Rice that tastes like ‘first love’? A social enterprise wants to share this love

Ad

Experiences

Rice that tastes like 'showtime love'? A social enterprise wants to share this dearest

Malaysia's Langit Collective – founded by four onetime NGO project coordinators – wants to preserve the state's agronomical heritage by bringing heirloom rice to a wider audition.

Langit Commonage's CMO Melisa Lim (R) with an heirloom rice farmer. (Photograph: Langit Commonage)

fifteen Sep 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 05 Jul 2022 12:47AM)

It started in 2022 with that most humble Asian staple: Rice.

Melisa Lim, Chan Zi Xiang, Chia Yong Ling and Lilian Chen – project coordinators for a non-profit system – were managing the building of infrastructure in rural East Malaysia when they chanced upon the best rice they had ever tasted on a field trip to Sarawak's Long Semadoh Valley.

The rice turned out to be an heirloom variety grown by the indigenous Lun Bawang community in the Lawas highlands. Chen compared the sensation of eating the rice to "offset beloved", while Lim described the fragrance, taste and texture of the grains as "unforgettable".

Sarawak's Long Semadoh Valley. (Photo: Langit Collective)

Heirloom rice is grown using paddy seeds that have been inherited and passed on from ane generation to the other within rural communities. Typically, these paddy seeds are saved every year subsequently harvest and and so replanted the adjacent year.

"They are truly equally original every bit rice can exist and stand for the terroir of the land. If the saved seeds are not replanted, they volition slowly disappear from the communities," explained Lim.

"This is very much unlike commercial paddy seeds which are purchased for planting and are more than likely to exist GMO. Heirloom seeds are crucial every bit they reflect not only resilient crops that have withstood the test of time, simply more chiefly, the civilisation and heritage carried on past the ethnic farming communities."

Rice-planting being carried out by a local farmer. (Photo: Langit Commonage) "Heirloom seeds are crucial as they reflect not only resilient crops that take withstood the test of fourth dimension, but more importantly, the culture and heritage carried on past the indigenous farming communities." – Melisa Lim

READ> Bjorn Low: 'Every Singaporean can assistance Singapore become more food resilient'

This evocative experience was the seed that grew into Langit Collective, a social enterprise aimed at ensuring smallholder farmers in rural communities receive a fair income for their valuable grains.

Coming from diverse backgrounds – an actuary, a designer, a chiropractor and print producer – all four had abandoned their careers in their late 20s to join local non-profit, Impian Malaysia, in search of new experiences.

This is how four Kuala Lumpur-based urbanites came to experience rural East Malaysia at its rawest and got to know the difficulties its communities faced. Working for a not-profit further reinforced in the grouping that economical empowerment rather than a charity model was more sustainable in the long term to improve these communities' livelihoods.

Effectually the terminate of 2015, the intrepid foursome decided to validate their idea by selling the heirloom grains they had enjoyed and then much to their friends – they managed to sell 30kg in merely 2 days.

Langit's co-founders are (50-R): Chia Yong Ling, Chan Zi Xiang, Melisa Lim and Lilian Chen. (Photograph: Langit Collective)

To plant a framework for Langit, they enrolled into the MaGIC (Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Eye) accelerated programme for local social enterprises. This four-month-long course covered every topic from ideation all the style to the final product. It saw them through from starting operations and establishing supply chains to arranging transportation and applying for licenses.

Getting the farmers onboard was some other kettle of fish, even so.

"With rural farming communities, it'south not easy to promote an unproven concept. They are very pragmatic and want to run into proven results before taking a plunge. Partly because many organisations have introduced projects that have no continuity," explained Lim, who is Langit's CMO (Chen is CEO, Chan is CFO, and Chia is CTO).

The team works closely with the local farmers. (Photo: Langit Commonage) "With rural farming communities, it'southward non easy to promote an unproven concept. They are very businesslike and want to see proven results before taking a plunge. Partly because many organisations have introduced projects that have no continuity." – Melisa Lim Just after much persuasion, they managed to convince three farmers to agree. As the project gained momentum, more than farmers came effectually to the idea. Today, Langit is working actively with 45 farmers, with more on the

Langit currently promotes heirloom rice and grains from Long Semadoh and Long Sukang in Sarawak; spices similar ground ginger from Keningau in Sabah; and single-variety peppers from Serian, Sarawak.

Chen helping to harvest the crop. (Photo: Langit Collective)

Naturally, their core products are heirloom rice varieties: Beras Adan, Beras Salleh, Beras Sia', Beras Keladi and Beras Rumie (beras means rice). The names reverberate what the farmers know them as in their respective indigenous languages.

The ruby coloured Sia' ways carmine in Lun Bawang, while Keladi denotes yam to echo the grain's purplish hue. Adan and Salleh were named after the people who introduced the seed variety to the customs. Rumie is the only one named afterward a farmer who does her own seed choice of her all-time blackness variety every year.

The unique flavours of the diverse rice varieties have been historic on the menus of KL's finest restaurants, such as Dewakan (ranked No. 46 in Asia's fifty All-time Restaurants 2019), which dedicated a porridge dish to Beras Keladi.

Langit'due south Grains Collection Box. (Photo: Langit Collective)

Lim recalled how it was tough at first getting Langit's rice into these establishments because they weren't an established supplier and were selling local rice at an unheard-of price point. However the product spoke for itself and found an advocate in Dewakan'southward exacting head chef Darren Teoh.

"Our partnership with Dewakan grew organically from there as our values are aligned when information technology comes to celebrating underrated, local Malaysian ingredients, appreciating local farmers and advocating sustainability. And through this partnership, we gradually got connected to a network of like-minded chefs through discussion of mouth," Lim explained.

Five years on, Langit has grown their work from creating market access to actively looking at ways of improving their farmers' farming practices – such as by using regenerative methods and/or adopting the appropriate technology.

"Nosotros acknowledge that in order to have good, nutritious nutrient and fifty-fifty achieving a big vision of creating a sustainable future starts from the soil, the people who work the land, and the biodiversity that nature provides," stated Lim.

The squad is continuously looking for ways to ameliorate farming practices, and in plough, the farmers' livelihoods. (Photograph: Langit Collective) "We acknowledge that in order to have good, nutritious food and even achieving a big vision of creating a sustainable time to come starts from the soil, the people who work the country, and the biodiversity that nature provides." – Melisa Lim They also recently launched a pilot traceability system, Foodprints: "Now with a unproblematic scan of a QR lawmaking, customers tin get a snippet of the farmer who grew their rice, t

Langit's business organisation was not spared from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with losses from their B2B clients who had to stop operations. However, sales from their due east-commerce platform helped them to pull through. While Langit's range is bachelor in specialty stores, business organization is done predominantly online.

Currently their main market is Malaysia but they are in the midst of testing shipping to Singapore: "Our production can be quite frail and gets bruised during delivery. In one case we can find a good solution, we are definitely looking to ship internationally every bit there is a growing interest out in that location."

READ> A guide to sustainable eating – for you lot, the planet and generations to come

courseyeply1936.blogspot.com

Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/heirloom-rice-social-enterprise-langit-collective-247416

Share this post