Singapore might be a food capital, but feeding the country is no easy task when 90 percent of the food is imported. Food security has taken on a new urgency in recent years. Besides diversifying its import sources, Singapore must also build its capacity to produce sufficient staple food to act as a buffer during food supply crises.
When Hugh Harrison wrote “We are Singapore,” he was definitely not thinking about farming. And to be fair, no one did in 1987. Fast forward 30 years and the synergy between innovation and technology has meant access to acres of land is no longer the prerequisite for a farm, making farming a reality for countries with limited land.
Instead, the clever use of space has seen all kinds of agricultural produce sprouting out around Singapore without us even noticing. Citiponics, for instance, has been using a vertical farm system to grow pesticide-free lettuces out of a carpark rooftop in Ang Mo Kio. And hidden in plain sight are over 260 food gardens managed by Edible Garden City, a social enterprise advocating a grow-your-own-food movement to promote food sustainability.
Meanwhile, Lim Chu Kang, an area that feels more like the inspiration behind the much-beloved True Singapore Ghost Stories, is slowly transforming into an agri-food zone.
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