DAVAO CITY -Restaurants serving organic meals are urged to source their products from the city’s organic farms that are PGS-(participatory guarantee system) certified.
“We are urging these restaurants to buy their organic products from PGS-certified organic farms to ensure that what they are serving are pure organic meals,” said Joy Enriquez, a representative of Go Organic Davao City (GoDC).
Enriquez said buying products from PGS-certified sources is highly recommended to as it assures healthy and pesticide-free products.
The Davao PGS brand is a second-party certifi-cation process which is recognized by the city’s Organic Agriculture Management Committee (OAMC) and the Department of Agriculture’s Technical Committee on Organic Agriculture (TCOA).
PGS inspector Alex Betarmos said PGS means that the farming process follows the established national standards on orga-nic farming.
Recently, PGS Davao Committee granted organic certification to three of Davao’s flourishing organic farms: Balik Bukid Farm and Kitchen; Min-kah’s Urban Farm and Resto; and La Fermette Tacunan Farm.
Balik Bukid Farm and Kitchen, located along Ecoland Drive, uses chemical free and farm fresh ingredients sourced from their farm in Wangan, Calinan District. It won the Lunhaw Award in 2014 for its organic farming initiatives.
Fellow Lunhaw Awardee in 2015, Minkah’s Urban Farm and Resto situated on the slope of Matina Shrine Hills and overlooking Davao Gulf, also produce farm fresh vegetables and livestock the organic way. It is also notable for its organically grown roasted wild pigs, which are more lean and savory than those on the mainstream market.
La Fermette is French meaning “tiny farm”, is located in Tacunan, Tugbok District. The farm, which is managed by a French-man and his Filipino partner, produces milk and cheese from organically-fed cows. It is also known for its baguettes, which use all-natural ingredients.
This means that the three farms can now use the PGS brand to promote their products as 100 per-cent organically grown and produced.
Enriquez said this development signals a positive start for the organic food movement under the administration of Mayor Sara Duterte.
“Having more PGS-certified organic restos brings a lot of benefits. Not only will Davaoeños have more healthy and affordable food choices, but farmers will also have the incentive to shift to organic farming because there is consumer demand. And because it is environment-friendly, organic farming helps the city and its watersheds become healthy and green,” she said.
Enriquez said these certified organic restau-rants and farms also comply with the conditions set when applying to be PGS-certified that include establishment of buffer zones in their organic area, canal, source of water, and organic feeding materials.
She said to be PGS-certified one has to apply and get form from the City Agriculture Office (CAO) and City Veterinarian Office.
Enriquez said currently there are already 19 PGS-certified farms and restaurants in the city. (Maya Padillo/Mindanao Daily Mirror)