The MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Advocacy, a partnership between the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) and Nestlé Philippines promotes urban agriculture as an easy and practical way to help Filipino communities achieve food self-sufficiency, while improving their access to and consumption of more plant-based food.
The 3-year partnership, created through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed earlier this year, will enable DA-BPI and MAGGI to jointly conduct skills-building activities on the various ways of growing vegetables at home, or in under-utilized areas of communities, schools and other urban spaces, expanding access to nutritious, delicious and balanced meals using their own homegrown produce.
“Everyone has a role to play in food security, and the key to ensure that Filipinos will always have FAITH – or Food Always in The Home – is to work together. Through this partnership, we can teach more Filipinos to grow their own food by providing proper mentoring and assistance, as well as other forms of support from the government and private partners like MAGGI,” said BPI director Glenn Panganiban.
Expert agriculturists from the BPI will train participants on science-based methods of vegetable crop production in limited spaces while the MAGGI Culinary Team, with guidance from the Pinggang Pinoy food plate model, will share recipes on preparing for meals that are delicious, nutritious and budget-friendly.
“Nestlé Philippines believes in a collaborative approach to building communities, and we are proud to stand alongside the Department of Agriculture in inspiring a farm-to-fork movement among Filipino families and communities. We believe that food security is key to the health of all, and that there’s no better way to build a strong nation than by ensuring that healthy food is accessible to everyone,” ,” said said Nestle Philippines corporate affairs head Joey Uy.
Under the agreement, MAGGI will produce and distribute learning materials on vegetable production and affordable plant-based recipes, as well as starter kits that contain planting essentials such as seed trays or basic implements, along with compost and various vegetable seeds from the BPI.