By Ron Genato
Waking up at 5 am on a Sunday isn’t really fun at all. But heck, it’s a day trip to Zambales—anything just to get away from this concrete urban jungle, with friends in tow (including Char’s wonderful parents!) is worth the sacrifice of getting up early! Plus, we’re so excited to meet the people farming our organic vegetables in ABS-CBN Ecovillage.
First off, what’s an ecovillage? So I asked Wikipedia, and the all-knowing cyber-wonder defined it as, “ intentional communities, where members are united by a shared ecological value.” Well, for the people in ABS-CBN ecovillage, it wasn’t intentional but necessary to move to the lands owned by the benevolent Lopezes in 1991 because they were displaced by the destruction brought about by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.
But I guess everything happens for a reason. I believe it is a happy accident that now, there is a community of farmers who are making a decent livelihood, while caring for the environment—through organic farming.
We were blessed that one of our unitmates in Hungrily chanced upon his college professor, Ms. Beth de Castro, who was working with the ecovillage. It so happens that Ms. Beth, a psychology professor at UP, thought that the goals of the community-shared agriculture model of Hungrily’s Good Food Project, were in line with the ecovillage’s goals to have sustained livelihood through organic farming. She invited us to check them out.
And we sure did! We had a blast meeting Ms. Beth and her husband Sir Tony who is as passionate as her in trying to make the lives of the farmers in the ecovillage better with organic farming. We also met a group of good-natured Germans who were also visiting the place to see if they can promote the ecovillage’s products back in their country. The couple toured us around their plantations, and we marveled at the wondrous greens sprouting here and there—arugula, tanglad (lemongrass), a variety of lettuces, and carrot seedlings, all looking healthy, alive, and well cared for.
They were also farming earthworms—which fascinated me to bits because these creatures, as shared by Ma’am Beth, is what Charles Darwin called the most important creatures in this planet. And who would argue with that? They make the soil really healthy by feeding off garbage and turning them to wonderful organic compost—so we can have vegetables and fruits to eat and nourish our bodies! And you should know that these earthworms’ ancestors came from Africa pa! They’re the ones kasi that don’t burrow too deep into the ground and are good for farming. Tapos what fascinating creatures they are because as it turns out they are hermaphrodites! So they can either be male or female! So everyone gets to be pregnant at one point. Talk about equality people!
Char and Jovee even tasted the cute cherry tomatoes and we even had that on video! Check them out:
But what really impressed us are the little houses of the farmers we saw lined up along the road adjacent to the farmlands. They had little patches of garden also in their backyard for them to grow some produce for their families. Their ornamental plants are lovely hung by the window, and had cute colorful designs that radiate their uniqueness. The farmers had smiles on their faces as we approached them, and some even gave mangoes to the Germans—makes me so proud to be Pinoy for that warm hospitable nature. Kahit walang-wala, basta may maibigay.
After inspecting the plantation, we were rewarded by a fresh-tasting lunch with an Indian kick lovingly prepared for us by the people behind Sonali Kitchen. I was particularly cooled down by the Tanglad iced-tea they prepared. Maybe I should make some back home in Manila!
We also interviewed the ladies in the community spearheading the ecovillage farming project. Aling Emilyn, manages a women’s organization taking care of the welfare of women inside the village. She revealed how kind and generous it was for the Lopezes to let them stay in their lands, even after almost twenty years. She’s particularly grateful for their unwavering support in training them not only in farming, and earning other possible means of livelihood, but also letting them attend seminars on family matters and personality development.
I also had a delight meeting Eunilyn, who is a recent Agriculture graduate. She literally grew up in this community, and seeing her drive to help her folks with her knowledge in farming is very touching, and at the same time, empowering. She relates that she inspects each and every garden inside the ecovillage to see if they are cultivating the earthworms well, and if the vegetables are farmed with the right procedures, and know-how.
It goes without saying that these communities, while thriving, still need more training and support, and their openness to knowledge, and assistance is really amazing. I hope that this visit is a start of a partnership that will benefit the farmers’ lives as much as it will benefit the well-being of the people who buy and eat the organic produce.
While we didn’t get to bask under the sun and enjoy the river kayaking (which we could have done if we had time to spare!), it did give us the insight and desire we need to inspire us that something must be done. We can’t wait to go back and really immerse ourselves in knowing the real faces behind our food – their histories, their plight, their aspirations and dreams.
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