SALAD Sky Gardens
Philippine Scouts are farming a SALAD garden that reaches the sky. This unique gravity-defying vertical urban farm project, SALAD (Scouts Aid for Low-income and Distressed) Navoteños, was established by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines Navotas City Council to provide access to fresh and organic vegetables that will be made available not only to Scouts but to the community.
Scouts are raising funding for a new project stage to construct a post-harvest processing facility. Here the harvest of lettuce and other vegetables will be transformed into meals provided to Scouts and local families. The pandemic hit Scouts and their families in Navotas hard. Some lost their jobs and source of income while many others lack access to quality food. This Scout project is crucial, providing sustainable food security to the greater community.
You can be part of the SALAD by donating on the *Scout Donation Platform. Only 24 days left to donate.
We saw the vertical farm not only as an opportunity to help produce nutritious but affordable vegetables for the community but also to have an available facility where Scouts can do volunteer/community service projects, learn about hydroponics and hopefully, earn from the produce production of the farm.” –Scout leader and Young BPF Kim Robert de Leon,Scout lead for this urban agriculture project:
The sky farm’s 12 towers produce vegetables equivalent to the three-hectares worth of traditional farms. The local Scout Council leads the project, and more than 50 senior Scouts volunteer to work at the farm, – learning about sustainable agriculture through tasks like seeding, transplanting, and harvesting the produce.
Project SALAD Navoteños was launched as a complementary initiative to market the produce of this urban farm. The proceeds from the farm are dedicated to providing food relief packs to those in dire need due to the pandemic and its effect on the economy. The proposed project expansion will enable the construction of a post-harvest production facility where lettuce and vegetables may be prepared into healthy food products shared with Scouts as nutritional support and sold to the community to aid the relief efforts.
We have already helped around 30 Scouts and their families when we were still operating only 4 towers, but now that we have 12 towers, we hope to help more”,
“We decided to act on this project since we witnessed the severe impact of the pandemic on low-income families, and we deemed that through this initiative, we will have a sustainable way of helping our fellow citizens.” says Kim Robert de Leon, YBPF.
SALAD promotes healthy and sustainable food sources and assists more Scouts and their families to survive by providing food relief packs. Once the post-harvest and production facility is in place, the Scouts aim to add value to the vegetable produce by producing healthy snacks that will be distributed to Scouts in need. Appropriate packaging will be explored to make the products available to a broader market.
Assisted by the Department of Agriculture, sustainability is ensured by using intercropping, to maximise seasonal farm production, so the farm will produce vegetables throughout the year.
*As always, your donation can be counted towards ongoing BP Fellowship. Select the ‘count toward my fellowship’ option on the donate page.
Photo Credits: Boy Scouts of the Philippines, SALAD Navoteños.