What do a fashion designer, marketing,
lawyer, makeup artist, photographer, and creative director have in common? They
all found a whole new career in food! Their second careers might have happened
by accident, but their passion for them is no coincidence.
Hindy Weber-Tantoco – The Fashion Designer With A Green
Thumb
Hindy Weber-Tantoco is creating a clear
fashion statement: Not by way of designing clothing for kids, mothers-to-be,
and women – she’s been doing that for 10 years now and simply excels at it –
but by offering a range of natural and organic products that helps people live
healthier lifestyles.
Hindy
Weber-Tantoco
She used to turn to Audrey Hepburn for
inspiration in her career as a top fashion designer, but now she looks to
architect turned sustainable living advocate Reimon Gutierrez of Prado Farms
and her own father as well, a mountaineer and farmer, for sound advice on
backyard farming. “I wanted to put food I could trust on the table,” Hindy
recalls. “So my husband Gippy and I decided to plant a few greens in our backyard
– just for our own consumption. I never saw it as a career. It was only after a
year that we began to see it as a potentially viable business.” Like a seed to
a tree, the couple’s simple initiative has grown into a far-reaching project in
the form of Holy Carabao!, a holistic farm in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, producing
seasonal vegetables and fruits, dairy products, jams, spices, teas, salad
dressings, and meat and poultry, to name a few.
Jams
of The Holy Carabao!
“Fashion is like a rollercoaster ride – there
are ups and downs, but it’s always very thrilling,” Hindy says. The same can be
said about biodynamic farming, where a possibly bountiful harvest today can
easily be destroyed by pests and rainstorms tomorrow. It’s an unpredictable
venture that requires patience. “A lot of it,” the new farmer says. “Patience
with the weather, patience with the market. We’ve had to engage very closely
with our customers to answer all their questions on the products or to consult
with them on wellness. I have made myself available for consultations online,
on Facebook, and via text – so they don’t just speak with a hired hand.”
While she still fulfills her duties as an
in-house designer for Rustan’s Department Store, the hardworking Hindy manages
to find time to oversee farm operations, experiment with more superfoods, and
collaborate with other farms – while also being a loving wife and a mother of
three. The nature of her two passions might be miles apart, but they both pave
the way for a better life. This is what fuels Hindy. “When someone feels
healthier and happier, he can’t fake it. I like to see that kind of genuine
satisfaction.”
Holy Carabao! products are available online
at www.holycarabao.com and at select
Rustan’s Supermarkets. The farm is located inside the Sta. Elena County Estate
in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Visit www.sraelena.com
for more information or call 0939-8828722 or email [email protected].
The
farming life
Hindy Weber-Tantoco shares some food for
thought on starting and managing a holistic, organic farm.
·
See the big picture
“We are all so
interconnected. Every little thing we do affects another. How we treat the
staff, how we package our produce and heck, even how we treat the earthworms
will reflect on the quality of our harvest.”
·
Work with nature
“Being in sync
with the cosmos and working with nature are so crucial to the life force in all
living beings. The farm doesn’t begin and end with its fences. It belongs to
the land, which belongs to the country, which in turn belongs to the planet.
Belonging to the planet means we are affected by everything in our solar
system.”
·
Sick to your guns!
“It’s such a
slow and unpredictable business that it is so easy to fall off the wagon and
sell out or deceive the customer just to make an extra buck.”
