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Repurposing an old school into a farm | Future Food
AsiaOne
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1/31/2025
When you think of Singapore, do you ever picture farms? We visit City Sprouts and Tomato Town, two urban farms changing that perception and helping to realise Singapore’s ‘30 by 30’ vision.
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
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Lifestyle
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00:00
What are you doing?
00:04
Harvesting.
00:08
So I think land is not the main issue.
00:10
We need the companies, we need dreamers,
00:13
and we need people that want to come and be farmers.
00:16
The only challenge with that now is because they're not making money,
00:19
they can't pay well.
00:20
So until the unit economics work,
00:22
then we'll get more people coming to work in the farms.
00:26
In this series, we'll explore how innovative technologies
00:30
and local initiatives are rethinking the way we produce and consume food.
00:36
Welcome to Future Food, where we explore the food production of tomorrow.
00:42
In this episode, we head to the heartland of Red Hill,
00:46
where we meet people that are making impactful initiatives
00:50
to help with food security and sustainability.
00:54
Hi Zach, nice to meet you. My name is Yulin.
00:57
So this is such an interesting concept, you repurpose old schools.
01:02
So what gave you the idea to do that?
01:06
Back in 2018, URA worked with SLA to look into redeveloping old schools,
01:13
repurposing them instead of just tearing them down and building new condos.
01:18
The interesting thing about this project was URA planned it to be an intergenerational project.
01:23
So this entire space is one school.
01:25
Oh, okay, I see.
01:26
The teacher's office and the general office is actually the childcare.
01:31
And where the classroom is, is actually the nursing home.
01:34
And where we are at, where we have the hall, and we have the canteen,
01:38
and we have the school fields, this is the urban farm.
01:42
So Zach, can you tell me more about Siddhi Sprouts?
01:44
How did it sprout up?
01:46
Yeah, so we started in 2019,
01:48
while we were teaching different kinds of workshops across the community.
01:53
So we went to boutiques fair, we went to schools,
01:55
we brought kids to the nurseries in the Kranji area.
01:59
And when we first saw the tender in, I think it was early 2019,
02:04
we decided to try for it.
02:06
It was also extremely humbling building Siddhi Sprouts through COVID-19.
02:11
But I feel seeds that can sprout during the tough seasons will last.
02:16
Exactly, what a great metaphor.
02:19
Sprouting the adversity, guys.
02:21
So what are some of the primary goals of Siddhi Sprouts?
02:25
So the primary goal of Siddhi Sprouts is to watch communities through shared discovery.
02:30
That's one of the core purpose and vision of the company.
02:35
So there's three key areas where we focus in,
02:37
which is vulnerable youth, elderly, and people with disabilities.
02:42
So Siddhi Sprouts really is not just an urban farm,
02:45
it's a social enterprise that have different types of programmes,
02:49
different types of events that bring people together.
02:51
And some of these programmes and events are socially engineered
02:55
to bring various groups of people together.
02:57
And through the different bonds that we build during the programme itself,
03:01
that's when you get a very strong and a tighter social compact within Singapore.
03:07
Can you share some of the success stories of how Siddhi Sprouts has impacted the community?
03:12
So when we first started in the old Henderson Secondary School,
03:15
we had 31 community farmers.
03:18
Fast forward to 2024, we have 153 community farmers.
03:23
Big small, small plots, people that are just doing for hobby,
03:27
coming on the evening, elderly, youth,
03:30
and people who are trying to start their own agriculture business.
03:34
So one of the core reasons why we started Siddhi Sprouts as well,
03:37
we wanted to support people from the community that wanted to grow crops.
03:42
So Siddhi Sprouts actually provide this small little space,
03:45
you can trial it on a yearly basis.
03:47
Once your minimum viable product is up,
03:50
then you can scale up the business, you can get investors to have a look.
03:53
And that's one of the success stories such as Tomato Town,
03:57
and other success stories such as Mushroom Buddy,
04:00
which is also a social enterprise that they support
04:03
special needs individuals for mushroom harvesting
04:06
because it's a repetitive process.
04:08
So that's the kind of idea that we want to bridge
04:11
and Siddhi Sprouts, we see ourselves as a community player
04:14
where we bridge the corporates as well as the social,
04:18
as well as individuals from the community.
04:20
So what are some of your future plans to help with Singapore's
04:22
food security and sustainability?
04:25
So first up, we launched the fifth space in Singapore,
04:29
so that's Bidah City.
04:31
The focus is really to build more companies,
04:34
more startups at an early stage.
04:36
We'll invite them there to do prototyping,
04:39
micro factory, produce different types of vegetables and food
04:43
at Bidah City.
