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Farming with flavor: Advancing food security through a partnership for sustainable community vegetable production
Farming with flavor: Advancing food security through a partnership for sustainable community vegetable production
By James Tababa
The Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) and Nestlé Philippines, in collaboration with the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Advocacy, made a significant announcement regarding their partnership. The joint effort aims to advance urban agriculture as a practical way to achieve food self-sufficiency and enhance access to plant-based food for Filipino communities.
This three-year partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed earlier this year, focuses on conducting skills-building activities that demonstrate sustainable methods of growing vegetables in homes and under-utilized urban spaces. The initiative seeks to enrich families' abilities to create nutritious, delicious, and balanced meals using their own homegrown produce.
Working together for food security
“Everyone has a role to play in food security, and the key to ensure that Filipinos will always have FAITH - or Food Always in The Home - is to work together,” said Director Glenn Panganiban, Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Plant Industry. “Through this partnership, we can teach more Filipinos to grow their own food by providing proper mentoring and assistance, as well as other forms of support from the government and private partners like MAGGI.”
As part of the collaboration, MAGGI will create engaging programs to interact with communities, offering on-ground and online workshops conducted by expert agriculturists from DA-BPI. These workshops will teach science-based methods of vegetable crop production in limited spaces. Additionally, the MAGGI culinary team will coach participants on making dishes using their homegrown harvests. These dishes will be delicious, nutritious, and budget-friendly.
“Nestlé Philippines believes in a collaborative approach to building communities, and we are proud to stand alongside the Department of Agriculture in inspiring a farm-to-fork movement among Filipino families and communities,” said Joey Uy, Corporate Affairs Head, Nestlé Philippines. “We believe that food security is key to the health of all, and that there’s no better way to build a strong nation than by ensuring that healthy food is accessible to everyone.”
Initiatives under the Sarap Sustansya Advocacy
Under this agreement, MAGGI will produce and distribute learning materials on vegetable production and affordable plant-based recipes. Starter kits containing planting essentials such as seed trays and basic implements, along with compost and various vegetable seeds produced by DA-BPI.
One significant aspect of this partnership involves the relocation of the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Garden to DA-BPI Los Baños. The garden, now fully established, will serve as a demo farm and learning facility, sharing best practices in vegetable production, particularly for entrepreneurial individuals and communities interested in generating income from growing and selling their produce. The possibility of replicating the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya garden in different satellite offices of the DA-BPI nationwide is also being explored.
The Sarap Sustansya Farm School Program was launched in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) Region 6, reaching over 3,000 young farmer students. Workshops on Sarap Sustansya cooking, regenerative farming, and entrepreneurship were conducted for principals and coordinators of DepEd Western Visayas Farm Schools. MAGGI provided teaching materials and essential farming tools to assist faculty and students in propagating their school farms and vegetable gardens. To culminate the program, Farm School students will participate in a region-wide competition, putting their newly-acquired crop production, culinary, and business skills to the test.
The DepEd is also gearing up for the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Kusinaskwela Cook-Off in collaboration with Nestlé Wellness Campus. Over 1,000 public elementary schools and junior high schools in seven key regions will compete in a cooking contest that imparts the value of minimizing food waste and budgeting while preparing a delicious and balanced meal. The Cook-Off will also highlight vegetables from the schools' Gulayan sa Paaralan.
The advocacy program continues to cooperate with the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) and the National Dieticians’ Association of the Philippines (NDAP). The collaboration includes sharing data resources on prevailing nutrient deficiencies in the Philippines.