Haikal Latiff Channel NewsAsia 6 Jan 15;
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Management University (SMU) on Monday (Jan 6) launched its GROW initiative to encourage more sustainable living in Singapore. The programme aims to cultivate a harvest of food by encouraging more to pick up gardening.
People across all walks of life - students, staff, faculty members, residents, and business partners - can take part by planting crops at two plots of land outside SMU's School of Accountancy, which have been set aside for the university-wide urban farm programme.
Workshops for staff and faculty members to learn more about growing food in environmentally-friendly ways will be conducted, while healthier meals are expected to be served within the campus.
The GROW programme will also dovetail into the 80-hour community service required of SMU students, and will also be built into the annual community service project of delivering food and household needs to Queenstown residents.
Mayor for Central Singapore District Denise Phua and SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer were at SMU on Monday to kickstart the initiative. They planted two saplings of nutmeg - a spice said to bear a long cultural and historical significance in Central Singapore.
Nutmeg was once an important commercial crop in Bras Basah and Orchard Road and can be used for culinary, medicinal and other purposes.
- CNA/av
