Parents and kids rice to the challenge

Understanding where staple foods like rice come from and the hard work needed to grow each grain is important, and there's no better way to learn about it than to go in ankle-deep into the rice field. At a rice-planting session yesterday in Lorong Ch
ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

Understanding where staple foods like rice come from and the hard work needed to grow each grain is important, and there's no better way to learn about it than to go in ankle-deep into the rice field. At a rice-planting session yesterday in Lorong Chencharu, off Sembawang Road, (from left) Ms Szeto Hiu Yan, 30, her daughter Sarah Yeo, three, volunteer Chang Hui Bue, 48, Hana Rahmah, six, and her father Habeebul Rahman, 43, were among those who got their hands and feet dirty planting green seedlings at an activity planned for children and their parents, organised by non-profit organisation Ground-Up Initiative (GUI). Called The Paddy Experience, the session was set up to help participants build a relationship with food, and to appreciate the amount of hard work that farmers put in to grow these crops. The Paddy Experience took root in early July this year. Plots of land were fertilised with organic green waste compost. The first planting of the seedlings began the next month, and the first harvest was reaped this month. GUI expects another round of planting in May next year, with a harvest in September.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on December 24, 2017, with the headline Parents and kids rice to the challenge. Subscribe