UH Hilo marine science major Hayden Niles lands internship at The Food Basket
Hayden Niles, in an effort to expand his knowledge beyond the sea, built two hydroponic herb and vegetable systems at The Food Basket. The results are amazing.
A marine science major at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo who is interested in sustainable food systems is doing an internship with The Food Basket, Hawaiʻi Island’s Food Bank.
Hayden Niles, in an effort to expand his knowledge beyond the sea, built two hydroponic herb and vegetable systems at The Food Basket to help the non-profit in its mission to end hunger on Hawaiʻi Island.
“I’m trying to get a lot of experience in multiple different areas,” says Niles, who hails from Waubay, South Dakota. After graduating from UH Hilo, he wants to work in deep sea research.
The internship is made possible through the Bonner Program, a four-year nationwide program giving college students a paid opportunity to gain leadership and networking skills through engaging with the local community.
Bonner Leaders like Niles are students enrolled at the university who commit to paid positions of eight to 10 hours per week, which includes leadership training and on-site work with community organizations. Bonner Leaders are committed to the program for their four years of study at the university.
Hydroponics as a possible solution to food insecurity
Niles says The Food Basket is currently working toward creating an agricultural center and that his hydroponic system is basically going to be incorporated into that. “It’s going to be a place where people can learn agriculture and such,” he says.
He sees hydroponics, a horticulture system that uses nutrient-rich water rather than soil for growing plants, as a possible solution to food insecurity. He’s using two pre-manufactured hydroponic systems for his internship project.
“I have been very fortunate to be able to run these systems myself and [I’ve] seen a lot of different kinds of things out of them,” says Niles.
In the first system, he grew 288 basil plants. “It grew like crazy,” Niles says. The basil was harvested and donated to the community and local Hilo restaurant Café Pesto.
In the second system, Niles grew lettuce that took 26 days to mature. He harvested 80 heads of lettuce that grew to a total of 12 pounds. He’s also working on growing tomatoes.
“We have just gotten some of the first tomatoes,” Niles says. “I think there’s going be a ton and I’m very excited to see it.”
Niles is also working on an herb system.
“Eight different herbs in one system, like cilantro, we have two different types of basil, and there’s rosemary, sage, and a lot of spices and herbs and that’s going to be really interesting,” he explains.
There are two things that surprised Niles during his project.
First, is the shelf life of the produce that is grown from hydroponics. He gave a lettuce head to one of his bosses, and after two weeks passed, there was no indication of decay on the lettuce head.
“It’s pretty much the same lettuce head I gave him two weeks ago. It was like whoa, what is going on here? Why is it that, why does it have such a different shelf life compared to normal garden grown?” Perhaps a question that needs some research, he says.
The second surprise is how quickly the plants grow. “[What’s] interesting is just how fast things can be grown in just a small area,” he says.
Hydroponics could impact Hawaiʻi Island communities and the environment in beneficial ways
Niles says implementing hydroponic systems combined with traditional farming techniques can solve food insecurity here. Fresh produce here in Hawaiʻi is expensive; hydroponic farming saves about 80 percent more water than traditional soil-base farming, has no carbon footprint, and by growing indoors there are no chemicals used because there are no pests. “It reduces a whole bunch of different wastes,” he says.
Niles thinks hydroponics could impact Hawaiʻi Island communities and the environment in very beneficial ways. “I think it is a very good pilot toward getting the community more active in growing our own food,” he says. He notes how dependent the island is on food shipments from outside the island and state.
“If we were able to implement smaller, if not bigger systems, into just general communities that were interested in this, we could have them growing their own food and trading amongst themselves,” he explains.
Although this internship doesn’t correlate with his major, Niles believes that there is a lot of wealth both mental and physical to be had when it comes to hydroponics. This experience reminds him of previous projects he’s undertaken such as woodworking and beekeeping; he likes the idea of growing fresh produce and making fresh honey for himself in the future.
“I think those are very critical and very important things to have in our lives,” he says.
Story and video by Nāpua Iolana Bicoy, a Hawaiian studies major at UH Hilo. Susan Enright, editor of UH Hilo Stories, contributed.
