Growing food for security

This is a submitted written article for a School Requirement in Editorial Writing Subject

More than the threat to health, COVID-19 Pandemic also worsens unemployment,  unwanted pregnancies, financial problems, and most probably food insecurity. In the  Philippines, 59 Million Filipinos experienced food insecurity according to the United  Nations, and that data was gathered before the pandemic and at the start of the health  crisis, the situation worsened as the virus adversely affected the agriculture sector that  finds it hard to transport their goods to the urban communities.

IPC Chronic Food  Insecurity 2020 Analysis shows that 64% of the population of the country is chronically  food insecure. This has not been taken seriously yet as the country faces many other  problems such as corruption in the health department, the health sector is not supported  and is on the verge of collapsing, disinformation and is still economically recovering. 

Food insecurity is caused by high-level chronic undernutrition which also indicates  poor consumption of quality and quantity. In the city, we can remember that when  disinformation about lockdowns spread, people resort to panic buying with the fear that  they would not be able to go outside for a very long time and that they cannot buy food  and other essentials, which causes some important goods in the market to be sold out. 

The problem added up when even the working places are prohibited to be open, Thurs  resulting in a decrease in productivity, which also means that this decreases food  production, although the local government units provide little relief goods during the  lockdown, the nutrients that the canned goods and noodles aren't enough to support the  healthy lifestyle of the community. 

Now, although the situation is quite getting better as there is a decrease in the  number of infections but we cannot be still complacent about it as long as there is no cure  for the virus, and the government is far away from performing efficiently, it might hit an  increase of infections anytime, so there is a need to create something that can help people  secure food on their tables, especially in these times of uncertainty--urban food  gardening. 

As defined by Iberdrola (2022), Urban Food Gardening is the cultivation of  vegetables, fruits as well as aromatic plants, medicinal herbs, and other things that are  outside or in enclosed spaces on a domestic scale.

As said by The Food and Agriculture  Organization of the United Nations, urban gardening is an industry that produces,  processes, and markets foods to respond to the everyday demand of people in a city or  metropolis with the use of intensive production methods as well as using and reusing  natural resources and urban wastes to make a diversity of crops and livestock. 

The Philippines is known to be an agricultural country yet the government does not  give enough support to the agricultural sector, however, this might change when people  in the cities started gardening as well, which could urge the Government to see the  importance of investing and supporting agricultural activities that can solve hunger,  poverty and food scarcity in the country. 

While some people started urban gardening this type of activity is not yet reachable  and available for the poor as building a garden required an amount of money for the things  needed to make one. If the government will implement a project on promoting urban  gardening then this could resolve not just food insecurity but can contribute to sustainable  livelihood and healthy lifestyle for the Filipinos that could strengthen their immune system  and they will have the ability to protect themselves from the threat of COVID-19. 

Benefits 

Urban Food Gardening will decrease and even eliminate food insecurity in the  country as Filipinos will have the capacity to grow and harvest their nutritious food that is  better in quality than what is bought in the grocery stores. 

It will also make way for Filipinos to grow and consume quality, safe and healthy  food. As we all know food in the market travels a long way from place to place so they  need to be sprayed and covered with chemicals to prevent them from being damaged. It  is not fresh anymore and it does not give the right and enough nutrition that our body  needs.

In an urban garden, you control everything you put in your growing food so you  know its quality and if it is safe for you to consume. Thus reducing the harm if the food  you eat is contaminated with bacteria or viruses. This could also improve their physical  health so that they will be able to still move even though they're mostly in their homes and  their mental health as what is happening in the world right now is too stressful. 

What is more appealing with this is that it promotes sustainability. As the city is  filled with pollution it is no wonder that you can easily catch a disease or a virus because  the environment is not healthy and urban gardening does not secure you with food but  also secure you with a good quality environment.

