by Shannon Takahashi
The residents of Kahauiki Village, a supportive housing community for formerly homeless families, now have a new source of food, thanks to CTSA and the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences. Under the leadership and guidance of retired CTAHR professor Harry Ako and current CTAHR professor Jinzheng Yang, an aquaponics system was recently introduced to the village in an effort to establish a sustainable food system in the community.
“Aquaponics is a modern way of doing gardening where everything is rational and everything is biotechnical– and so it works better than other systems.” Harry says in a recent video released by CTSA about the aquaponics system at Kahauiki Village.
The project aims to provide the resources and knowledge necessary for residents to independently grow nutritious food in their community, as well as to teach valuable workforce skills for employment such as teamwork and entrepreneurship. Produce grown in the new aquaponics system will go towards feeding the community and will also be sold at Kahauiki Village’s onsite farmer’s market.
Kahauiki Village is a low-income housing community operated by the Institute for Human Services designed to provide new opportunities and affordable housing for formerly homeless families. Inspired by old plantation villages, Kahauiki Village emphasizes the importance of community and self-sustainability, and the aquaponics system has since been embraced as a part of daily life for many residents of the village.
For more about the CTAS aquaponics project at Kahauiki Village, check out this video.