DBS creating eco-friendly urban farm for employees
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A community farm by Edible Garden City, which has developed 240 food gardens over the past seven years. DBS Bank has partnered the social enterprise to set up its Food Forest outside the DBS Asia Hub building later this year.
PHOTO: EDIBLE GARDEN CITY
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DBS Bank plans to transform a patch of its outdoor space at one of its buildings into a community farm, and give its employees a chance to try urban farming, it said this week.
Touted to be Singapore's first community farm on the premises of a bank, the DBS Food Forest will feature more than 50 varieties of edible plants and herbs that Singaporeans consume every day. The 46 sq m farm, outside the DBS Asia Hub building in Changi Business Park, will be completed later this year.
Employees will be able to enjoy vegetables such as sweet potato leaves and herbs like lemongrass for lunch. Meals with freshly picked produce will be served at the hub's in-house cafeteria.
To launch the DBS Food Forest, the bank has partnered Edible Garden City, which has developed 240 food gardens over the past seven years. The social enterprise - which specialises in urban farming - is supported by DBS Foundation.
The community garden, besides giving employees a taste of farm-to-table dining, will also come with eco-friendly features. Waste generated by the in-house cafeteria will be used as fertiliser for the Food Forest. To save water, a waste-efficient drip irrigation system will be installed.
Ms Loh Lay Kwan, vice-president for sustainable operations at DBS, said she finds gardening to be very therapeutic, "with everything going on in the world today".
"With the Food Forest, I will be able to literally put food on the table by doing something I enjoy, and I find that to be really meaningful."
The Food Forest will be tended by the bank's employees, who can try their hand at maintaining and harvesting produce, as well as weeding, under the guidance of experts from Edible Garden City.
The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked concerns over food security, while interest in urban farming has bloomed during the circuit breaker period. A $30 million grant was launched in April by the Singapore Food Agency and the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources to increase the productivity of local farms.
Edible Garden City chief executive Samuell Ang said: "While (community farms) are increasingly common in housing estates and shopping malls, it's not often you find one in a commercial space.
"We hope that more businesses and developers will be inspired by DBS' efforts, and that in the near future we can see similar farms blossoming across commercial properties and business parks."
