I love eating – who doesn’t? Growing up in Singapore, we often feel quite removed from food production. I remember having a lot of fun visiting places like the Yakult factory, Oh Chin Huat farm, and Sunshine bakeries during school field trips. Everything felt so foreign and we may even get a free sample to bring home!

I also enjoy growing plants – probably something to do with having an edible end product. During the Circuit Breaker period, I joined a Facebook group about farming in apartments. That was when I first heard of the 30 by 30 plan. Someone posted the news of the impending closure of Oh Chin Huat Hydroponic Farm, which drew many comments. Some lamented that it was ironic for such a well-established farm to close down despite our increased awareness about food security, while others wondered if we could afford to be so nostalgic in our march towards progress.

I don’t have the answers, but that made me think about how our food production may change in the next decade and beyond. There is more to this than just our immediate food security at all costs after all.

I hope to hear your views as we explore different environmental issues together this semester. We all have our blind spots and different perspectives would help to enrich the conversation.

 

Cheers,

See Toh Ee Kin

p.s:  I’ve written an op-ed about food security amidst global warming which can be found here. I’ll elaborate on my experience in a future blog post. Stay tuned!