Urban gardening to attain food security, boost agri-tourism

August 28, 2018 Community Billboard

BAGUIO CITY – The city government is institutionalizing programs for the successful promotion of urban gardening that will help attain food security and empower residents to produce food for themselves and to help promote this summer capital as an agri-tourism destination, through the passage of ordinances.
As an offshoot of Resolution No. 198 series of 2015 entitled “Strongly Endorsing Organic Backyard Gardening to Augment the Nutritional Needs of the Elderly and the Family”, Resolution No.075 Series of 2017 entitled “Declaring the month of May 2017 and every year thereafter as ‘Urban Farmer’s Month’ in the city of Baguio, was also approved by the council. 
Both legislative acts, authored by Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr. said “living in an urban area such as Baguio City demands innovative approaches to be able to meet nutritional requirements with minimal costs to the consumers.”
With this, the concept of organic urban gardening was introduced to the community as a strategy to help the people find means to augment their daily vegetable requirement and also educate the people on the productive utilization of vacant spaces and the joy of handpicking the harvest.
To further strengthen the occasion, programs and projects of urban gardening, the councilor authored and was able to get the approval of Ordinance No.35 Series of 2018 on March 12, 2018.
Yangot, Jr., underscored the institutionalization of the celebration of Urban Farmers’ month saying “the city has given a big boost to organic practitioners to strongly advocate for the establishment of urban gardens in their neighborhood which is now being replicated by other interested residents in other barangays of the city.”
This also allows the urban garden practitioners to share their knowledge and urge others to adapt the same.
Yangot explained that the Urban Gardening Project, which is also popularly known as backyard farming was designated to help in the promotion and strengthening of the city’s environmental and solid waste management programs.
He said, the main objective of the program is to establish urban gardens or backyard farms in the city that will promote organic food production especially among the marginalized sector to achieve a degree of food security and diversity. This will also to empower the city residents to produce food for themselves aside from handling biodegradable wastes.
Various activities such as agri-tourism fair, the judging of the Best Urban Garden and Edible Backyard Farm are all part of the celebration of Urban Farmer’s month. On its first year, a total of 43 entries from the different barangays joined. The winners received attractive prizes.
AGRI-TOURISM PROGRAM
In its aim to start the promotion of the city’s agri-tourism industry, the first Strawberry Farm at this Summer Capital was opened.
The Bilis Farmers Association agreed to convert as a destination the Bilis Strawberry Farm in Sto. Tomas Central, Baguio City.
Residents here started to plant San Andrea and California variety strawberries on a 1.5 hectare lot. Growing them organically with the use of the abundant fresh spring water, the berries turned out big and sweet.
This program got the backing of different agencies in government as a boost to promote the concept of urban gardening.
GULAYAN SA PAARALAN
The Department of Education (DepEd) in Cordillera is urging schools in the region to adopt available urban gardening systems to sustain their feeding programs for students and at the same time impart the value of healthy eating.
Deped-Cordillera Medical Officer Dr. Angeline Calatan said some schools in the region, particularly those in the highly-urbanized areas like Baguio City, find it hard to sustain their “Gulayan sa Paaralan Project” (vegetable garden in school) due to lack of available space for planting, but she pointed out that there are practical urban gardening systems being introduced, which the schools could easily adopt, specifically for growing vegetables.
She said urban gardening could use the walls of buildings for hanging pots and recyclable plastic containers, where vegetables are grown. She said an urban garden could also use biodegradable wastes as compost and garden soil. The aim is to serve healthy food to the children, as this comes straight from the school garden, which the students themselves, could help take care of.
GULAYAN SA PRESINTO
Aside from the focus to maintain peace and order, personnel of the Baguio City Police Office are also giving their time in agriculture under the urban gardening program of the police in all the stations.
The project dubbed “Gulayan sa Presinto” is in support to the Urban Gardening ordinance of the city that encourages the establishment of backyard gardens, which will not only help in food production but also in greening the environment.
A visit to any of the 10 police stations of the BCPO allows one to see the vegetable planted on small open spaces and pots, hanging as decorations. They grow tomatoes, eggplant, string beans and pechay. As the stations located at the central business district do not have the space, the police assigned there have resorted to growing vegetables using pots and hanging them on the wall as a vertical garden.
“Here at the main office, I plant vegetables on pots at the cement flat roof. What we produce here, we cook for our food in the office. This is a good pastime and source of food that helps make the environment green,” said Senior Superintendent Ramil Saculles, city director of BCPO.
COMMENDATION FOR URBAN GARDENING
The National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) commended the city government officials for passing the ordinance and aggressively promoting urban gardening to the residents- sustaining the greenery and at the same time producing edible plants.
“The enactment of the urban gardening ordinance is aligned with its programs on the preservation and protection of the age-old tradition of residents in helping produce their own source of food aside from contributing in efforts to improve the state of their own environment,” said NCCA arts section head Ferdinand Isleta.
INSTITUTIONALIZING URBAN GARDEN CONTEST
In recognition of the vital role of urban gardening enthusiasts particularly in the community and appropriating funds for the purpose, the city council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance institutionalizing the “Annual Search for the Edible or Home Backyard Garden Contest in Baguio City” and institutionalizing the conduct of “Urban gardening in Baguio”.
Yangot said that urban gardening will not only make the concrete green by having vertical gardens, but will also assure that food will be readily available on the table of every resident. ZALDY COMANDA / ABN