Quezon City (QC) Mayor Joy Belmonte and Barangay OldBalara Chairman Allan Franza, together with District 3Action Officer Atty. Tommy De Castro, Public EmploymentService Office (PESO) Head Rogelio Reyes, and Tina Perez, whois assigned to the project, launched the biggest urban farm in thecity’s 3rd district.

The said project is the 347th urban garden opened in thecity, under the project named ‘The Joy of Urban Farming.’Along with the urban farm launched that day is the Sitio PayongBackyard Fishpond.

QC’s urban gardening project is one of the initiatives to helpthe city achieve its aim of being a self-reliant local governmentunit (LGU) by attaining food security. Once the plants are readyfor harvest, they may be used as ingredients for the city’s feedingprograms.

The said urban farm will serve as the demo farm that the residentscan visit if they are interested in starting their own urban garden.Restaurants may also source fruits and vegetables from this garden.

According to the QC government’s Facebook page, this project is alsoa big step in mitigating the effects of climate change.

Belmonte started ‘The Joy of Urban Farming’ in 2010 when she wasstill a vice mayor, however was faced with the challenge of changing themindset that farming is not suitable for cities. The local chief executivesaid that anyone can start at least a vertical garden in their own spaces.

It was launched through a 750-meter square area around therestaurant chains in Quezon City Memorial Circle but now, the city hasover 300 urban gardens located in barangays, parishes, daycare centersand non-government(NGO) owned spacesin the cityThe Departmentof Agriculture(DA), Departmentof Environmentand NaturalResources (DENR),Department ofEducation (DepEd),Allied BotanicalCorporation(ABC), and variousnon-governmentorganizations(NGOs) are thepartners of QCgovernment for thisproject.