San Miguel Corp. (SMC) said it will convert certain portions of its Ortigas headquarters into patches of urban farms to allow its support staff to grow fresh food and provide them with additional income.
“Under the program, interested employees and workers doing support jobs will be given a plot of land in what will be dubbed as SMC’s ‘Malasakit Garden,’ for them to use as a space to grow whatever produce they like,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
SMC said the employees and workers can bring home their own harvest or opt to sell them at a small farmers market which will be set up at the company’s complex. The employees and workers have the freedom to decide what they want to plant and how they will make the garden thrive, SMC added.
“In this time of pandemic, many Filipinos are looking for ways to earn extra income, or at the very least, make sure they have sufficient supply of food,” SMC President Ramon S. Ang said in a statement.
“Realizing the importance of food security, many are also exploring growing their own food. That is why we thought of this simple project to help our maintenance workers, as well as our own employees.”
Ang said land is not a problem for putting up the urban farms since it is readily available. He added that the company has partnered with non-profit organization SEED Philippines which would train the conglomerates’ employees on how to succeed at urban farming.
“With this, we hope the Malasakit Garden can augment healthy food supply for some of our workers, or serve as an additional source of income.”
Ang noted that many of their support workers grew up in the province and know how to plant but they do not have land for them to do it in the city.
“Our hope is that they can really grow to like planting, they can hone their skills, and it becomes a practical life skill for them,” he said.
“The project will hopefully encourage more businesses to transform urban spaces into functioning ecological spaces and help agriculture flourish.”
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