3 Farms You Won’t Be-Leaf Are Hidden In Singapore | Singapore Hour

Key Concepts

• Urban Farming: The practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas.
• Aquaponics: A sustainable food production system that combines aquaculture (raising aquatic animals like fish) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. It's described as a "closed loop system."
• Closed-loop system: A system where waste products from one part are used as inputs for another, minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency.
• Single-origin chocolate: Chocolate made from cacao beans harvested from a specific, single geographical region or farm, allowing its unique flavor profile to be expressed.
• Food heritage: The traditional foods, ingredients, and culinary practices that have been passed down through generations, often including rare or indigenous plants.
• Terroir: The complete natural environment in which a particular food product is produced, including factors such as soil, topography, and climate, which contribute to its unique characteristics.
• Nasi Ulam: A traditional Malay rice salad dish, typically featuring a mix of herbs, spices, and other ingredients.
• Master Mixologist: A highly skilled professional in the art of creating and mixing cocktails.

The Rise of Urban Farming and Food Innovation in Singapore

The video explores how Singapore, despite being known for skyscrapers rather than soil, is rapidly transforming its food landscape through innovative urban farming practices. The narrator, an urban farmer himself, highlights diverse approaches to growing food, from hotel rooftops to community-driven cacao projects and heritage farms, demonstrating a commitment to local produce and sustainability. The journey begins with a striking example: "60 minutes is all it took from harvest to plate."

Prego Restaurant: Rooftop Aquaponics and Fresh Italian Cuisine

The first stop is Prego, an Italian restaurant in the heart of Singapore's business district, where Executive Chef Davide showcases how local produce is revolutionizing his cooking.

• Dishes Prepared: Chef Davide presents a "beautiful spread" including Panzanella, Burrata with Tuscan kale pesto and an array of tomatoes, and a lily-shaped pasta cooked with Tuscan kale pesto sauce. The narrator describes the taste as an "explosion of flavour" where "all the flavors are just so integrated into the dish."
• The Aquaponics Farm: Located directly upstairs from the restaurant, the farm is managed by Roc. It's an aquaponics farm, a "closed loop system" that was transformed from a previous garden.
  • Sustainability: Roc explains that "90% of this water is actually saved" and "we do not add fertiliser here." The system is powered by fish waste, which provides nutrients for the plants, while the plants, in turn, help clean the water for the fish.
  • Produce: The farm grows over 20 different types of herbs and vegetables, including cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and holy basil. Some of the fish are also used in the hotel's kitchens.
• Chef Davide's Perspective: Having grown up with a small vegetable garden in Pisa, Chef Davide finds the setup "very inspiring." He notes a significant difference in taste compared to imported produce, stating, "Definitely it’s different from what is being imported from overseas. Because most of the time, what is brought over is not fully ripe or mature yet." The direct farm-to-kitchen-to-plate approach ensures "very fresh" ingredients.
• Antidote Bar Connection: The fresh herbs from the rooftop farm are also utilized by Edu, a master mixologist at the adjacent Antidote Bar, for crafting cocktails. The narrator praises the "incredible" and "so much more intense" herb flavors compared to dried or imported alternatives.

Janice Wong's Pioneering Cacao Project

The video then shifts to Janice Wong, one of Singapore’s top pastry chefs, who is embarking on an ambitious project to cultivate cacao trees across the city to produce Singapore's first single-origin chocolate.

• The Challenge: Many told Janice it was "impossible" due to cacao trees growing up to three meters high and Singapore's lack of land.
• Community-Driven Approach: To overcome this, Janice engaged the community, "knocking on as many doors as I could." Families and schools are now involved, with "about 650 and counting" people participating in planting saplings in multiple locations, including private homes and schools.
• Background and Research: Janice, a pastry chef for 20 years, first encountered cacao at age 30. She undertook a 10-day research trip to the Amazon to study cacao, learn about its terroir, and understand better growing methods.
• Initial Harvest and Product: The current harvest is "very small," yielding 2kg of beans which, after processing, resulted in only 1kg of chocolate. This limited quantity is served at her dessert bar, allowing people to "really taste our efforts."
• Maturity and Identity: The narrator notes the chocolate is "very, very young," with "not much acidity in it yet," and "it needs time." Janice believes Singapore’s chocolate doesn't need to imitate others but needs time to develop its unique identity, comparing its aging potential to wine.

Bollywood Farms: Preserving Food Heritage in Kranji

The final segment introduces Ivy, who has been running Bollywood Farms in Kranji for 25 years. This farm is part of the 1% of countryside left in Singapore.

• Origin and Philosophy: Ivy and her husband started the farm as a retirement project after seeing a newspaper story about available farmland. Ivy passionately argues that "every country needs a countryside" for children to connect with nature, allowing them to "jump into the bushes and catch a spider or pull a seed or pull a leaf."
• Role in Food Heritage: Bollywood Farms plays a crucial role in "guarding our food heritage" by growing rare vegetables that no longer grow naturally.
• Farm-to-Table Cafe: Chef Lynn, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, runs the in-house cafe. She describes her role as "every chef's ultimate dream" – being surrounded by fresh produce to inspire and create dishes.
• Menu Planning and Collaboration: Chef Lynn's menu is planned bi-weekly, dictated by the farm's harvest projections (e.g., "in two weeks’ time, I have eggplant"). Ivy and Lynn collaborate closely; Ivy shares her knowledge and "memory" of traditional uses for heritage plants, and Lynn incorporates a "French spin" to create interesting dishes.
• Dish Example: A "very simplified Nasi Ulam" is presented, featuring coconut, belachan powder, dried prawns, and seven different types of herbs. The banana flower is mentioned as an ingredient Lynn was initially unfamiliar with. The narrator praises the eggplant dish, noting "the flavours jumping out."

Conclusion: A Hopeful Future for Singapore's Food Landscape

The journey from a hotel rooftop to city cacao plantations and Kranji’s heritage fields demonstrates the extraordinary lengths people in Singapore are willing to go to grow food. The narrator, as an urban farmer, expresses hope, concluding that each individual is finding their own path. The overarching message is about "growing what we can, tasting what we grow, and learning what is possible here," highlighting a future where local, sustainable, and innovative food production thrives in Singapore.