Usana Foundation’s Garden Tower project facilitates sustainable nutrition on a small tropical island

29 May 2024 --- The project enables the creation of 100 “Garden Towers” that can provide sustainable and accessible crops to the residents of Malapascua Island, the Philippines. The Usana Foundation, the humanitarian arm of the US-based international dietary supplement R&D company Usana Health Sciences, facilitates the initiative.

“Due to the limited income of island residents and the expense of fresh fruit and vegetables, many of them are malnourished and experience health issues related to eating preserved foods and canned goods,” Keri Lusk, communications manager of the Usana Foundation, tells Nutrition Insight.

 “Malapascua Island relies heavily on tourism and fishing for their economic stability. It’s a much-beloved spot for scuba diving and enjoys visits from divers from all over the world. Everything needs to be transported from the mainland in Cebu to the island, which makes food very costly,” she adds. 

Usana’s Garden Towers initiative aims to improve access to locally-grown, nutritious food all over the world. Lusk explains that the Garden Towers are a vertical garden made from durable mesh material. “One tower can last about five years and hold as many as 120 plants, providing about 1,300 meals per year.”

Sustainability and nutrition
The small island spanning just 2.5 km by 1 km is home to more than 6,200 residents. Situated in the Visayan Sea in the central Philippines, kilometers away from the larger Cebu island, the long-term inhabitants of Malapascua tend to have limited access to locally-produced, environmentally sustainable and nutritious food. 

The growing guide for the Malapascua Garden Towers project that volunteers used when planting seedlings (Credit: Usana Foundation).“Camille Ann Ang, Usana Foundation ambassador and Usana associate, frequented the island as a scuba diver during the height of the pandemic and realized that this spot would be perfect for Garden Towers. Families in need could take care of their own towers, and they would provide sustainable nutrition for years to come, thriving in the tropical climate,” Lusk explains.

Ang initiated the building of five Garden Towers in March 2023. A year later, Usana Foundation is set to build 250 towers on the island, after collaborating with the local community and barangay officials. 

Lusk highlights that the towers  use 30% less water, need minimal weeding compared to regular gardens and can be re-planted again and again. “Most families in our programs receive two Garden Towers, and many will grow a surplus of vegetables with their towers, providing them with income opportunities to sell them at local markets.” 

Indigenous vegetation
Discussing the kinds of plants being grown in the Garden Towers and how they were chosen, Lusk explains that every Garden Tower is planted with locally-sourced and native plants to the region — “the most sustainable option.” 

“For Malapascua, vegetables native to the Philippines were chosen,” she adds. 

In a recent interview with Nutrition Insight, the Ghana-based FAO senior nutritionist Dr. Mphumuzi Sukati explained that reliance on native crops suitable to the local climate and soil can improve communities’ nutritional security while shielding them from the turbulence of global food systems.

Meanwhile, scientists have linked the diversification of the type of crops grown in food-insecure communities to reduced risk of obesity and associated diseases. 

The Garden Tower project
Usana’s Garden Towers project aims to feed families, with the potential to provide five or more nutritious meals a week for a household of six people. The project also aims to improve the health and self-reliance of the local populations while encouraging community bonding. 

The Malapascua Island Garden Tower project aims to have 250 towers on the island by the end of 2024.Recent research conducted by the American Heart Association found that access to fresh fruit and vegetables from a local source is vital to people’s cardiovascular health and overall nutrition.

“Our Garden Towers program started in 2019, and since then, communities we’ve served in have enjoyed quality nutrition at their fingertips, sustainable agricultural practices, mental and physical health benefits of taking care of one’s own garden and the food security of a sustainable food source,” says Lusk.

She points out that Malapascua Island is just one area where the Usana Foundation is active. “We work with a global network of nonprofit partners to connect families in need to this innovative solution to nutrition. We have built over 40,000 in 14 different countries and have plans for many more. Garden Towers are also present in Australia, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and the US.”

“As a foundation, we have surpassed the 40,000 Garden Towers mark, providing over 52,000,000 million meals per year through this program to food-insecure families.”

By Milana Nikolova