Farm-to-table – Cook In:Lab

My ratatouille inspired farm-to-table lunch of organic greens

Farm-to-table (or farm-to-fork), one of many food movements in today’s health conscious culture, focuses on producing food locally and delivering that food to local consumers. It is often associated with organic farming initiatives, sustainable agriculture, and community-supported agriculture. While it has been gaining popularity in other parts of the world, in Singapore, this is still largely unheard of among most of the locals.

Little surprise there since according to AVA, Singapore imports some 90% of our food. According to AVA’s statistics, as of 2013, we only have 243 licensed farms, 675 ha. of farmland and we produce a total of S$242.3 million worth of food from our farm production. This is a mere drop of water in the vast ocean, needed to feed some $5.4 million hungry mouths (Singapore’s Population Statistics).

Yet, at the same time, I am equally impressed by the amount of food that we are already producing locally, given how little land we possess. According to the World Bank, Singapore’s population density in 2013 stands at 7,713 people per square metre. That makes us the 3rd most densely populated country in the world, behind Macao (18,942/sqm) and Monaco (18,916/sqm).

For many Singaporeans, the fact that we are producing that much food from our local farms, will probably come as a surprise as well. Most of us spend our days in our offices and have never or rarely seen a farm in Singapore. Our food comes from the supermarket, pre-packed. So what you don’t see, generally doesn’t exist (at least in our own minds).

Last week, I wrote about the Kranji Countryside, where we can find a number of our local farms. While it makes for a nice weekend outing, it is not always practical or easy to buy your fresh produce directly at the farm everyday or every week. However, the good news is that most of these farms offer home delivery and some are even distributed at our local supermarkets. So, if you want a convenient way to enjoy fresh organic farm produce in the comfort of your own home, you can.

To make it easier, here’s a quick summary of some of the farm-to-table options (with delivery or a supermarket presence) available in Singapore:

Fire Flies Health Farm: Buy organic vegetables & fruits at the farm or online.
Quan Fa Organic Farm: Buy organic vegetables & fruits at the farm or online.
Aero Green Tech: Their Aeroponic vegetables are available at local supermarkets like NTUC & Cold Storage.
Green Circle Eco Farm: Buy vegetables & fruits (grown without the use of any artificial chemical or pesticide) online.
Kin Yan Agrotech: Buy organic wheatgrass at the farm or online. Their range of organic wheatgrass is also available at NTUC, super markets and health food stores.
Hay Dairies: Buy fresh goat’s milk (free from antibiotics, preservatives & growth hormones) at the farm, online or at specific distributors islandwide.
JFF Pte Ltd: Buy frogs, crocodile meat & fish (free from antibiotics, hormones or steroids) at the farm or online.

The exciting reveal of my veggie basket from Green Circle

I had a chance to test out the delivery services from Green Circle Eco Farm recently. They offer a Veggie Basket of seasonal vegetable. Each basket costs $30 (with an additional $5 for delivery) and contains approximately 7 types of vegetables or fruits.

For those who do not wish to select your own vegetables from their list or who love surprises, this is a good option to go for. Home deliveries are currently made from 2 – 10pm on Wednesdays (East of Singapore), Thursdays (Central area) and Fridays (Western side of Singapore) only. The only issue I had was I didn’t know what time I would receive my delivery. In this case, I received my basket on Wednesday at 8pm (I stay in the Siglap area) and from what I understand, subsequent delivery will be at a similar time.

It was quite exciting to see what was included in the basket. However, if you wish to maximise your grocery budget for the week, it is perhaps best to pick your own vegetables. And while organic vegetables are indeed a little more expensive, it doesn’t have to break your bank or exceed your weekly expenditure. Here’s a quick cost comparison as an illustration:

	Organic	Non-Organic
Cai Xin (250g)	$2.50	$2.04
Kai Lan (250g)	$2.50	$2.38
Xia Bai Cai (250g)	$2.50	$1.88

Surely, a small price to pay to know that the food you are eating is free from artificial harmful substances. While you may not be entirely convinced yet, at least consider giving it a try. After all, increasing the demand for organic farm-to-table produce may in the long run mean a better price for consumers and a cleaner lifestyle for all.

Check back for some budget farm-to-table recipes that you can cook at home, which I will be sharing over the next few weeks.

