It’s all about making better choices

MANILA, Philippines - How do make the dream of a happier, healthier, more sustainable Philippines a reality through community collaboration?

This is what MUNI hopes to achieve through its various projects including the upcoming MUNI Market Day v2.0 on Oct. 25 and Nov. 8, 2014, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Capitol Commons.

MUNI Market Day v2.0 is a continuing effort to bring together a creative community, and create a culture of conscious consumption and mindful living – or being more socially and environmentally conscious of our lifestyle.

MUNI will be showcasing over 40 merchants to cater to the increasing number of conscious consumers who want to live more meaningfully everyday through daily decisions.

“We simply want to help make choosing better a way of life, for consumers and producers alike, and one way by which we believe we can achieve that is by presenting consumers with healthier, more sustainable alternatives, and also giving producers more access to market and the opportunity to share their stories to people who value them too,” shares Muni chief collaborator Jen Horn.

Some of the market’s mindful merchants include vegetarian food options like Pipino Vegetarian, Kitchen Revolution, Edgy Veggy, beverage brands like Stanford & Shaw, KKK Coffee, Moonleaf Tea Shop, Joost2Boost and Tsaa Laya, and healthy or local snack choices like Nipa Foods, Take Root, Theo & Philo, and more.

“I really believe that to be healthy, we need to feed ourselves, to cook at home, and to cook nourishing food. And I also believe that if you have health problems, you can reverse it or avoid it through food,” shares vegan chef Marie Gonzalez of Kitchen Revolution. “I try to use alternative ingredients such as coconut sugars instead of regular sugar, coconut milk instead of regular milk,” she adds.

Urban farmer Ryan Aguas of Bahay Kubo Organics also expressed the need to reconnect ourselves with the food that we grow for a happier, healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. ‘”When we grow our own food we’re able to appreciate the things that we eat more, and more likely, we’ll be eating more vegetables,” he says.

Other merchants include community-driven social enterprises like GK Enchanted Farm, SOOC, Tupai Dumagat Sculptors, and Gugu, a brand of backpacks made out of saluyot woven at the foot of Mt. Mayon in Bicol.

“The situation of our weaving community partners keeps me going. We won’t stop until we have achieved our vision of ending social injustice and poverty in small cottage industries in the region, and impacting our country on a larger scale,” says Scud Dy of Gugu.

More than just a selling event, the main objective is to educate consumers, and also create a platform for healthy discourse among people from various fields to come together to do what we do better. On top of merchant booths, there will be talks, forums and workshops on healthy food, urban farming, upcycling, cause-driven entrepreneurship and other ways to “greenify” your lifestyle.

Muni is also engaging partners like Amplify.ph and Ukulele Manila to bring in local indie music acts, alongside past collaborators Slow Hello and We Are Imaginary.

For inquiries or possible collaborations, e-mail the Muni team at [email protected], or [email protected] for interested merchants. For more information visit www.muni.com.ph/MuniMarketDay2.