What do you see when you go to the market? If you see vendors, that may be a typical thing in the current society. But have you ever thought that the market that we go to can trade more than money? For me, this market is like a big family, consisting of cooks, farmers, and makers. This market is an area that cultivates nutrition in our minds. It is an after-school market for Rung Aroon School.
Every Thursday, the children will gather at this large kitchen.With a management system that does not follow any particular standards, but, instead, utilizes the heart and care to give for the children. The Thursday evening market transpires as a source of fun and tranquility that we can allow the kids to go and buy snacks and food after school, before they head home.
What does this place offer? The market has snacks and local menus that are not popular nor sounds tempting. It offers fresh coconut water from Uncle Wittaya, grilled puff, freshly squeezed juice in a glass bottle, ice cream from organic fruits, and dishes from ingredients that are known to be nontoxic. Why is it that this after school market was cared for so much about?
The answer is not difficult.Food is considered one of the matters that the school emphasize on. Aside from the school ranking as one of the top picks in Bangkok, Cooking is included as one of the main missions. Indeed, students that attend this school, from kindergarten to Mattayom 6, must work together along with their teacher to cook lunch for themselves and their friends, using seasonal organic ingredients. Therefore, it is not surprising that food that is allowed to be sold on school grounds bypassed the standards, because aside from being screened by the school, the quality of screening from the parents here is equally intense.
This Thursday market has become one of the most comfortable markets to shop and taste. Why is that so? We can know the origin of the raw materials from every vendor that we visit, for instance,
Uncle Wittaya’s Coconut stall that travelled all the way from Nakhon Pathom every Thursdays has freshly cracked coconut and reed straws. Uncle Wittaya always asks for organic waste generated from the market to transport back home, because Uncle believes that these wastes are good fertilizer and is a true organic waste. When returned to the soil, it will be transformed into organic
nutrients.
The gentleman that owns Jinta Ice Cream selects raw materials and organic sugars as the main ingredients. Each week, the flavors of the ice cream will vary according to the ingredients found in each season. More importantly, this gentleman cares about these small details because the person that the shop is named after attends this school as well. Therefore, it is fortunate to be able to
make safe desserts for all his children at school.
Grilled Puff Pastry Stall offers various fillings, including banana, coconut, potato, and taro. Usually, pastries that are sold in conventional bakeries will be soaked in white butter that we ourselves are terrified of. However, this shop does not use butter. Furthermore, the puffs from this stall is wrapped in banana leaves and grilled with low flame, filling the atmosphere with an inviting fragrant, until the kids rush to queue up.
All of these are some of the examples that we see from the vendors. Another thing that we've noticed happening in the school is that parents and students carry their personal food containers and bottles, or some vendors offer packaging that does not harm the environment. No one uses single-use plastic that can only be used once before it is thrown away. Although this school is not the first to implement this action, but we would like the Tung Ton Market to be the originating market. We believe that the habits that are cultivated will affect the behaviors in selection, eating, and discarding of the students. This suburb school is not the only school that has this policy, but the extension of involving the parents at home to be more conscious about eating, using energy, and contemplating before returning garbage to nature is what the Tung Ton Market would like to see in every schools and offices. We wish those places will allocate quality time like this at least once a week. If it could really happen, a lot more people would have access to safe food. Do you agree?
Author
Nattaporn Pinpech
Creative / Story teller