Beating the Pandemic

Recently opened Garden Grove Cafe at the entrance to the Garden of Eden.

According to one trade group, approximately 60% of restaurants fail within the first year of operation. When you add a pandemic, shutdowns and a slashed customer base, it seems like a miracle that a few local vegan outfits have recently opened or expanded.

For instance, the pandemic didn’t stop Lily and Seager from establishing a vegan food truck and then upgrading to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The Sprout Vegan Café’s bowls, salads, wraps, sandwiches and drinks prove that meals can be tasty, appealing, healthful, cruelty-free and environmentally friendly, all at the same time. With a brisk lunch business and excellent location at 10 Gateway Plaza in Wailea, its future looks bright.

Another relatively new vegan establishment is the Maui Garden Grove Café at the entrance at the Garden of Eden arboretum, Road to Hana 10.5-mile marker. When we visited on a Wednesday at lunchtime, the place was packed.

Although the outdoor eatery is well-positioned to catch the eye of the meat-eating masses, founder Nicole Marie made a smart decision regarding the menu. She features neither fake burgers and hotdogs nor off-putting “health food.” Hawaiian curry and Hawaiian chili are the main selections. For many, these unexpected and perhaps somewhat exotic dishes will enhance vacation memories.

Kahului location of Earth Aloha Eats (across from Costco). A second food truck is located in Lahaina.

Rather than calling it quits, the vegan food truck Earth Aloha Eats actually took on a second location and may now be found in Kahului (across from Costco) and in Lahaina. When we visited the Kahului location, the self-advertised “plant-based eatery” seemed quite able to compete with a number of more traditional food trucks.

Meanwhile, the more established vegan-friendly restaurants are still with us. The highly regarded all-vegan a’a Roots, which is to be commended for donating many meals to unsheltered folks, continues to serve up colorful vegan delights like Beet Poke, Sunday Funday Waffles, Raw Coconut and Chocolate Pie and much more. And, as far as we know, mostly vegan restaurants like Choice Health Bar and Moku Roots are also still going strong.

What’s more, several nonprofits and grassroots initiatives continue to work for greater food security. Chilis on Wheels still serves excellent vegan meals to people in need.  The Common Ground Collective is adding staff to strengthen efforts to redistribute excess backyard produce. Grow Some Good promotes hands-on education to Maui K-12 students by supporting community gardens and plant distribution.

Although progress toward achieving a sustainable, equitable and humane food system on Maui is erratic and often painfully slow, a pandemic couldn’t stop it. Let’s celebrate the small victories and work toward bigger ones.