We often hear the term food security in speeches, government reports, or news headlines about inflation and imports. But the truth is, food security isn’t just a national issue. It’s a very personal one. Because when we talk about food security, what we’re really talking about is this: Can every Filipino family put food on the table today, tomorrow, and the day after that without fear?
And in a country like ours, where we are surrounded by fields, seas, and farmers, it seems like that should be an easy yes. But for too many, it isn’t. And I’ve seen it up close. A few years ago, I was standing in the middle of a field with a farmer who had just harvested sacks of beautiful vegetables. Everything was fresh, crisp, ready to eat. But there was silence. Because he didn’t even appear happy. He was calculating. If he sold at the price offered, he wouldn’t even break even. If he didn’t sell, the vegetables would rot. If he brought them back, they’d still go to waste, and he’d lose money on the trucking.
It’s moments like that which break something in you. You realize food doesn’t just grow from soil. It grows from sacrifice. This isn’t just a farming problem. It’s a food system problem. And when the people who grow our food are the ones who go hungry, something is very very wrong.
Food insecurity doesn’t always mean hunger in the extreme. Often, food security manifests in skipping vegetables because they’re too expensive, stretching canned goods instead of cooking something fresh, eating full meals, but nutrient-empty. The United Nations defines food security as having physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food at all times. That means it’s not just about growing food. It’s about making sure the right food reaches the right people at the right time and affordably.
I founded a company that works in agriculture logistics. We encourage smallholder farmers bring their vegetables directly to places where demand is steady, like supermarkets, restaurants, and food manufacturers. We do this not because it’s easy, it’s definitely not. We do this because the system needs fixing.
I’ve seen farmers who, after traveling for 3 hours on rough roads, waited all day just to get into the trading post, only to go home with pay which is half of what they deserve. So we are trying to connect the dots in the entire value chain. This is our feeble attempt to help in building a more food-secured country.
You don’t need to be in farming to care and participate in this effort. Here’s what you can do:
• Buy local vegetables when you can.
• Choose fresh produce over highly processed food.
• Support brands and retailers that work with local growers.
• Teach kids to eat vegetables and where these vegetables are grown.
Food security isn’t just about agriculture. It’s about justice. It’s about health. It’s about family. And for me, it’s about stewardship. I founded One Farmvest Agriventures Corp. because I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore. I couldn’t keep seeing good harvests go to waste. I couldn’t keep watching farmers lose hope. I couldn’t accept a system where the ones who feed us are the ones most at risk of going hungry.
We built One Farmvest to hopefully help in making the supply chain more fair, more direct, more responsive. It’s not perfect. It’s a work in progress. But it’s a start.