04:44
While Siddhi Sprouts' importance is really to still capacity build
04:48
at a community level,
04:50
to allow people to understand what's going on in the market,
04:53
what are some new products,
04:54
some new ideas that people have came up with,
04:57
what are some new farmers that came into the market,
04:59
then we'll introduce them during our signature Farmers' Market.
05:03
Farmers' Market in Singapore,
05:05
I think that's probably the first I've heard actually.
05:07
I mean, I used to live overseas in the UK or in Australia,
05:10
and it's so common over there to hear of Farmers' Market,
05:12
fresh produce, fresh cheese at Farmers' Market, right?
05:15
But in Singapore, I mean, this is honestly the first I've heard.
05:18
Yeah, it's true, it's true.
05:19
I mean, the tough part about organising a Farmers' Market
05:22
is not in doing the market.
05:25
The tough part is, where are the farmers?
05:27
So that's something that why we developed Bidah City,
05:31
we want to encourage more farmers,
05:33
and Siddhi Sprouts, at the core of it,
05:35
is also to encourage more farmers.
05:37
So that's the dream that we have for Singapore,
05:39
and we believe that Singapore will be self-sufficient.
05:42
It's just a matter of how we get there.
05:44
Really see how the government is shifting everything
05:46
so that we are becoming more and more self-reliant.
05:50
Yeah, it really takes action from the ground
05:53
because SFA is launching their big-scale mega-plan
05:57
for Sungai Tengah area of farming,
06:00
and I think they are spending the capital
06:03
to set up some of these farms for investment
06:06
and companies to come in and set up their farms.
06:09
So I think land is not the main issue.
06:12
We need the companies, we need dreamers,
06:15
and we need people that want to come and be farmers.
06:18
Hopefully, whatever Siddhi Sprouts is doing,
06:21
or Bidah City is doing,
06:22
we can inspire a few along the way,
06:24
and people will come into the sector.
06:27
They'll see it as something that's important for the country,
06:30
they'll see it as an alternative kind of business,
06:32
not just the typical start-up
06:35
that Singapore usually churns out.
06:37
Sprouting some inspiration there.
06:39
Well, thanks, Zach, for your very insightful
06:41
and candid sharing of how Siddhi Sprouts sprouted,
06:45
and you're definitely inspiring, I believe,
06:48
the next generation of farmers, young people.
06:50
So, thanks very much for your time.
06:52
Thank you so much, thank you so much.
06:53
To learn more about urban farms,
06:56
I head to West Coast to speak to the managing partner
06:59
of Greenbridge Partners.
07:00
So Kelvin, how has urban farming evolved in Singapore
07:04
over the last few years?
07:05
I think we started with growing herbs in our gardens,
07:09
and then we started looking at vertical farms,
07:11
not just for vegetables,
07:13
but also things like fruits, strawberries, and so on.
07:17
If you look at some of our farms,
07:18
they're very, very high-tech.
07:20
The only challenge with that now
07:21
is because they're not making money,
07:23
they can't pay well.
07:25
So it's not attracting a lot of people
07:28
like maybe the tech sector is,
07:31
or the finance sector is,
07:32
because end of day,
07:34
whether you have paid good money for that job.
07:37
So until the unit economics work
07:39
and these agri-tech companies start making good money,
07:44
I'm sure they will pay the employees well,
07:47
and then we'll get more people coming to work in the farms.
07:50
To find out more about how the urban farm
07:52
can exist in the city,
07:54
I speak to the co-founder of Tomato Town.
07:58
Hi Webster, I'm Yulin, nice to meet you.
08:00
Hi Yulin, nice to meet you.
08:01
Thanks for inviting us to your town, Tomato Town, right?
08:05
Yes, that's right.
08:06
Tomato, tomato, you say tomato, I say...
08:08
Tomato.
08:09
Exactly.
08:10
But I don't see any tomatoes.
08:11
It's not tomato season.
08:14
Yes, it's not tomato season.
08:16
We normally grow tomato towards the end of the year.
08:19
Okay.
08:19
So currently it's a bit too hot,
08:20
so we don't really grow it right now.
08:22
So over here, we actually grow mainly basil and kale,
08:25
and then we just supply it to supermarkets.
08:28
Oh lovely, it sounds very Italian and it's kind of...
08:31
Well, I mean, tomato, kale, basil...
08:33
It's very sharp-eyed you have.
08:34
Yeah, I see.
08:35
Typically Italian kale.
08:36
Maybe we can do some cooking later.
08:37
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
08:41
So how does Tomato Town work?
08:43
So basically we bid for HDB Car Park's rooftops
08:46
to actually set up our aeroponics system.
08:49
The roots will be hanging,
08:51
and most of the watering is done through a shower head
08:53
at the top of our pipes.
08:55
So what are the advantages of aeroponics farming
08:58
compared to traditional farming methods?
09:00
I think one of the advantages is we can actually
09:02
really fully utilise spaces.
