Miss Universe Cayman Islands’ Fight Against Global Hunger

As morning light filters through the clouds over Hong Kong’s Chai Wan district, Miss Universe Cayman—Tahiti Moorea Seymour—walks between rows of green in the region’s largest rooftop aquaponics farm. The air carries a mingled scent of water, plants, and fish—a quiet ecosystem in motion. Nearby, young adults harvest clusters of lettuce destined for a small café below.

“It’s incredible,” she says to her mother, Melaynee Basdeo, as she jots down notes on how the principles learned here might one day help advance her own small island home.

Seymour will represent her country at the 74th Miss Universe competition in Thailand this November. At the Miss Universe Cayman Islands pageant, she not only took home the national crown but also earned titles for Best in Interview, Best in Swimwear, and the People’s Choice Award. But in the months since, her time has been spent equally between rehearsing for the runway and studying food systems: who grows it, who gets it—and who goes without.

Her campaign, ‘Beyond the Crown: Zero Hunger Universe,’ has become the lens through which she views her role.

“Promoting food security on islands isn’t just about growing more food,” she says. “It is my mission to use my Miss Universe platform to bring visibility to a complex challenge that affects, not only us in the Cayman Islands, but millions of people across small island nations throughout the world.”

The Crown as a Conduit

Seymour’s twenty-two years have been a journey spanning continents and causes.

Born and raised in Bodden Town, a historic district in Grand Cayman, she grew up surrounded by family, food, and the contradictions of island life.

“My childhood was full of abundance—tables piled high with food, family and laughter,” she recalls. “But as an indigenous Caymanian, I also saw what happens when access isn’t equal, when some have too much and others too little.”

That awareness deepened while studying Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London, where she wrote her undergraduate thesis on food security in small islands—research grounded in her own lived experience.

Like many Small Island Developing States, Cayman depends heavily on imported food, leaving it exposed to high prices, supply chain disruptions and the impacts of extreme weather. With limited arable land and exposure to hurricanes, droughts and rising seas, sustaining local agriculture is a constant challenge. The result is often poor diet diversity, higher rates of non-communicable diseases and growing dependence on external food systems.

By the time produce arrives to Cayman—about 90% of which is imported, the majority from the United States—much of its nutritional value has already diminished.

“Eighty-five percent of Cayman residents eat fewer than five servings of fruits or vegetables a day, and the majority of the population is overweight or obese,” Seymour says, citing local figures. “Unless we address this socially, economically, politically and environmentally, we’re compromising our health as a nation.”

It’s the kind of statement that sounds less like a beauty queen’s platform and more like the stand of a policy advocate. It is no wonder that the Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing, and Infrastructure officially partnered with her to advance its Food and Nutrition Security Policy 2022–2036.

Agriculture Minister Johany “Jay” Ebanks sees Seymour as an inspiration for the next generation and women alike to engage in a sector long dominated by men, many of them over sixty.

“We are proud to partner with Miss Universe Cayman Islands, Tahiti Seymour, to inspire more youth and women to see the opportunities in agriculture and to advance our food security goals,” he says.

A Voice Rooted in Film and Activism

Seymour’s advocacy didn’t begin with the crown. At eight, she was already editing videos, drawn to storytelling as a form of protest and connection. Her short films, often infused with poetry and abstract visuals, have tackled everything from climate change to mental health.

During the pandemic, when she was just 17 years old, she produced a video on mental well-being that aired regularly on local television.

“The arts give youth a language for activism,” she says. “Video lets me share ideas across borders; it makes people feel before they think.”

At eighteen, she became the Caribbean Youth Leader for #Act4Food #Act4Change, a UN-backed youth movement for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. The role gave her an early platform to speak about hunger and climate change, issues that shape not only her island but her generation’s future.

Seymour’s global outlook is, in many ways, baked into her first and middle names. “Tahiti Moorea” was chosen by her parents in memory of their honeymoon in French Polynesia, another small island developing state.

She attended boarding school in Canada, university in the U.K., and speaks Mandarin and Spanish fluently. Her mother now lives in Hong Kong; her pageant trainer is in the Philippines.

“Home,” she says, “is many places, but my roots and my heart are in Cayman.”

Miss Universe Cayman: Global Citizen

That duality—island girl and global citizen—defines her current path. Since September, she has been training in Asia, her schedule split between runway training and agricultural site visits.

In the Philippines, she toured Urban Farmers PH, spoke with local growers about vertical farming and aquaponics, and met Regis Chapman, Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Philippines, who previously led WFP’s Caribbean operations.

The meeting, she says, “reminded me how interconnected island nations truly are, and how working together is key to solving global hunger.”

Between visits, she found nourishment in the country’s cuisine: crispy tawilis, timolang manok, atchara, ensaladang talong. “Food connects us,” she said afterward. “It’s not just survival. It’s how we honor one another’s traditions.”

Back in Hong Kong, she visited the Green Skies Aquaponic Farm and The Edible Projects Café which revealed another side of sustainability—inclusion. The social enterprise employs and trains autistic youth to become independent through urban agriculture.

“I’ve always carried a big dream to make a change not just at home but beyond my shores,” she said after her visit. “The projects I’ve learned about embrace people from a variety of backgrounds, celebrate uniqueness and show that dignity and sustainability are intertwined. Beyond food, Zero Hunger Universe is about hope and change.”

The Bigger Picture

For Seymour, food security is inseparable from climate resilience. The Cayman Islands, like much of the Caribbean, sits on the frontlines of climate change, vulnerable to hurricanes, droughts, and rising seas. She was only a baby when Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 storm, caused damages exceeding her nation’s gross domestic product.

“We contribute less than one percent to global carbon emissions,” she says. “Yet we’re among those most affected. It’s not fair, but it’s reality. My job is to make people care enough to change it.”

Her approach, blending art, diplomacy, and activism, has caught attention beyond Cayman. Through her Zero Hunger Universe Instagram Live series, she’s interviewed food security leaders, connecting the dots between local action and global systems.

“Food security is the strength of our future,” she said in a recent post announcing her partnership with the Cayman Islands Ministry of Agriculture. “Together, we’re amplifying Cayman’s voice on the world stage—all the way to Miss Universe… This journey is about ensuring that Cayman, and the world, thrives.”

The Road to Miss Universe

In November, she will take that message to Bangkok, where 130 women from around the world will gather under the theme “The Power of Love.” The competition will celebrate unity, resilience, and empowerment, values that echo through Seymour’s work.

Whether or not she wins the Miss Universe crown, she knows the title would only amplify what she already carries—a purpose larger than the crown itself.

“This journey, representing the Cayman Islands, has reminded me that perseverance is powerful, faith is unshakable, and connection is everything,” she says. “This is more than a crown—it’s a promise to use my platform as a queen to fight hunger, to carry my people’s stories, to honor our roots, and to show the world the strength of an island woman’s voice.”

Amid the calm of Hong Kong’s aquaponic farms, surrounded by young urban farmers and the steady hum of water, Tahiti Moorea Seymour bends to smell some herbs. For a moment, she looks like both a queen and a student, studying the systems that feed the world.

“This,” she says, “is where change begins.”