Images of farming families practicing healthy diets and engaging in nutritious food production during the Covid-19 pandemic, five of which by Filipino photographers, won the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) 2021 photo contest.
Themed “One Health is Wealth: Healthy Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems,” the contest saw Filipinos winning the first and second prizes, People’s Choice and SEARCA Director’s Choice awards and the Best Youth Photographer Award (Mobile Phone), a SEARCA news release said.
The other winning photos were by photographers from Vietnam and Myanmar.
A photo depicting home gardening by Lindy Vivien Aldaba won the first prize. It shows a vignette illustrating how the pandemic opened people’s minds to produce food in the comfort of their homes with access to online resources to help them grow their plants well.
Klienne Eco bagged the second prize with his photo of a mother and her children going through a schoolbook together in front of a healthy spread of vegetables, fruits, milk, and bread.
Klienne Eco bagged the second prize with his photo of a mother and her children going through a schoolbook in front of a healthy spread of vegetables, fruits, milk and bread.
The third prize went to a photo of a farmer harvesting water mimosa by The Duy Tu. Water mimosa is a calcium- and iron-rich vegetable that also contains vitamins A and C. In Southeast Asia, it is found in still waters in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The winner of the SEARCA Director’s Choice is a photo by Arturo B. de Vera Jr. showing a farming couple with the father preparing a fresh harvest of fruits and vegetables for a meal and the mother breastfeeding her baby, both of which will boost the immune system against rampant diseases, including Covid-19.
“The food systems that focus on sustainable agriculture and recognize breastfeeding as the first food cut across human health and planetary health,” said SEARCA Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio.
Gregorio added that the photo vividly captured the brightness of the sun that highlights the colorful harvest of the day.
On the other hand, Kyaw Zayar Lin’s photo of farm workers having a meal beside a rice field emerged as the Choice of Philippine Department of Education Secretary, Dr. Leonor Magtolis Briones.
The People’s Choice Award went to a photo by Arnel Dagdag Garcia of a young boy about to plant a seedling as his father and brother harvest crops behind him. The photo garnered more than 1,000 likes on Facebook.
To mark its 15th milestone year, the SEARCA Photo Contest added two special awards for young shutterbugs who used a camera and a mobile phone.
Aung Myat Thu bagged the Best Youth Photographer Award (Camera) for his photo of beans scattering out of a farmer’s cupped hands.
Meanwhile, her photo of a little girl drinking processed raw milk collected from a cow won for Emely J. Escala the Best Youth Photographer Award (Mobile Phone).
The first, second, and third prize winners won $1,000, $800, and $500, respectively.
The SEARCA Director’s Choice and Philippine DepEd Secretary’s Choice winners each won $500, while the winner of the People’s Choice Award via Facebook votation gets $400. The Best Youth Photographer Award recipients each won $300.
The SEARCA Photo Contest is launched every September.
