. Yeah. So I propose starting new traditions and cultures in accordance with the times that we're living in because there's got to be some kind of change. I don't believe that the world can continue on the way it is and be sustainable. It just is, we've gone too far almost. That's why I'm very excited to hear your ideas about, you know, getting some programs into schools where kids can learn so many other values that their parents just can't teach them because of the times that we're in, you know, my parents, my grandparents. So I grew up believing meat, dairy was good for you, you know, that some animals were just gonna end up in, you know, unlucky situations. And that was the way it was. But I think that now we can all agree the world can be a better place. And here's another question I'm gonna ask you, Andrew. What's the worst thing that can happen if your child finds out what really goes on with animals and getting it onto the plate? They freak out for a while? Yeah, well, and it might make them think about things that maybe some people don't wanna think about. But what's so bad about not wanting to eat meat anymore because you've seen where and how it actually ends up on the plate? So interesting with kids because it takes us 20 years to raise them and at different points, we bring them into the world a little more. Like there is an interesting discussion here about how to deliver this message and when, but I don't think it's whether it's how what's appropriate. So the benefits, Andrew, give us a rundown. What do you think the benefits of teaching children about the plant-based diet? To the extent that we believe that our schools are vehicles to help our young people live better lives, they need a deep and comprehensive understanding of nutrition and our food production system and where they fit in and where they would like to fit in. And it's complicated and it takes time and they're up against their taste buds and marketing and culture and a lot. So yeah, I mean, I think just the potential to go into our schools where we have 185,000 students in the state, they have the most at stake and they deserve to know the truth and they deserve to know it sooner so they can make better decisions or at least own their decisions and not be in the dark sooner because the clock is ticking. Yep, so Andrew, where do you see Hawaiian plate lunches in the future? Well, man, I would love to see a beautiful vegan plate lunch that has all the things we love, rice and beans and kimchi, but that also has our spinach and greens and tempeh and citrus and spices. I mean, you're a master, you're a magician at this. There's, I want to see Lillian's 20 different vegan plate lunches all across the country. Never know, plant the seed and interesting things can grow. Andrew, thank you so much for joining our show today. It's been awesome having you on. This is definitely a very delicate subject whether you teach your children about the truths of what's going on. Also, it's a great topic for parents to start thinking about, you know, what their children are being taught in schools and what they would like to see more of in schools. So I appreciate your time today, Andrew. I wish you well in the vegetarian of food in Hawaii's schools. Keep us posted. Thanks so much, Lillian. And to the viewers, thank you so much again for joining us for another show with Lillian's Vegan World. Look forward to seeing you again. Please do stay safe, get vaccinated. And until next time, aloha.