Savoring a sustainable, locally-farmed Noche Buena (2)

Like what Sally and Lilia practice, farmer and FarmLab founder Tonio Flores encourages people to be aware of the amount of food they are preparing.

Flores said purchasing ingredients from local markets will benefit farmers and producers by fostering active links. He added that the process of composting to maximize food waste.

"For the Filipino family, having Noche Buena is an opportunity to gather and celebrate. It is important to be mindful of food portions and food waste and consider cooking only what is enough for everyone. Consider ingredients sourced locally and in season, either from local markets, artisans, or community-shared agriculture that actively create relationships among farmers and producers through solidarity shares," he told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

"Another thing we can do is to reduce food waste and return the nutrients to the soil through composting. It is as simple as setting aside a bucket for food scraps (vegetable trimmings, paper, carton) and letting it compost naturally," he said.

Farm-to-table experience

The Kalipayan Natural Farms shared some measures for making a sustainable and local farming-friendly Noche Buena.

"When you start thinking of sustainable, you start thinking of what's available [and] what is affordable… that's when you have a eureka moment and say that 'I can actually use that,' and help support these very amazing products from our farmers," Kalipayan Natural Farm founder Nikole Kazemi said.

She highlighted how reinventing recipes helps achieve sustainable goals. Nikole then shared how she reinvented her mom's traditional cannelloni using alternative local ingredients, such as switching from canned mushrooms to locally farmed oyster mushrooms, cream of mushroom to coconut milk, and eggplant as a substitute for ham.

Advocating the sustainable and eco-friendly preparation of food, she urged the public to start planting at home.

"One step is really to plant something at home. You can start very small. Maybe an okra plant, enjoy the process of growing it.. kasi ang plant starts like a child, and it grows into a vegetative, where it meets plants and fruits.. it grows into flowers [and] when the flowers dry up, that's when the fruit comes, that's the whole cycle," Nikole said.

"From that, that's the fruit, and when you have the fruit, you have the seed and plant again; once you see that, you can see the value of what our farmers do. At the end of the day, once you're able to do this and appreciate this process, and see the benefits of eating naturally farmed food, then sharing it with others is a very important step in terms of having your testimony on how this practice helped you and your health, cause at the end of the day health is your truest wealth," she said.

Preparing food this Christmas, she said, should resonate with the very essence of the season — a time for expressing gratitude and caring for the community.

"This Noche Buena and Christmas is for us to think about our community and what it means to sustain that community; they need to have a good livelihood that also supports our sustainable goals, which are zero hunger [and] food security."