Philippines: Greening the city is the way to go

“Even government employees are becoming interested in learning how to plant and grow their own food,” he said.

By Jonathan L. Mayuga
Business Mirror
July 25, 2021

Excerpt:

THE Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to the “plantitos/plantitas”—plant hobbyists, home gardeners and indoor farmers—who have found a more productive way to spend their quarantined lives.

And as the coronavirus continues to threaten communities with the highly transmissible and deadlier Delta variant, the trend will likely continue as both a pastime and a food source for plant lovers and nurturers in the Philippines.

A way to fight hunger

MER Layson, a journalist and urban farming practitioner, has been teaching how to raise vegetables using plastic bottles via Facebook and YouTube.

In a telephone interview on July 19, Layson, also known as “Magsasakang [Farmer] Reporter,” said urban farming has become a way to fight hunger and poverty.

“I taught urban farming face-to-face at my house in Paco, Manila, but it stopped during the pandemic,” Layson said.

“Fortunately, my son taught me how to use YouTube so I started teaching again,” he said in Filipino.

Layson said that many people are interested in learning how to grow their own food when access to food became momentarily difficult at the height of the pandemic.

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