Food
From Tapon to Tanim
Sustaining an urban garden using food waste from Sugbo Mercado Food Market
Details
Food waste is a significant issue in the Philippines, with an alarming 86 kilograms of food waste generated per person annually, with over 35% coming from the food service and retail sectors. To address this, Scale360° Philippines launched an initiative called Tapon to Tanim under its Food Pillar. With the aim of creating a viable model of a circular food system in the Philippines, the initiative focused on leveraging three components: food waste management, composting, and urban gardening.
The Tapon to Tanim initiative partnered with Sugbo Mercado, a popular food market in Cebu City. The project collected food waste from market tenants and used it for vermicomposting. With the help of the City Agriculture Department of Cebu City, this was eventually transformed into fertilizer for an urban garden within the market area.
Over a period of 18 days, 549 kg of food waste was collected from the tenants in Sugbo Mercado Food Park, which yielded approximately 190 kg of vermicompost. The vermicompost was then used in an urban garden built within the food park. Global Shapers Cebu partnered with Agrihood to create an Edible Urban Garden using barrels, where they planted Native Pechay, Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Sili. The tower gardens were set up and yielded an average of 3 kg of mixed vegetables from the garden every 3 months.
Through the Tapon to Tanim initiative, Scale360° Philippines demonstrated that circular food systems based on regenerative practices, food waste management, composting, and urban gardening are not only possible but also replicable and scalable. The tool kit developed by the Cebu Hub can be replicated by other cities in the Philippines to create awareness and improve food waste disposal practices, ensuring a more sustainable and equitable food system for everyone. By promoting these practices, we can move towards a more sustainable and equitable food system that benefits both people and the planet.