DepEd Western Visayas Farm Schools partners with MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Advocacy to educate youth on healthy cooking, sustainable farming, and entrepreneurship

(from left) Department of Education – Western Visayas Region 6 Farm Schools Representatives with Raine Calma, Service Pillar Head of MAGGI and Assistant Vice President, Nestlé Philippines, Inc.; Kevin Carpio, Corporate Affairs Manager, Nestlé Philippines, Inc.

• High school students in 27 farm schools in Region 6 will learn how to prepare affordable, nutritious, and tasty meals using their vegetable harvest.
• Farm Schools curricula to incorporate instruction on regenerative agriculture; while entrepreneurship learning modules will introduce concepts in establishing farm or eatery businesses.
• The Sarap Sustansya Farm School program will culminate with a region-wide competition showcasing students’ farming and cooking skills.

July 18, 2023, Iloilo, Philippines – The Department of Education - Western Visayas (DepEd Region 6) and MAGGI, a food and flavoring brand of Nestlé Philippines, today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to jointly undertake the Sarap Sustansya Farm School Program. 

Under this partnership, MAGGI has committed to providing DepEd Farm School teachers with training and learning materials on Sarap-Sustansya cooking, regenerative farming, and entrepreneurial skills. MAGGI will also provide essential farming tools and implements that will assist faculty and students in propagating their school farms and

vegetable gardens.

(from left) Sir Noel Santillan, Education Program Supervisor in Field Technical Assistance Division (FTAD) and Regional Coordinator for the Farm Schools; Ms. Ma. Lira Cynthia B. Quejada, Project Development Officer IV - OIC in Office Education Support Services Division, DepEd Region VI; Dr. Mayleen Joy Fariñas, Education Program Supervisor and Officer in Charge of the Office of the Field Technical Assistance Division (FTAD); Raine Calma, Service Pillar Head of MAGGI and Assistant Vice President, Nestlé Philippines, Inc.; Kevin Carpio, Corporate Affairs Manager, Nestlé Philippines, Inc.

“This partnership with MAGGI is a timely initiative that will help us equip our students with new skills that are essential at this time when food insecurity and nutritional deficiencies continue to impact Filipinos’ quality of life,” said Ramir B. Uytico, Regional Director, DepEd Western Visayas. “I believe this collaboration will help bring to life the DepEd farm schools’ goal of producing the next generation of Filipino food production champions and leaders in agricultural innovation.”

The Western Visayas region was the first to establish Farm Schools in 2021. Now in its second

school year, the DepEd Farm Schools are regarded as Gulayan sa Paaralan Show Windows, Seed Capital, and Agricultural Learning Hubs of public schools nationwide. The Sarap Sustansya Farm School Program with MAGGI is a pioneering initiative to enable DepEd to elevate the quality of primary education and provide best practices for future Farm Schools.

Dr. Mayleen Joy Fariñas, Education Program Supervisor and Officer in Charge of the Office of the Field Technical Assistance Division (FTAD)

“We are thrilled that the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya advocacy is very much aligned with DepEd Farm School’s thrust is to promote food sufficiency and good eating habits, while cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset among the youth,” said Rosalyn Simba, Senior Vice President and Business Executive Officer – Food and Dairy Culinary, Nestlé Philippines. “MAGGI is committed to working with partners like DepEd in achieving a food-secure future, where families and communities have better access to fresh ingredients, and benefit from delicious meals that are vegetable-rich and affordable.”

Through the Sarap Sustansya Farm School Program, MAGGI is adopting a three-prong approach to supporting DepEd Region 6 in its goals of promoting agricultural productivity, food security, and rural development.

Raine Calma, Service Pillar Head of MAGGI and Assistant Vice President, Nestlé Philippines, Inc.

Cooking with Sarap Sustansya: Teaching students a basic yet valuable life skill. While cooking may be viewed as a basic skill, the ability to cook with taste, nutrition, and affordability in mind requires more than just instinct. Using learning resources from the MAGGI Sarap Sustansya Kusinaskwela modules, students can be adept at preparing tasty and healthy meals on a modest budget.

DepEd teachers will receive training and learning tools on Sarap Sustansya cooking, so they can instruct students how to determine adequate portions based on the Pinggang Pinoy recommendations for a balanced plate, and how to plan a menu using a diverse range of ingredients for a more nutritionally-complete diet.

The basic cookery module also intends to promote good eating habits among students, since the meals they will learn to cook will include the same vegetables that students grow and harvest in their Farm School. An expanding body of research shows that youth who plant vegetables are more likely to eat them; and this experience aims to promote the consumption of more vegetables daily, as students learn to prepare a wide variety of plant-based dishes.

Growing edible gardens more sustainably

Learning content on more sustainable ways to grow vegetables will be imparted by field experts from Nestlé Philippines. Students will be introduced to concepts in Regenerative Agriculture, an approach to food and farming systems that focuses on ensuring the health of the soil and waterways, biodiversity, and increasing resilience to climate change. Practices such as composting, multi-cropping or intercropping, and the use of cover crops are some of the techniques that students will learn in operating sustainable farms that not only provide a source of food but also a possible source of income.

Kevin Carpio, Corporate Affairs Manager, Nestlé Philippines, Inc.

Inspiring youth to pursue business opportunities in the culinary field. An introduction to agri-entrepreneurship will also be included in the MAGGI Farm School Program, with MAGGI culinary experts providing lectures to farm school faculty on how to establish a small eatery. In

the Philippines, the ‘carinderia’ is an indispensable part of Filipinos’ daily lives and can be a lucrative business model for those with a talent for cooking affordable meals. Students will benefit from skills-building in budgeting, profit-and-loss, and basic food safety among many other business concepts to inspire students to embark on a turo-turo or carinderia venture, which may also serve as a ready market for their home-grown vegetables.

Photo with Iloilo Media.

At the end of the school year, the Sarap Sustansya Farm School Program will culminate with a Cooking Competition where students will create dishes using vegetables they planted and harvested from their Farm Schools, and give participants a deeper appreciation for the farm-to-fork experience.