To find out how you can support the farm-to-table practice at your next party, contact us for a discussion.

Just over the weekend, I had the chance to visit the Kranji Countryside, a collection of farms located in the rural north-western corner of Singapore. It is touted as the Wild Wild West of Singapore, which is funny in the larger context of the rest of the world, but probably true for Singaporeans who are more used to seeing high rise buildings than acres of vegetable beds & piles of goat poo.

So what warranted this visit? With the growing focus on a healthier lifestyle and calls for “Farm to Table”, “Wholefoods” & “Organic” gaining increasing momentum around the world, I wanted to know if we had a sustainable food source, that does not rely solely on imports, able to support these food movements.

Their signature “Blue” Nasi Lemak

First stop was at Bollywood Veggies, a ten acre farm, with an onsite bistro serving local fare cooked with produce from the farm. So, what better way to experience the local farm culture than to dive right in, into lunch of course. Their signature “Blue” Nasi Lemak was nicely fragrant and the blue colour in the rice comes from the petals of the clitoria ternatea (butterfly-pea) flowers (kembang telang) grown on the farm. It would have been better if the rice was served warm instead of cold and it was a little too soft for my taste. But the chicken wing (hot & crispy), ikan bilis & tapioca chips (grown right on the farm) and chilli (more would have been better) were good.

The tour of the farm, after lunch, was pretty educational. The many different types of herbs, fruit trees, vegetables, flowers available on the farm makes for an interesting time. Everything is well-labelled and there are short writeups for the different sections, so even for the uninitiated, a self-guided tour is easy. Makes for a great weekend activity, especially if the only time you get to see vegetables and fruits are when they are in their packages in the supermarkets or on your plate.

Brinjal

Chilli padi

Sweet Potato

Peppers

Starfruit

Jackfruit

Neem

Betel Leaf

Laksa Leaf

Next up, a visit to Hay Diaries, the only goat farm we have in Singapore. Housing some 800 goats of various breed, Hay Dairies offers fresh goat’s milk to customers as an alternative to those allergic to cow’s milk. Purchase is available either through Home Delivery Service, Selected Store Outlets or Direct Farm Purchase. They currently offer 2 flavours, natural & chocolate. I recommend the natural version as the chocolate tastes a little artificial. Goat’s milk also generally tastes a little less rich than cow’s milk. For those who are hoping to catch some milking action, you’ll need to come between 9 – 11am.

Moving on, Quan Fa Organic Farm is where you’ll get to see a real working farm, with just beds and beds of vegetables, all farmed by hand and free of pesticides and harmful fertilizers. Aside from the vegetables, there is a small retail store onsite where you can purchase fresh produce right off the farm. While organic vegetables tend to be slight pricier, it’s certainly worth the little extra for fresh, natural greens and I was tempted to make some purchases here as the vegetables were beautiful and fresh.

Here’s what I made with my Nai Bai purchase – a simple grilled Cajun-spiced chicken on a bed of stir-fried Nai Bai & mushrooms

Seeding the beds by hand is backbreaking work

Roasted Quail with Sweet Potato & Cauliflower

Final stop for the day was at the Farmart Centre. Based on its website, you would think it is the perfect location for a family outing, with farm tours, animal feeding, dining, shopping – NOT. It was the most disappointing part of the afternoon for me. A sad, run down excuse of a location with animals crammed in their enclosures, stores mostly closed and loud karaoke singing in the background. The only redeeming part of that visit was Uncle William’s store, the retail arm of Lian Wah Hang Farm, the first and only Game Bird farm in Singapore, where I bought some quail eggs and spring quails (which I used to make this roasted quail dish).

All in all, it made for an interesting afternoon on a weekend. Not the usual programme most of us city-dwelling Singaporeans are used to. I definitely recommend it if you have never been here before. There is a lot more to be discovered in this last bit of farming paradise in Singapore, with easily more than 20 different farms on the list. And it is heartening to know that if we wanted to, we can still practice a farm-to-table approach in our cooking and perhaps we all should do so more readily. Not only does it mean a cleaner, healthier living, but also by supporting our local enterprises, we just may be able to play a part in keeping this last bit of green tradition from disappearing all together.

To find out how you can support the farm-to-table practice at your next party, contact us for a discussion.

Cook In:Lab

Tag Archives: Farm-to-table

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