PULILAN, Bulacan–Fresh fruits and vegetable harvests of local farmers in Bulacan are now available for mall goers until December as SM Malls partner with local government units and other government agencies in promoting the produced goods of the home grown growers through exclusive Market Day.
Every Friday Market Day pop-up booths, put up in SM Pulilan and SM Baliwag that will remain for the next six months will cater to the daily fresh vegetable harvest of farmers–eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, ampalaya, string beans including fruits.
The Market Day booths are different from the vegetable section of the SM supermarkets.
The project dubbed Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) Farmers’ Market Dayis considered as other strategic market exposure for the local farmers to display and sell their harvested crops.
The project is part of SM Mall’s commitment to help farmers attain sustainability in social and entrepreneurial development, SM Foundation in partnership with the Local Governments of Baliwag and Pulilan, Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry as well as SM Supermalls.
Most from the farmers were SM Mall’s Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan graduates who were given the opportunity to sell their homegrown fruits and vegetables at the malls.
Since the program’s establishment in 2007, SM Foundation’s Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan has evolved into one of the pillars of the SM Foundation’s Corporate Social Responsibility Programs. The program focuses on sustainable agriculture that aims to bring farming technologies and training to both urban and rural communities, most especially to marginalized families around the country as to create economic opportunity and food security.
The training also provides input on how aspiring farmers could become entrepreneurs, amid economic challenges, and changing weather conditions.
Noel Mauricio from Municipal Agricultural and Fishery Council, and a KSK farmer graduate from Pulilan, Bulacan, expressed his joy over the project. “Natutuwa po kami dahil nagawa ng SM Foundation na kami ay mabigyan ng access sa market. Nakakatuwa sapagkat sa pamamagitan po nito ay ma-iinspire pa lalo na mag produce ng prutas at gulay ang mga magsasakang nagsipagtapos sa programa ng SM Foundation Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan o KSK” says Mauricio.
“It is such as great milestone that through the help of SM Foundation, we are able to help local farmers address the lack in marketing, one factor that makes it hard for farmers to sell their products. SM gives our farmers a chance to showcase their homegrown fruits and vegetables here at the mall. Such initiative is a big help to the community” shares Baliwag Municipal Agriculture Office Head Clemen Labao.
