Watercolored Veggies for Greenpeace

A few weeks ago, Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior ship was here in Manila, and I was fortunate to be invited to talk about vegan food. At the event, I met Ms. Vigie of Greenpeace, and when we later had lunch at Pipino. While she was discussing Greenpeace’s upcoming projects with me, I took the opportunity to share the things that I love, and bring more people together to help the cause.

Greenpeace is an international organization that aims to protect regions from further ecological ruin, and to provide awareness and action in the interest of environmental protection and sustainable development. Intensive animal farming still accounts for the highest contributor to greenhouse gases, and it is one of Greenpeace Philippines’ missions to promote more plant-based meals in the country to lessen our carbon footprint. Sadly, despite all the local produce here, the Philippines ranks high on the list of meat-eating countries.

I had been meaning to host another watercolor soirée (gosh, it’s been 3 years since the last one!!), so I took a chance and invited female watercolor artists, in celebration of Women’s Month, to a painting session at the Canon store in SM Megamall. Each artist was tasked to paint a postcard featuring one protein-rich vegetable endemic to the Philippines. The postcards will be used as educational material, just in time for Earth Day in April.

It was such an honour to bring all these amazing artists together in one afternoon. I was so happy they were all game to participate in this project! We also have a few artists who weren’t available that day, but contributed their artworks via e-mail.

IFEX International Fine Paper Exchange provided us with Arches Watercolor Paper and Winsor and Newton Professional Watercolors.

As a little token, I gave the artists my superfine brushes. These brushes are now available at Commonroom ATC and Katipunan!

After a round of fun introductions and learning about each one’s favourite vegetable, we dove right into painting (with some chika on the side haha).

Everyone worked so fast!! I kept talking to my seatmates (lol) and kept standing up to take photos, so I ended up finishing last, haha. Check out all the artworks in progress!

After painting, we printed our artworks using the Canon Pixma G3010 printer. Everyone was sooo amazed with the color and print quality! You can hardly tell which one is the original from the print!

My chosen veggie is Monggo—because it’s easy to plant, always tastes like home, and is packed with protein at 24g per serving!

Special thanks to this fun bunch who painted with me at the event!

Pili by Megan Diño

Sigarilyas by Cheryl Joyce Owen

Kale by Mayang Frigillana

Avocado by Kat Gosengfiao

Tofu by Lena Cobangbang

Bataw by Paola Jane Esteron

Spinach by Drew Europeo

Pigeon Peas by Steph Alvarez

Monggo by Alessandra Lanot

Zucchini by Patricia Py

Asparagus by Kat Garfin

Black Mung Bean by Louise Anne

Potatoes by Carla Chua

Broccoli by June Digan

Alugbati by Carla de Guzman

Kidney Beans by Oats Tiu

Squash by Arlene Sy

Ampalaya by Yas Doctor

Corn by Ella Lama

Malunggay by Tin Bejar

Peas by Cynthia Bauzon-Arre

Pumpkin Seeds by Alexis Ventura

Gabi leaves by Tippy Go

Mushrooms by Anina Rubio

Kasoy by Alissa Evangelista

Bawang by Mimi Sarmiento

Mani by Sasha Martinez

Langka by Me (again) 😛

I grouped the veggies into fours, and created postcards with recipes at my vegan resto, Pipino.

We made Langka BBQ!

Together with Greenpeace, I presented the poster featuring 28 veggies by Filipina Watercolor Artists at the World Meat-Free Week Celebration at the Quezon City Hall.

This project is really important to me because a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions can be traced to what we eat. For every single serving of beef, 330g of CO2 is released into the atmosphere (equivalent to driving 4.8km in your car). A plant-based meal only releases 14g. Let’s all try to eat #LessMeatMoreVeggies towards a better #DietForClimate 💚