City Sprout Farm is an urban farm located in the heart of Singapore that focuses on community and food connection.
We had the pleasure of visiting Simone Lim, who works as Creator of Opportunities at City Sprouts. Simone believes that people in big cities need to find a connection with their food, and City Sprout Farm is helping to make that happen.
It rejuvenates urban spaces by transforming them into thriving city farms. The farm serves as an educational hub, connecting socially-minded individuals and businesses to build communities. Through its programs, the farm informs, educates, and inspires action on pressing social and environmental issues.
Reconnect with nature in the city
Simone spent a lot of time sitting behind a computer and wanted to try something different. She wanted to reconnect with nature and give back to the community by educating them about where their food comes from.
As Simone states, “I want to try something that reconnects me with nature… so that I can get out of the office, give fun to other people, educate them about where the food source comes from, before it’s too late.”
From old secondary school to city farm
City Sprout Farm was created with the aim of balancing the needs of the community, urban farming, and nature in a city like Singapore where land is scarce. Simone explains, “How do we play a role in creating that balance between ensuring that people have space, urban farming has space and nature has space. And how do we balance all three of these things in a city like Singapore?” City Sprout Farm aims to provide community as a service by repurposing existing spaces like an old secondary school into a city farm.
Farmers and Food Connection
City Sprout Farm has 36 farmers, some of whom are hobbyists and some of whom are production farmers. They work as a collective group and their produce is open for sale at the market. Simone emphasizes the importance of people connecting with their food, “I think it’s very important for people in big cities to find a connection with the food.” At City Sprout Farm, it’s not just about production, but about what they bring to the community.
Visitors are encouraged to come and experience the farm for themselves. Simone believes that city farms should be open spaces where people can visit, learn about, and touch the vegetables. She says, “I think there should be more city farms. Farms that people can visit. If it’s a city farm, it is meant for people to learn about it. So I think it should be an open space. Where people can come in, people can visit, people can smell and touch the vegetables.”
Singapore’s 30 by 30 goal
The government of Singapore has set a goal to build up their agri-food industry’s capability and capacity to produce 30% of their nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030. This means that the country is focusing on creating more urban farming spaces like City Sprout Farm to help reach this target. By having more city farms, the government hopes to encourage citizens to learn about food production and find a connection with their food. This also promotes sustainability, as the country becomes less dependent on imported food and instead relies on locally grown produce. The 30 by 30 goal is a significant step towards creating a greener and more sustainable future for Singapore, and initiatives like City Sprout Farm play a crucial role in achieving this vision.
To learn more about how Singapore is turning into an edible paradise, make sure to check out this article.
