Chua Yi Xuan (FoS), Lim Jia Wen (FASS), Sharina Bte Mohamed Amran (FASS), Tan Wen Xin (FoE), Tay Yong Qiang (FoS)
Academic Advisor: Mr. Lim Cheng Puay
Industry Advisor: Ms. Aditi (Pocket Greens)
Singapore is a highly urbanized country with very little land available for food production. Over 90% of our food is imported. Food security is a key concern in the light of climate change where our food supply might be disrupted. Urban farming, where edible plants are grown in buildings, has the potential to supplement an individual’s diet. Growing your own food also reduces the carbon footprint incurred in buying imported produce. Focussing on undergraduates living in residential colleges, our group engaged the RVRC community by issuing a Plant-It-Yourself kit, to be grown over the course of 5 weeks. This kit consists of seeds potted in recycled containers and a digital instruction manual. The two main criteria for success to gauge their change in mindsets are: (1) the level of interest of participants has increased, (2) they expressed interest in the continuation of growing their own food. We will gauge these through surveys which will be done at the start, middle and end of the project to evaluate whether there is a progressive change in mindset. We propose that opening mindsets of students can be the first step in making growing their own food a sustainable lifestyle.
Keywords: Culture and Lifestyle Trends, Responsible Consumption, Food, Urban farming, Food Security