17 Jun 2014

Farm to table programme in Samoa enjoying success

4:37 pm on 17 June 2014

A resort owner and chief in Samoa says a 'Farm to Table' project has been so successful that it is providing food to most of the hotels and resorts on the island.

The Poutasi Farm was set up in 2010 with the help of the Tindall Foundation and New Zealand aid through the Volunteer Service Abroad.

Tuatagaloa Joe Annandale, the chief of Poutasi Village and the owner of Sinalei Reef Resort, says 95 per cent of the resort's menu is sourced locally.

"We buy from the local fishermen, we buy from the local farmers, we encourage it and we have Poutasi gardens who supply most of the restaurants in Apia and certainly all the resorts and hotels, not only on the south coast but on the Apia side with their green salads and it's been a wonderful development."

Tuatagaloa Joe Annandale says the programme provides jobs in the village and had also financed other village projects.