A SMALL highland town struggling with the pandemic has shared its produce all over the country.
In the early months of the health crisis, Sagada town in Mountain Province started with a cry for help from lowland friends to find a way to sell local produce despite restrictions in a bid to help farmers in the town.
It was during the pandemic that Sustainable Sagada was formed by Tracey Santiago and successfully brought fresh produce to Manila, eliminating the middleman and delivering directly to buyers in partnership with Mayor James Pooten Jr. and the Municipal Agriculture Office.
Today, Sustainable Sagada has morphed into an enterprise helping highland farmers and advocating the entire country to eat healthily.
“Sustainable Sagada continues to support farmers not just in Sagada, but it has extended its reach to Bauko and Atok (Benguet). This is also to complement the different produce of different towns. We also keep on expanding our network of producers who would like to test their products for the Manila market. We're very happy that they are all received well,” added Santiago.
Extending help all over the country
The success of the program also gave way to the many projects that proved to be a win-win system for farmers and consumers and making Sagada produce available nationwide.
Santiago partnered with Art Relief Mobile Kitchen, the group that set up a mobile kitchen in Tiwi, Albay.
“We have been providing them vegetables for cooking since the Taal volcano eruption. We asked people to help us buy vegetables from Cordillera farmers through the Gulay para sa Albay project. This way, we are able to help move vegetables from farmers and bring it to Albay, where it is most needed. For this week, we were able to send about 1,300 kilos of vegetables, combined number of purchased vegetables and those donated by Sagada farmers and Mayor James Pooten Jr. We intend to send at least 10 tons until December,” Santiago said.
Santiago said the program has created opportunities for farmers and producers, as well as filled in the need for different sectors distressed due to the pandemic, including natural disasters.
“If you look at one end where there's an oversupply and another end where there is a void, we try to make solutions to bridge the two ends. The work of bridging these two is no longer just with Sustainable Sagada but with different organizations as well who have already established networks and work on the ground,” Santiago said.
Aside from the Albay project, there is also “Project Karinderya,” a partnership with the Kasagana-ka Development Inc. and Kasagana-ka Cooperative Incorporated with 80 karinderya members receiving green cabbage and sayote from the donations culled from Sustainable Sagada regular buyers and donors.
Santiago said the project is aimed to help other sectors in the community.
“This is to help them augment with their expenses in the karinderya," he said.
Another project is “Singko de Sopa,” or the P5 cabbage soup project for karinderyas in Intramuros.
Sustaining advocacies
Sustainable Sagada has proven produce can reach markets without the middle man and is a testament to the goodwill of strangers to bring food on the table for fellow Filipinos, helping farmers who though thought there was no avenue to sell in a pandemic and feeding a multitude through donations.
“I don't believe in rescuing farmers so they can sell their oversupply of vegetables. It only solves the problem on a short-term basis. If you want to help a farmer, look at whole value chain solutions that will create long term and sustainable opportunities for him and those he feeds,” Santiagao said.
Sustainable Sagada sells fresh produce, smoked meats, sausages, pottery, fruit preserves and baked goods from the community at a low, affordable price, which has created a following in the lowlands with delivery at their doorsteps included in the service, making the purchase seamless and safe.
The movement has now positioned itself at the forefront in helping soup kitchens feed the hungry and give the homeless healthy food, as well as distribute fresh vegetables to jeepney drivers, pedicab drivers, kutseros, vendors and the residential neighborhoods of Intramuros through donations that purchase the vegetables to be given to beneficiaries.
In the time of crisis, Sagada found a way to help itself and others, making survival a goal for all.