Bukidnon reforestation NGO launches healthy, creative cooking group
Reforestation NGO Hineleban Foundation, a non-stock, non-profit organization that operates in Bukidnon, has launched “Lutu Lutu Kuy Ra,” a Facebook group that aims to feature easy, healthy, creative cooking demos and recipes and promote consumption of local crops, backyard gardening and easy-to-replicate garden-to-table food preparation.
The Facebook group, which can be accessed via http://www.facebook.com/groups/lutulutukuyra, will highlight tips and tricks from local cooks and videos from guest chefs. There will be live cooking demos of budget-friendly and healthy meals.
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey published in December 2020 indicated that the average hunger rate for 2020 in the Philippines is double the average of 9.3 percent for 2019. The highest hunger rate in 2020 was recorded in September, when it reached 30.7 percent or 7.6 million families. At the same time, the water supply from rivers and wells has reportedly been declining due to a combination of challenges experienced in water systems management and environmental degradation, largely due to deforestation (Walag, Canencia, Fiedler, 2018).
Hineleban Foundation General Manager Georgia Perrine hopes that by creating this platform, “Lutu Lutu Kuy Ra” will kick start conversations about food security and about how everyone has a right to food security. And by talking about food security, she hopes that participants begin to see how interconnected it is with water security.
“We each have a role to play to secure food and water, not only for ourselves and our families, but also for our communities and the country,” says Perrine.
Membership to the group is free. Group members are also asked to share their own easy-to-replicate recipes. Special prizes are in store. Full mechanics can be found on the http://www.facebook.com/hinelebanfoundation
Founded in 2006 in Tuminugan Farm, Bukidnon, Philippines, Hineleban Foundation promotes reforestation, environmental conservation, and sustainable farming practices to preserve the Mount Kitanglad rainforest ecosystem. Hineleban Foundation’s vision is to ensure the nation’s water, food and human security by reforesting the mountain ranges of Mindanao. These ranges are inhabited by the IP communities.
On their official website, Hineleban Foundation explained that by supporting IPs through food security, followed by sustainable livelihood and finally, reforestation, they also play a more active role in the protection of the remaining primary forests in the Philippines.
The foundation’s name, Hineleban (He-nu-lu-ban), is a sacred Talaandig-Hingaunen term that literally means “Mother Tree of the rainforest that sustains the cycle of all life.”
