{"id":223199,"date":"2025-10-06T13:56:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T23:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=223199"},"modified":"2025-10-20T12:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:23:07","slug":"ohana-pink-diet-nutrition-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/06\/ohana-pink-diet-nutrition-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds learn about healing through food, community at UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Participants
Community members participate in the Diet & Nutrition for the Cancer Journey<\/em> public event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More than 300 people joined in person and online at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Cancer Center<\/abbr><\/a> on October 4 for Diet & Nutrition for the Cancer Journey<\/em>, a free public event held in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.<\/p>\n

\"participants<\/p>\n

The “ʻOhana<\/span> Pink” gathering, part of the UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center\u2019s Susan C. Hirano Cancer CARE<\/abbr> Community program<\/a>, was the largest yet, featuring expert discussions, a cooking demonstration, food giveaways and wellness resources.<\/p>\n

Attendees heard from Sharon Kaʻiulani<\/span> Odom, executive director of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Good Food Alliance<\/a>, registered dietitian and breast cancer survivor, who shared how farm-fresh, whole foods promote health. Native Hawaiian chef Tammy Mahealani Smith demonstrated how to prepare l\u016bʻau<\/span> stew using locally sourced ingredients, followed by a shared meal and panel discussion with nutrition and cancer experts from the UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center, Breast Cancer Hawaii and Get Redy Farm.<\/p>\n

‘Food is medicine’<\/h2>\n

“Having so many people show up reaffirms that diet and nutrition during the cancer journey is a topic of high interest—not only for patients, but also caregivers, families and those wanting to prevent cancer,” said Jami Fukui, chief of clinical breast oncology for the Ka ʻUmeke<\/span> Lama program (an initiative launched by the John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/abbr><\/a> to improve cancer care in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> and the Pacific) and ʻOhana<\/span> Pink founder. “Food is medicine. Healthful, nutrient–dense food can help us be our best healthy selves.”<\/p>\n

\"cooking
Participants take part in a cooking demo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center Director Dr. Naoto T. Ueno added, “By offering free workshops like this, the UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center is broadening its scope. Not only are we conducting cutting–edge scientific research and innovative clinical trials, and strong community outreach, we aim to support Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s past and current patients through every phase of the journey, with care and aloha.”<\/p>\n

Peter Hirano, husband of the late Susan Hirano, said, “Susan believed that no one should face cancer alone—that education, community connection and aloha are as fundamental as medical treatments.”<\/p>\n

The next event for the Susan C. Hirano Cancer CARE<\/abbr> Community will be held on January 17, 2026, and focus on the caregiver\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 200 people joined the event celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":223204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[218,169],"class_list":["post-223199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-cancer","tag-uh-cancer-center","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t