ABU DHABI // An organic farmer is showing children where the food on their plates comes from by bringing his animals along to a new family picnic brunch in Abu Dhabi.
Former royal security guard Mohammed Salama, 37, has teamed up with Yas Viceroy Hotel to bring his organic fruit and vegetable market, as well as a selection of his ducks, chickens and rabbits, to the hotel’s new Saturday family picnic brunches on their lawn.
The animals, which come from Mr Salama’s Yas Farm, are a way for him to educate children about farming and the origin of their food.
Mr Salama also likes to question the youngsters to find out what they already know about the produce he sells.
“I often ask groups of children, ‘where do eggs come from?’” he said. “Some kids say ‘from the supermarket’, or ‘the fridge’.
“Most kids do know, but they need to be more in touch with the natural world. They’ve studied farm animals at school but this is real life. They need to be able to meet a farmer themselves to understand more about their food.”
Ruth Haboubi, 35, took her four year-old daughter Yasmin along to the picnic last Saturday to enjoy a hands-on experience with the animals.
Ms Haboubi, a Briton, said: “Last week in the car, Yasmin said to me ‘isn’t it funny that the word for chicken is the same as the word for chicken that we eat?’
“So I had to explain that it is actually the same thing, and chicken comes from chickens. And then she said ‘but I thought it was eggs that came from chickens!’ I like the concept of her being able to come here and see the animals for herself.”
Alaa Elburi, 34, a Libyan-Saudi national, was picnicking with her three children Aciya, 11, Ahmed, 4, and Ameen, 2.
While she was there, Ms Elburi also said she would buy a box of Yas Farm’s fruit and vegetables for Dh150.
“We used to live in the US, and honestly, I’m so used to everything being packaged and processed,” she said. “But the more you learn about all the chemical processes they do to food, the more you want to eat something that just came out of the ground naturally.”
Mr Salama was helped in publicising his new Saturday market by Jacqueline Wood, who put out the message to the 13,000 members of Abu Dhabi Women’s Group, which she runs on Facebook.
Ms Wood, from the UK, has been dropping in to the event to pick up her weekly groceries since it started up five weeks ago.
“We live just across the road in Khalifa City, so it’s easy for us,” she said. “It’s nice to have fresh produce, without food having to travel all those air miles, which are totally unnecessary.”
Yas Viceroy’s general manager, Andrew Humphries, said that during the hotter months the market and the brunch would be moved indoors.
“We also plan to feature Yas Farm’s organic produce on our other restaurant menus,” he said.
“This is a climate where things grow all year so there’s great scope for supporting local farmers.”
He said that Mr Salama was “fantastic with explaining to the kids all about where the food comes from. It helps kids understand more about what they’re eating”.
Mr Salama hoped his organic customers would eventually be able to pick up their produce directly from Yas Farm itself, which is located between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi.
Families would then be able to see his farm animals in their homes and make a day of the experience.
“We are looking for investors to come on board so we can open a few shops at Yas Farm and a restaurant, which will cook only our own produce”, he said.
“We want to spread awareness about healthy food all around the UAE. This is my dream.”
newsdesk@thenational.ae
