The Sustainability Center at BYU–Hawaii is expected to start producing enough fresh food for the cafeteria for all students and faculty on campus to enjoy. The farm is equipped with livestock, fruits and vegetables, a bike shop, as well as a Give and Take area for students to take home recycled items.
According to Leslie Harper, the Sustainability Center’s manager, Hawaii’s carbon footprint is huge compared to other states and countries due to the amount of food that is imported to feed people on the island. The Sustainability Center’s goal, he said, is to teach, create and cultivate a more sustainable Hawaii for students.
From farm to table
Harper said most produce Hawaii receives on island is already three weeks old due to the shipping of the food. He explained, “Bakersfield, California, in that area [of] Central Valley California, provides a lot of food we eat, so you’re looking at probably 2,700 miles for a carrot to travel before you can eat it up at the salad bar in the cafeteria. We’re going to turn that upside down and reduce it down to probably 1 or 1 and 1/2 miles.”
Harper said producing food locally reduces travel time and also ensures freshness. He shared a story about a student who visited the farm and was shocked by the interesting smell of the carrots when offered one. Harper explained, “It’s the soil. It’s the essence of the nutrients and the biology of the soil. … Those carrots [and other produce] are usually three weeks old and dying. Whereas here, it will typically be brought to the cafeteria within a day or two.”
According to Harper, this new project will potentially produce more than 500 pounds of food for the school a week. He said, “Anything that we can supply, we’re going to make an effort to do so. There’s a list right now we’re working on to produce 10 different things, and it adds up to about 560 pounds of food a week.”
Harper said teaching students and allowing them to learn helps them to be sustainable throughout their whole lives. Sterling Kerr, an employee at the Sustainability Center from Utah majoring in biology, said this new project will allow him to see his hard work and the work of others almost immediately. He shared, “If [students] ever visit the cafeteria, it’ll be very likely they’ll eat something I personally planted and help grow, which will be pretty worthwhile. There’s not a lot of things we get to work on where we get to see the literal fruits of our labors.”
Expansion of farmland and opportunity
The Sustainability Center is expected to expand and begin producing food soon for the cafeteria, said Harper.
Harper said the farm will be in high gear over the next few months to start producing enough food for the cafeteria. The farm is focused on clearing land to plant seedlings. “The Sustainability Center is going to provide numerous opportunities for students to get additional experience that’s going to be a complement to a degree.”
Harper said he wants students to know with this new expansion of land and this project, many different opportunities will come to pass. This will allow students to get involved and learn different skill sets while here at BYUH.
Kerr, for example, said he was left in charge of the bike shop on his own without much knowledge of fixing bikes.
“[The bike shop manager] left the whole bike shop to me after only working there for about two or three days, so I didn’t know anything about bikes. ... By the end of it, I became really comfortable working with bikes and now that’s something I do on my own. I don’t take my bike to get fixed anymore. I do it all my own.” Kerr said he eventually became the manager of the bike shop.
Harper expressed, “It’s a perfect opportunity for business and supply chain students who intend to go into that industry where they’re supplying a product to somebody. This would be some very good hands-on experience for students.”
Harper said the farm is looking for additional student workers.•