Planting seeds of hope in face of a pandemic

Cebu is an island province in Central Visayas and one of the most developed provinces of the Philippines. It has a rich and colorful past. The famed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, on his quest to reach the Spice Islands, docked in Cebu in 1521. Long before the Spaniards arrived, Cebu was already inhabited by people who engaged in trade with other Asian civilizations in what are now known as China, Japan, India, Burma, and Malaysia; hence, the island became known as “Cebu” from the old Cebuano word “Sibu”, which means “trade”. Such is the proud history of Cebu, where I am taking you now, to introduce you to an initiative that aims to feed communities in a sustainable way.

The Grow-It-Yourself (GIY) Feeding Program

Teresa D. Ruelas, President and Co-Executive Director of the Communities for Alternative Food EcoSystems initiative (CAFEi) in Cebu, shared her stories of how rural and urban communities in Cebu are coping with food supply under the COVID-19 lockdown. The CAFEi founded the “GIY Feeding Program”, which encourages families to grow their own food at home or in community gardens.

The idea started two years ago. For the last six years, CAFEi has been running three farmers’ markets in Cebu, where they sell the fresh produce of local farmers. The aim of the farmers’ markets is to deliver healthy, organic food to all. In parallel are feeding programs in local public schools and churches which provide food to children and their families without building their capacity to grow their own foods. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the farmers could not sell their fresh produce in other cities. Consumers in the urban areas started to worry about this situation. The local government, non-profit organizations, and private individuals rationed basic food parcels of mostly white rice and canned foods. There is a concern amongst the people for healthy foods. The lockdown is an eye opener to the reality that families and communities should grow their own food, rather than depend on traditional feeding programs.

Seven Families of Hope

CAFEi partnered with Fr. Michael Murphy Sarsonas, head of the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Environmental Concern, a parish priest to 46 chapels, to start the program “Seven Families of Hope”. The program aims to serve two sets of seven families at each chapel and teach them the concept of solidarity and the importance of helping each other. The families then participate in the GIY Feeding Program for 8 to 12 weeks. CAFEi provides a week-long supply of fresh produce, a description of their health benefits, and a list of ingredients and recipes.  

On the third week, gardening tools and planting materials are also given to the families. They are taught about composting and how to prepare natural plant nutrients. In the first few weeks, food baskets were given to the families to teach them to appreciate the value of fresh produce, an appreciation they retain when they start planting their own garden.

Filling our gift baskets with Cebu’s finest, freshest organically grown produce from our farmers.

Healthy, local, organically grown produce from our farmers wait to fill gift baskets that go to the families.

Limited availability and variety of produce are the initial challenges encountered by the program. During the lockdowns, food and border passes were difficult to secure for farmers outside the cities. This restricted the transfer of food to markets and consumers. CAFEi was able to source organically-grown produce among their member farmers in the distant mountains within Cebu City. Another challenge facing the program is its inability to include more sets of families because of limited funding.

CAFEi’s long-term plan after COVID-19 is to enable at least 100 families in 46 neighborhoods to grow their own food. Their vision is to make food accessible by enabling each neighborhood to grow its own community gardens for their own consumption and livelihood, and for them to transfer knowledge to others. The pandemic highlighted the dignity in farming, the respect due to our farmers, and the relevance of growing one’s own food for survival.

Feed A Nation

A resilient food ecosystem to feed a nation begins with edible garden communities. It starts with a small group of growers and inculcating in them the community spirit of helping, supporting, and sharing. The importance of seeds and how to save and propagate them are instilled in these communities. The next step is to help them set up farmers’ markets supplied by the urban gardeners where farmers can trade seeds, tools, and knowledge. The markets will be a venue to awaken and educate stakeholders about the importance of supporting growers. The initiative will focus on local heritage crops and passing the knowledge of how these crops are grown and prepared to the next generations.

Seeds of the kamunggay or moringa, a superfood that grows wild in the city.

Seedlings of tinduganay, a heritage legume that is nutritious and climate-resilient.

Special thanks to Ms. Teresa D. Ruelas for generously sharing her stories and her vision of food for the well-being of all, people and planet. To find out more and support CAFEi’s GIY Feeding Program and the “Seven Families of Hope”, please write to cafeinitiative@gmail.com and check out www.facebook.com/cafeiinc.           

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joan Oñate Narciso is a current Future Food Fellow at the Laboratory of Food Biochemistry, ETH Zürich. She studied plant biology for her PhD, focusing on plant cell walls, which led to her desire to work in Food Biochemistry. Coming from the Philippines and with grandparents who worked in and owned farms back home; agriculture, food systems, and the lives of farmers have always been her personal interest and passion. She hopes to raise awareness of the situation of small-scale farmers and their communities through her science and her writing.

I am grateful to the Future Food Initiative and the World Food System Center ETH Zurich, not only for supporting my research financially, but also for the lovely informal discussions; and the Laboratory of Food Biochemistry of Professor Dr. Laura Nyström for being my “family” during my stay at ETH Zürich.