Off to market daily!

It’s been a challenge to try to eat healthy and clean (meaning food that is natural, fresh and organic). I know this is shared by so many friends of mine in that they want to eat healthy, but the speed of work and life means they end up with take-outs and fastfood, and when schedules allow, go to weekend organic markets. All my involvement in eating and living healthy has been a journey of many years, of following organic weekend markets around Makati to purchase food.

I have become even more obsessive after reading more information at the state of the food industry today vis-a-vis health, sanitation and nutrition, and issues related to growing, processing and preparing food. Today vegetables are sprayed with chemicals; GMO is everywhere (or genetically modified organism where genetic materials of seeds, crops, veggies have been altered using genetic engineering techniques); we fish from polluted seas, hormones and steroids are pumped into poultry and dairy products. I have watched DVDs like Food Inc. about the state of the food industries, End of the Line, about the fishing industry and how unsustainable it has become; and listen to talks during international organic trade shows and festivals; not to mention reading newsletters on sustainability almost weekly.

Then I listen to the rise of ovarian cystic growths in women friends. I talk to doctors who tell me the rise in numbers of operations they are doing are due to the amount of hormones pumped into chicken, milk and eggs. An example is how commercial chicken is raised in factory farming style. In the US, since 1965, one person could operate a plant producing 40,000 birds a day. CAFO, which stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, is what this process is called. CAFO creates massive amounts of manure, which needs to be removed. Poultry manure is traditionally a valuable and important fertilizer, and can be recycled or spread into the land. However, CAFOs produce so much waste that the land cannot absorb it and the excess is contaminating ground water, rivers and lakes. It’s a circle. The nitrogen rich waste causes excess algae buildup in nearby waterways then streams are deprived of oxygen, killing plants, fish and other organisms. And I am just talking about chicken! And our country is importing so much chicken today. Scary. But true.

Inside the store.

We all eat food. We all want food of the highest quality and safety. Issues such as food allergies, the effects of additives, organic and genetically-modified foods are all areas that people have worries about. And I am just one of a growing number of such people.

So it’s been even been more of a challenge for me to shop: I read ingredients of things I buy; I buy brands I can trust; I try to watch what I eat and from who I buy the ingredients and produce from. My lament was always about missing the weekend organic market especially when I had to go out of town. So what has recently happened was a natural outcome of this journey of sustainability that I (and my two friends Reena and Chit) have been experiencing in the past three years. When the next door space of ECHOstore in Serendra suddenly freed up, Reena jumped at it and we began ECHOmarket Sustainable Farms (yes, another ECHO thinggy). Chit, who has been the farmer planting vegetables in ECHOfarms, felt she could sell the extra vegetables here. In the past three years as we were going around the country meeting community groups and helping them with livelihood development of products, we met so many farmers and food producers. We also know of many other friends and acquaintances who are all of a similar lifestyle. They, too, were growing fresh produce from small farms, tending free range poultry and beef, and a whole lot more of wholesome food processes. And we wanted a place we could buy our own produce in a cool store experience even after office hours seven days a week; have a traceability of what we purchase and at the same time, help small cooperatives, farmers and associations. So now the acronym ECHO in ECHOmarket means “Empowering Communities with Hope and Opportunities.”

As we opened ECHOmarket’s doors, simultaneous partnerships were being made with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the organic groups of Negros Occidental, the cooperatives of Calabarzon, Davao food producers, weekend organic market movers to name a few. We have met young social entrepreneurs who are inspired at helping support farmer’s livelihoods. We see our plates full (literally) with development work and more partnerships as we move the sustainability platform forward. It is clear that small community groups need market access and ECHOmarket is just another one.

I think what really makes this exciting is that now I can shop for good produce and even cooked food daily, even after office hours. It’s a pretty selfish thought I know…but there are many like me and the number is growing! It isn’t a trend but a chosen lifestyle that soon, majority will naturally follow as they become more aware of the serious food issues around.

(ECHOmarket Sustainable Farms is located right next to ECHOstore Sustainable Lifestyle at Serendra in BGC, Taguig. Open daily, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., call 576-3703 or e-mail echomarketph@gmail.com)