Sustainable Food: Sigar Highlands Experience

This journey takes us back to something very simple, yet deeply important, how we grow our food and the impact of the choices we make every day. At the Sigar Highlands Development Centre, we spend time with the Khoo family at Kind Grower, a pesticide-free farm that reflects a way of working with the land rather than against it. From there, we move into the forests of the Lodging Highlands, guided by the Orang Temiar community, whose knowledge of the land has been passed down through generations. Here we enter one of the oldest living rainforests on the planet, over 100 million years old. Within this forest, we seek out one of nature’s rarest wonders, the Rafflesia. With around 32 known bloom hotspots each year, it is a rare opportunity to bear witness. The Rafflesia exists because everything around it exists. Its survival depends on a precise balance as its main pollinator is the humble fly. When that balance is disrupted through pesticides and unsustainable farming, it is not just crops that are affected, but entire systems of life. This is where the journey becomes personal. What we choose to eat, and where we spend our money, has consequences. Supporting farms like Kind Grower and communities like the Orang Temiar helps protect what is still intact. This experience will stay with you and your families because it connects what is on your plate to something much bigger.