در اینجا شروع به نوشتن کنید… Chef Ed Kenney and his team treated the group to a multicourse feast, showcasing ingredients the interns had planted and harvested themselves. (I’m not alone: Michelle Obama was evidently smitten with the place during her own visit to MA’O last November. More on Hawaii’s New CuisineHawaii, You Had Me at AlohaMadre’s Amazing Artisanal ChocolateArtisanal Cocktails from Town Restaurant Peter Jon Lindberg is Travel + Leisure’s editor at large.) After a rigorous application process, MA’O interns commit to working on the farm some 20 hours a week for up to three years.April 25, 2012 One of the highlights of my recent trip to Hawaii—reporting this month’s feature on the new wave of Hawaiian food—was a visit to MA’O Organic Farms, on Oahu’s west coast.) But what’s truly impressive is that the farm’s day-to-day operations are run almost entirely by interns, ages 17 to 24, recruited from the surrounding community. (Waianae, which has a large population of Native Hawaiians, is also one of the poorest regions in the state.. All this is sold at Oahu farmer’s markets, and also to a handful of groceries and restaurants around the island. (As I mentioned in my article, MA’O’s ethereal salad greens play a starring role at Town restaurant in Honolulu.

The goal is not merely to educate needy and undernourished youth about organic farming, nutrition, and food security (all fundamental to MA’O’s mission), but to provide the leadership training and business-development skills to help them rise above minimum wage.

Look for the MA’O produce stand at any China instant heating tap Suppliers of Oahu’s weekly farmers’ markets, and check out their website for information on upcoming events and open houses at the farm. “Most of our interns are the first in their family to go to college,” says Kamuela Enos, MA’O’s social enterprise director. Some interns stay on as full-time staff after completing their schooling; others move on to new ventures that may have nothing to do with agriculture.) The farm unfolds over 24 acres in the fertile Lualualei Valley, within the relatively remote community of Waianae (“WIE-a-nie”).

And it was downright impossible not to be moved by the sight, on my last night in Oahu, of the entire MA’O intern crew—all 40 of them—taking over half the dining room at Town for their annual banquet. The variety of MA’O’s bounty is impressive enough, ranging from kale, beets, and fennel to bananas, mangoes, and papaya (there’s also an experimental blueberry patch). After the three-hour dinner, the kids were given a raucous standing ovation by the chef, the kitchen staff, and every other diner in the restaurant. It’s hard to overestimate the effect the program has had on these kids, and on the Waianae community as a whole. In exchange for part-time labor, they’re given a full tuition waiver to a local college and a monthly stipend; second-year interns can start funding their own education savings account, with MA’O matching their contributions 2-to-1