A new generation is putting increasing emphasis on health, good food and sustainability—so why are we still so reliant on mass agriculture? Rooftop Republic co-founder Pol Fàbrega wants to change the way we eat
Pol Fàbrega had a lightbulb moment when he moved to Hong Kong in 2011. After a childhood in Barcelona and an early adulthood in spent in the UK, Germany, France and Cambodia, he was accustomed to seasonal cooking and the taste of ripe fruit and vegetables still warmed from the sun. Hong Kong’s bland supermarket-bought goods came as something of a shock.
“In Barcelona, there is a very different way of eating to Hong Kong,” he says. “We go to markets and buy our produce from farmers who are based near the city. Just down the road from where my parents live is a guy selling vegetables picked that morning. They have a connection to him, know and trust his farming methods, and eat only what’s in season.”
I never thought I would become a farmer in one of most densely populated places on earth
By contrast, Hong Kong’s supermarket culture means produce has either traversed the globe to arrive at your fridge or has been grown using harmful pesticides in Mainland China. Fàbrega decided there must be a better solution—but what? City slickers don’t have the time, space, inclination or know-how to start toiling on farms outside urban hubs.
“Those of us who live in cities, which is most of us, don’t even realise how much more delicious fresh produce is supposed to be,” says Fàbrega. “Visually, produce on supermarket shelves looks perfect, but that’s not the point. While that ugly tomato from home is misshapen, it tastes incredible. That’s because mass-farmed tomatoes are picked when green and ripened en route so the taste is inevitably watery and bland.”