Where My Blue Tea is growing roots in sustainability
Sarawak, Land of the Hornbills, is a Malaysian region in Borneo. It stretches along the island’s northwest coast, with unspoilt beaches hugging the coastline of the South China Sea. It is known for its rugged, dense rainforest in the interior, and much of it is protected parkland. The capital, Kuching, is a bustling city set on the Sarawak River. Its 19th-century landmarks include the Astana, former palace of the White Rajahs, and Fort Margherita - built to thwart pirates.
This is the last of our region’s food bowl, surrounded by the virgin rainforests of Borneo.
Playing a Part
My Blue Tea is a part of a farm-to-consumer business where work with local communities at a grassroots level. We have invested in time, built a factory and most of all, invested in people. This is how we play our part in working towards achieving sustainable agriculture while giving these farmers the opportunity to provide a dignified future for themselves and their families.
Part of a Global Movement
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments, several universities and members of My Blue Tea recognised the need to develop an agricultural footprint to fight climate change and ensure future food security. Everyone pledged resources and gave birth to a movement known globally as LULUCF (Land Use, Land-use Change and Forestry). My Blue Tea supports and will continue to support local communities in making this change possible for our environment.
Another Superfood to watch is our Dayak Ginger Crisps and soon to be available our Pure Ginger Juice along with Calamansi/Kasturi Juice. Absolutely moreish as a snack or condiment, the crisps can be sprinkled over any dish - savoury or sweet or eat it on its own. Here's a link to Raw Chef Yin take on Dayak Ginger Crisps - Quinoa Salad with Dayak Ginger Crisps.
Don't forget our Native Cili Padi (this is Bird's Eye Chilli from our people of the Kayan Tribe).
Bamboo and Sustainability – Bamboo4U
The humble bamboo is our protagonist in our sustainability efforts.
For centuries, bamboo has a part of the daily life of rural and tribal populations. It is an intrinsic part of their culture, traditions, social and economic requirements.
Symbolically, bamboo is synonymous with consistency and integrity as it grows straight and upright. It is green every season and is often considered to be a good luck charm and is believed to bestow youth, flexibility and love.
Apart from these beautiful connotations, there is a bigger and more important reason why we love bamboo. My Blue Tea and DOKU Bio-tech (our manufacturing arm) are cultivating bamboo to make our delicious Bamboo Tea because the ingredients are grown exclusively in Borneo. This empowers local communities and helps boost the rural economy.
Bamboo is a versatile crop with a variety of uses. It has amazing potential in rural economic transformation and we want to expand our bamboo nursery and distribution to advocate more people to grow it.
We have been sharing bamboo seedlings with rural farmers and teaching them how to plant and care for bamboo. This allows as many farmers as possible to actively participate in mitigating climate change. The quiet bamboo is a plant that complains little and can grow in all types of soil conditions. It also functions as a green solar system, highly efficient at capturing carbon from the atmosphere and sinking it into the soil to provide food for soil microorganisms within root cells. This is known as rhizophagy symbiosis. This is a way to restore soil health.
Bamboo Beauty
In practising sustainability and waste reduction, My Blue Tea uses bamboo leaves to make our Bamboo Infusion Tea which contains silica. Silica can help promote healthy hair, skin and nails. It is vital for the formation of collagen, the human body´s most abundant protein. Modern processing methods can remove this naturally occurring mineral in food so drinking a cup or two of My Blue Tea´s Bamboo Infusion Tea daily will help restore silica into the body.
A beautiful addition to a beauty regime, this tea is also light and delicious as it is infused with fragrant Pandan and Calamansi peel (another example of waste reduction). More information about bamboo tea can be found here.
Bamboo is an incredibly generous plant with so many benefits it has to offer. In the near future, we plan to deepen our commitment to sustainability by employing companion planting techniques. Another of My Blue Tea's star status plant is the butterfly pea plant. As butterfly pea flower is a vine or creeper, we have plans to plant it with bamboo which will provide a frame and nutrients for its companion creeper plant.
DISCOVER SARAWAK
Moving beyond our bamboo, we love the rich culture of its homeland, Sarawak. It is a very different side of South East Asia, offering an alternative for those seeking humble authenticity, far from the main tourist traps. Visiting Sarawak can be done as a complementary trip to Peninsular Malaysia and neighbouring countries, or a journey of discovery all on its own. Always dreamed of taking the road less travelled? Go to Sarawak.
Whether it is sharing in the lifestyle of one of the indigenous tribes at their longhouses, or exploring gigantic caves in the UNESCO World Heritage of Gunung Mulu National Park, you will find Sarawak offers a host of memorable experiences.
Find out what makes Sarawak a favourite Malaysia tourism destination - her people, national parks, world heritage site, orangutans and longhouse experiences.
Rich in Culture
Sarawak, the largest state in Malaysia, is home to 26 ethnic groups. With 45 different dialects, each group has their own unique stories, beliefs, traditions and cultures.
