This issue, driven by the theme of COOK, tells a story that I wasn’t quite expecting.Yes, we curate stories specifically for each issue with the theme in mind, but often something else emerges and the issues we create either tell a much deeper story than we were expecting, or something else altogether.

You’ll find within these pages some delectable and easy-to-make recipes that will infuse your summer with freshness. We share with you the art of making your own charcoal.

We also get to experience how easy it is to make at home seasonal recipes that comes from a brilliant company called HI Fresh Box, before bringing you in on an in-depth exploration of what makes a memorable burger in our feature, Anatomy Of A Burger.

And before we buy food, before we even grow food, the process of pollination needs to take place on our farms in order for food to actually reproduce. One in three bites of our food depends on insect (mostly honeybee) pollination. For the last 10 years or so an epidemic decline in the world’s pollinator population has begun to threaten our food production.We’ll go deep into the situation as it stands for our Hawaiian Islands in The Birds and the Bees; Let’s Talk Pollination.

Hana Ranch’s visionary work in Hana, promises a brighter future in Taking the Long View. Not only are they growing food in a manner that honors the land, but their goal is to feed all of Hana and later, Maui County.To see this vision come to fruition would mean we would reach the goal of cutting dependence on the importation of food, and the food we would be cooking at home would be locally and sustainably sourced.

Peeling back the layers of this issue you’ll find that cooking is made up of a series of steps that originated months, perhaps years ago in the natural and human-governed process. Conscious consumption of food rests in the awareness of what it takes to grow the food we cook with and eat together.This awareness includes knowing the state of food policy and regulation as explained to us in our feature, Chef Tom Colicchio Goes to Washington.

Summer is a time for family, fun, being outdoors and cooking together to share our meals. It’s one long season of celebration and I would be remiss if I didn’t also note that this summer issue marks the 9-year anniversary of edible Hawaiian Islands. We thank all of you who have been with us from the beginning, contributing along the way by sharing in the photographs, stories, supporting the magazine with your advertising and subscribing.You are the edible ‘Ohana and we are grateful to have you with us along this journey.

Elena Rego
Editor