Kevin Rodrigues (2019), founder of  Gardening Mentor said in an article that urban gardening decreases carbon footprints  from the food system for it reduces fossil fuel consumption. Likewise, it efficiently uses  water, particularly hydroponic gardening which uses 90% less water than conventional  farming. The means of this, this could also be an answer to the problems of climate  change, which is not only beneficial to us human beings but the environment and the  future generation as well. 

In a study titled 'Converting Home Spaces into Food Gardens at the Time of Covid 19 Quarantine: All the Benefits of Plants in this Difficult and Unprecedented Period' by  Sofo and Sofo (2020), suggested that home vegetable gardens have the potential to  influence environmental outcomes, citizens’ consciousness, and market trends.

They  also said that it is time for us to start thinking about a new way of living which can begin  with daily activities that incorporates a small-scale and bottom-up approach, and must be  based on sustainable use of natural resources and promotion of a subsistence economy  with the aim for something that lasts both in material and psychological terms. 

More than that, it can also provide several benefits for the economy. Urban  gardens can encourage and promote economic development which is needed by our  country right now and improve tourism. When the urban gardens are well cultivated and  have reached many urban communities doing it, they will be appealing not just for their  good and health benefits but for aesthetics as well and will eventually attract business  investors, visitors, and residents.

In an article published by Marzieh Rezaei Ghaleh  (2019), urban gardens improve the ideality of both residential and commercial areas. It  also accelerated the value of properties and created local employment as well as income. 

On Facebook, there is a group named "Manila Grows Food" started by Monique  Obligation and her partner Rocco Mapua that encourages people living in the city to start  planting their food. As of now, the group has 27,000 members from which all of the  members share their activities to attain living sustainably, food security, disaster  preparedness, and zero waste.

This community can foster and be larger when they are  given enough support and funds by the Government, as everything is interdependent with  each other once this lead of people growing food in the city became known it is not ideal  but if we give enough support and importance in urban gardening we might wake up one  day not being guilty thinking that others might be hungry while we have enough food on  our tables, because we know that our fellow Filipinos as well are eating too.

References  

• Ambius. (2014, July 3). Urban gardening tips. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from Ambius:  https://www.ambius.com/blog/urban-gardening-tips/ 

• BACANI, X. C. (2021, June 26). Farm to table food insecurity in the Philippines. Retrieved February 25,  2022, from Rappler: https://www.rappler.com/nation/farm-table-food-insecurity philippines/?fbclid=IwAR3g7kCt_Trni5fbuAZXKFwlJPiPkeWX9IJ0UVqJ4EsRPsmESayKugpC6tw 

• Bank, T. W. (2021, December 7). PHILIPPINES: Boosting Private Sector Growth Can Strengthen Recovery,  Create More Jobs. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from The World Bank:  https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/12/07/ph-boosting-private-sector growth-can-strengthen-recovery-create-more-jobs?

• Dewey, S. (2021, December 23). The Power of Urban Agriculture in Transforming a Community. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from Conservation Law Foundation: https://www.clf.org/blog/the-power-of-urban-agriculture-in-transforming-a- community/

• Ghaleh, M. R. (2019, July 15). Ecological, Social, and Economic Benefits of Urban Agriculture. Retrieved  February 25, 2022, from Tehran Times: https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/438142/Ecological-Social-and-Economic-Benefits-of-Urban-Agriculture 

• Iberdrola. (2022). WHAT IS URBAN HORTICULTURE? Retrieved February 25, 2022, from Iberdrola: https://www.iberdrola.com/social-commitment/what-is-urban-gardening?

• PORTAL, I. A. (2020). Philippines: Chronic Food Insecurity Situation 2015-2020. Retrieved 25 2022,  February, from IPC ANALYSIS PORTAL: https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/
  

• Sofo, A., & Sofo, A. (2020, April 21). Converting Home Spaces into Food Gardens at the Time of Covid-19  Quarantine: all the Benefits of Plants in this Difficult and Unprecedented Period. Retrieved  February 25, 2022, from Springer: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-020-00147-3