Small scale farming is our solution

Sarah Claudio is a seasoned entrepreneur in the retail businesses in Davao City.

- CHIT U. JUAN

She has opened a print shop, two chicken franchises, is a partner in fashion retail and is a licensee of ECHOstore, a natural and organic store. She, however, went in a slightly different direction which she now calls her passion project — Verdeli farms. Though still connected to her ECHOstore advocacy of natural and organic, Verdeli is now a mini school where visitors can learn basic "grow your own food" solutions.

Why did she shift her focus to farming? Five words. "For the love of Mom." Sarah's mom always dreamt of having her own small vegetable farm where she could source healthier food for the family of five. But Nelia (her mom) passed some eight years ago, leaving her dreams behind. Sarah, meantime, answered the call of education in Italy and enrolled at the University of Gastronomic Sciences — which is known as the Slow Food University and UNISG (Ooh-nis-gi) for Italians. For six months she was exposed to how Italians in the small towns of Pollenzo (where the school is) and Bra (where she lived) cooked food from nearby sources. She relates that when food is served to you, the staff can tell you where each ingredient comes from, usually from local sources.

The stay in Pollenzo also exposed her to farmers' markets where you get to meet the producers of the vegetables and fruits in season. She also knew the butcher, the fishmonger, the breadmaker, among many other artisans. She then brought that experience home and is developing Verdeli farm to be such a source of natural and organic food.