Camille Prats talks about growing her own food and being a socially-conscious consumer
Vegetable farming became one of the hobbies of a lot of people, including celebrities, who are stuck at home because of the quarantine.
With ample space in the backyard, it's really possible to grow your own food.
Luckily for Camille Prats, their family has a spacious area in their eco-resort in Balete, Batangas, allowing them to grow different kinds of fruits and veggies such as eggplant, guyabano, okra, calamansi, coconut, and mango.
"It's actually fun to do [and] to have some fresh greens and veggies available in your backyard na hindi mo na iiisipin na, 'ay wala na 'kong ganito' kung hindi ka makabili kaagad especially now na we don't really go out even for grocery," Camille shared during an exclusive Zoom interview with GMANetwork..com recently.
One obvious reason why the celebrity and influencer mom promotes growing your own food is because the freshness of the produce is assured.
"Unang-una, alam mo kung saan nanggaling 'yung vegetables na niluluto n'yo. Pangalawa, sobrang fresh sy'a kaya 'yung okra no'ng pinitas namin sobra akong nagulat kasi ganito pala itsura ng fresh na okra parang medyo light green s'ya. Kasi when you buy it in the market, kinda dark green na so siguro na-o-overripe na siya by that tme you cook it."
Camille loves anything that's readily available, that's why she opted for vegetable farming as an alternative food source during a health crisis.
"We always make calamansi juice in our house kasi Vitamin C talaga siya na hindi vitamins [tablets] so the kids love it. So ang nice lang na you just pick it from the tree and then mayroon ka nang available sa inyo."
When asked if she has plans to fully commit to vegetable farming for their own consumption, Camille still has reservations.
"'Di ko alam kung kaya kong gampanan kasi 'yun because it's also a lot of work, 'yung mga gulay na mahihirap nang i-grow. So I'm not really sure if I can commit to that 100% but I would say that I would love to try," the mom of three amicably admitted.
Yes, vegetable farming has a lot of benefits but Camille is also aware of her responsibility as a consumer as she supports the local farmers whose livelihoods were affected by the present pandemic.
"Iba nga naman talaga p'ag meron kang readily available sa harapan or sa backyard," the Makulay Ang Buhay and Mars Pa More host noted.
Camille then stressed, "But it's also important na, for me, as a consumer, to buy kasi tulong mo naman 'yun sa mga taong 'yun naman ang kinabubuhay nila sa life like the vegetable dealers who have also a lot of problems these days.
"Nabubulok 'yung mga gulay nila dahil wala na ring masyadong bumibili. So tayong may kakayahang bumili ng produkto nila, let's do it for them do'n sa mga 'di na natin kayang itanim.
"Kasi mahirap naman we're gonna try to do everything on our own 'di ba? Kailangan din nating tulungan 'yung iba."