Plant seeds, grow livelihood

The joys of Mondelez Philippines’ Urban Vegetable Garden Movement 

MANILA, Philippines - Judith Estrada from Pateros has always enjoyed planting gardens and seeing things grow. After getting the push she needed to grow her garden, she now harvest tomatoes, chilies, okra and eggplants from her backyard. Best of all, she gets to feed fresh vegetables to her family, at little or no cost.

This is urban gardening, the movement that’s empowering families to grow fresh food and move one step closer to good nutrition.

Judith won Mondelez Philippines’ urban vegetable gardening contest in 2014 for having the most abundant garden among the parents of her child’s school P. Manalo Elementary.

Through Mondelez Philippines’ flagship Joy Schools program, teachers and parents of beneficiary schools are invited to an urban gardening seminar and are taught how to make use of discarded bottles, sacks and containers, which would otherwise be trash, to use as pots for planted vegetables.

Urban gardens and other initiatives that seek to build better futures are the focus of Mondelez Philippines’ Joy Schools program. Through this, six public elementary schools nationwide have been adopted by the company and its employees under a three-year period to help transform the schools into joyful centers of learning by way of interventions for nutrition, teacher training and facilities improvement.

Urban gardening is one of the initiatives for promoting good nutrition. Often called community gardening, it is an empowering movement that’s gaining ground not only in the Philippines but in other cities around the world.

“We believe in the potential of families and of urban gardening,” explains Ma. Cindy Lim, head of corporate and government affairs of Mondelez Philippines, the company formerly named Kraft Foods.

“One thing we’d like to help build as well is for the capacity of families to help themselves. Not just to share food, but to share knowledge that would help them grow their own food, independent of any help. That’s the vision of our support and how we aim to create joy for them.”

As a food manufacturing company, Mondelez Philippines sought a partnership with East West Seed Foundation (EWSF) for its expertise in urban gardening technologies.

“What we teach parents and teachers are practical and life-long lessons that they can use in-school and at home, wherever they live,” relates Mary Joyce Gaviola, program officer for EWSF and the main lecturer during the seminars for Mondelez Philippines’ Joy Schools.

She adds, “We promote the benefits of eating vegetables. We teach them how to decide where to put their gardens – even with limited space, which vegetables grow with limited sun, how much soil to use, and the like. After this, we take them through hands-on exercise to give them the feel of planting on their own.”

“We’re thankful for the partnership with EWSF,” adds Lim. “They’ve given our adopted parents and teachers a better understanding of how to provide for their own families. Our great hope is that more parents take this up, and maybe even make this a source of livelihood.”

All the participants of the training were provided starter kits of seeds, sacks and soil.

Jonald Trinidad, urban gardening coordinator of Bayanan Main Elementary, is one of those who works closely with the parents of his school.

He explains, “Ang pinaka-nagustuhan ko ay iyong hands-on planting activity.  Maganda kasing nakikita kasabay noon, ginagawa namin ng magkakasama.”

Like any movement, urban gardening will grow roots only through the collaboration of a community. For more information, visit http://ph.mondelezinternational.com.