What are You Using to Thicken This Holiday Season?
Ancestral Taro Powder launches at Whole
Foods just in time for the holidays!
Voyaging Foods is reintroducing a food from Hawaii’s agricultural past.
The gluten-free starch segment is virtually fiber and nutrient void with a predominance of corn, rice and potato starches in processed foods. A local, ancient food is now available in Whole Foods Maui and Oahu stores.
Certified gluten-free Ancestral Taro Powder can be used as a thickener in soups, stews and gravy. Just 1 serving, or 2 tablespoons of Ancestral Taro Powder contains 10 times more fiber than 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. This means a home chef can use less taro powder in thickening recipes and get more fiber.
Brynn Foster, founded Voyaging Foods as a way to reconnect her community with ancestral foods.
“By making powders and flours, I was able to eat taro in different ways in different meals. For allergy-free meals, it was helpful to replace the nutrient-void starches with taro powder in a cookie your child would like.”
She made a powder from taro for gluten-free teething biscuits and cookies as a healthier alternative to the overly sweet, fiber-empty, gluten-free foods available. After researching studies and reports on taro, Brynn discovered the history on taro flour.
Hawaii’s agricultural history included a number of companies involved in the production of taro flour. In the 1880’s, King Kalakaua enacted a bill creating a subsidy for the manufacture of taro flour.
Taro flour was an export for the mainland health market. Subsidizing our canoe plant (taro, sweet potato, ‘ulu or breadfruit) farmers is what Brynn wants to see happen again.
“We hear talk about food security and growing future farmers-let’s invest in this actually happening. Voyaging Food’s core values are to support food-growing land in Hawaii while growing a healthy community.”