09:05
Usual traditional farming will probably require
09:07
soil length to actually grow on top of the car park.
09:10
But for us, we actually don't require much soil,
09:12
or we don't even use soil at all.
09:14
So it actually helps to reduce pests.
09:17
And more importantly, we actually recirculate our water.
09:20
So how can you ensure that recycled water
09:23
is good for the plants?
09:24
Basically, our recycled water is laced with nutrients,
09:27
and then we actually recycle it
09:29
by collecting it back in the tank.
09:31
So it's a closed-loop system
09:32
in the whole entire aeroponics system.
09:34
So there is no exposure to foreign objects
09:36
and foreign methods.
09:37
And moreover, every quarterly,
09:39
we actually change out the water.
09:41
So how long do these plants take to mature?
09:43
The seed-to-seedling phase takes about two to three weeks.
09:47
And then the seedling phase, when we put it outdoors,
09:50
probably another two to three weeks
09:52
for it to be fully mature.
09:54
So the entire process will probably take about six weeks,
09:57
which is about one and a half months each.
09:59
So what are the commitments of urban farming?
10:01
And what's a typical day like here on the farm?
10:03
Definitely, we have to check in on the nutrients content
10:06
and also the temperature of water
10:08
to make sure that everything is within the range
10:11
of our vegetable growing at a healthy level.
10:14
With the farm-to-table concept,
10:15
we normally harvest it in the morning
10:17
and then we send it to restaurants
10:19
as well as supermarkets in the afternoon.
10:23
So when it gets to noon, whereby it's too hot,
10:25
the plants actually produce some kind of chemical
10:27
that makes it taste bitter.
10:30
So we tend to actually do it in the morning
10:32
and it's also much comfortable for everyone as well.
10:35
That's really fresh.
10:36
Yes, that's right.
10:37
Can't imagine having like, you know,
10:39
never would I have thought
10:40
that you get all that freshness in Singapore
10:41
in terms of farm-to-table.
10:43
Yeah, you can chew off.
10:44
So what is the most important value as an urban farmer?
10:49
My thing is to be able to adapt
10:51
as the farming industry, especially for urban farming,
10:53
is pretty new in Singapore.
10:55
So a lot of things we actually learn ourselves
10:57
and we require a lot of trial and error.
11:00
Even at the start,
11:01
before we actually set up a commercial farm,
11:03
we actually took the system,
11:06
we took the technology to actually try out
11:07
in a smaller plot in City Sprout.
11:10
After learning how to actually grow,
11:13
we have confidence in terms of the yield.
11:16
Then we move out from City Sprout
11:17
to actually bid for larger plots of land
11:19
to actually start our commercial farm full-scale.
11:22
I see, wow.
11:23
How long did that take?
11:25
Like, how many years was that process?
11:27
So for us, it took almost over three years.
11:29
Wow.
11:30
Yeah, to go from a test plot at City Sprout
11:34
to a full-scale commercial farm across Singapore.
11:37
So what role do you think urban farming will play
11:40
in Singapore's future food landscape?
11:43
Urban farming in Singapore should be quite important
11:45
considering the lack of space.
11:48
Growing on rooftop actually make a lot of sense space-wise.
11:51
And secondly, pest-wise,
11:53
it's not as bad as growing it on the ground.
11:55
So yeah, we don't really use pesticide
11:58
or any preservative on our plants,
12:01
which actually kind of give us the edge
12:02
over other crops that's heavily laced
12:04
with pesticide and preservative.
12:06
Well, thanks very much, Bertster,
12:08
for showing me around your lovely,
12:10
rolling HDB slopes and jungle things
12:14
and streams of water and pipes.
12:18
They come close to the Italian rolling hills.
12:22
And right now I'm sweating like a sun-dried tomato,
12:25
if you can see.
12:26
And I'm ready to harvest
12:29
and make myself some refreshing salad
12:31
that has no bitter aftertaste
12:33
because it is not harvested in this very hot sun.
12:38
We've gained valuable insights into the challenges
12:40
and ongoing efforts to ensure a more food-secure
12:44
and sustainable future for Singapore.
12:47
By supporting initiatives like Tomato Town,
12:50
we can collectively make a difference
12:52
to our environment and food security,
12:54
and maybe even try our hand at growing our own food.
12:59
Thank you for joining me on this journey
13:01
as we explore the future of food in Singapore.
13:04
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
13:06
This is your host, Eulen, signing out.
13:10
Thank you so much.
13:12
I forgot your name.
13:13
It's okay.
13:14
Oh, I'm scared.
13:17
It's the first time I've ever seen a chicken.
13:19
You made it!
13:20
You made it!
13:22
How do you know?
13:25
Oh my gosh.
Future Food
13:42
|
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