You can meet people from the Iban tribe, known for their legendary headhunting customs from days of old. They have long since ceased headhunting, but still passionately practise their rich customs, art, practices and language.
The Orang Ulu, or "people from upriver", comprises of different tribes such as the Kayan, Kenyah, Lun Bawang and Kelabit. Their art and music have spread internationally, as seen in the growing popularity of the boat lute or sape. The sape has become the symbol of the Rainforest World Music Festival, one of Malaysia’s largest music festivals.
We were in Borneo a few years ago to set up the factory and manage the farms with our local native friends. Inevitably, we also spent time feasting on divine local foods as a reward for working hard. On that trip, we had the opportunity to experience some of their dance culture and one of our favourite traditional folk dance was the Bamboo Dance, or Magunatipwas. The Magunatipwas is traditionally performed as a victory dance when Murut warriors returned from a successful headhunting raid. Apart from the Muruts, the Magunatipwas is also performed by other indigenous ethnic tribes in Sarawak and the Kadazandusun of Tambunan and the Kwijau Dusun of Keningau who live in the Sabah region.
Green with Life
Sarawak has a whopping 56 totally protected areas, 37 gazetted national parks, five wildlife sanctuaries and 14 nature reserves. Its rainforests are the size of Austria.
Sarawak’s rainforests house one of the world’s richest and most diverse ecosystems. It is home to the world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia (it can grow to the size of a coffee table), squirrels and snakes that fly, deer the size of cats, as well as hungry plants that eat insects (and small animals). The orangutan, proboscis monkey, hornbill, the Rajah Brooke butterfly and the silverleaf monkey all call Sarawak home. Experts believe that there are some species of flora and fauna yet to be discovered deep beneath the lush foliage.
Sarawak also has the most number of Important Birding Areas (IBAs) in Malaysia, with a great portion of Borneo’s 650 bird species having been recorded.
Gastronomical Paradise
So much to eat, so little time! From the delectable manok pansuh - chicken cooked in bamboo, savoury laksa Sarawak, delicious kolo mee, mouthwateringly crispy jungle fern - midin, the herby broth known as kueh chap, the rich manok kacangma - made from motherwort and rice wine, the seasonal dabai fruit, to the Melanaus umai - a delicacy with thin slivers of fish and rich sago pearls - Sarawak’s very long list of unique culinary offerings is unparalleled.
From top right: Kolo Mee, Sarawak Layered Cake, the Breakfast for God's - Sarawak Laksa and the famous Melanau's sago biscuits called Tebaloi. Click here for the Pandan Tebaloi recipe .
The late Anthony Bourdain proclaimed "Laksa Sarawak” as “Breakfast of the Gods”and featured this delectable dish in his globally-acclaimed series "No Reservation" and CNN's "Parts Unknown".
Top left: Having a lighter moment with the village chief and people of Simuti
Centre: Torch Ginger is grown in the pristine rainforest of Borneo
Top right: Homes made from bamboo
Bottom left: Water coming in deep within the mountains and bird's eye chilli farms.
SOIL TO PLATE
SOIL is the most important asset on your property.
Soil to Plate ensures we know where our food comes from. Soil is rarely seen as a protagonist but it is actually the most important thing on your land. Watch this video on the Importance of Soil.
It rehydrates the landscape for water security, food security, stable bio-systems and most importantly, a stable climate.
Managing a responsible process of Soil to Plate is our commitment. This is what we are doing in our factory and farms in Sarawak and we are expanding into Sabah, Borneo with our native friends and partners.
We aim to achieve a Soil to Plate lifestyle - ensuring we have an audit trail from start to finish. The source of our products is sustainable and organic. It contains the right amount of micro organisms for healthy and productive plants without the need for chemicals. It is vital that what we do now is passed on to future generations. They need to understand the importance of food security e.g. using permaculture, vermiculture and micro organism techniques.
SARAWAK DAY
In conjunction with Sarawak Day which falls on 22nd July, MyBlueTea in association with Statos (Sarawak Trade & Tourism Office Singapore) and "We Harvest" featuring a food and culture show (in Sydney only). Participants are restaurants, cafes and private caterers featuring Sarawak food and products made in Sarawak.
To celebrate, diners must order at least one Sarawak dish made by the local restaurant, cafes or caterers participating in the event and they will receive a Gift bag and information about Sarawak and sample products made in Sarawak.
Keep a lookout for our next blog and/or Facebook Events Page with an updated list of participating restaurants, cafes, caterers and companies in Sydney on 17th and 18th July and Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth on 24th and 25th July 2021.
Are you intrigued by Sarawak yet? Brew a cup of Bamboo Tea and muse about visiting this amazing land rich in sensory experiences.
Source :
https://sarawaktourism.com/discover-sarawak-malaysia/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZU7rAT6pTM
https://rainforests.mongabay.com/borneo/
https://says.com/my/lifestyle/sarawak-day-is-on-22-july-here-are-things-to-know-about-the-celebration
https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Sarawakian_cuisine