90% of Singapore’s food is sourced from 180 countries
For a long time I wanted to grow my own food. I tried, failed, and gave up. There’s not enough space, there’s not enough sun, it takes too long to harvest the veggies, and, I can’t keep eating the same veggies all the time!
How vulnerable are we?
As of 2025, approximately one quarter of the world’s population (around 2 billion people) lives in areas affected by conflict, with 78 countries engaged in conflict beyond their borders, the most since World War II. These growing geopolitical tensions significantly impact global food supply chains and pose a notable risk to Singapore due to its high import dependency…
Singapore is highly dependent on imported food, with over 90% of its food supply sourced from more than 180 countries and regions. This high reliance makes the nation particularly vulnerable to external shocks and supply chain disruptions caused by climate change, disease outbreaks, and geopolitical decisions… < Click here for full article. >
If you live in a high rise apartment like me, fret not.
I took a 2-day course in plant propagation. We were introduced to plants and herbs and more significantly, their healing properties. We also learned three medicinal plants every home must grow.
Our training was held at a 4-storey home built around the Four Square Farming concept – an ecosystem that includes fruit trees, vegetables, fish (she has 200 tilapia!), and quail. At the course, I learned about mixing soil, how to pot plants, and to propagate plants through seeds, rooting, cutting, and grafting. We were also taught how to make our own organic pesticides and fertilisers with ingredients found in our kitchen.
I learned that HDB dwellers can grow microgreens – they sprout fast even with the ordinary light in your home (no special lighting). Microgreens are very nutritious. My key takeaway is: we can grow food whether in a landed home with a big garden or a high rise apartment with a small space.
The ancient Greek philosopher Hippocrates once said: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” At class, I heard testimonies of how home grown food and herbs had helped past participants heal their eczema, persistent cough, cancer, 😷… With caveats and precautions of course.
It’s been five days since my course.
