In mid-February 2023, Multiplicator of Stube-HEMAT in Bengkulu met Pastor Dwijoko, Catholic Church of St. John, Bengkulu. The meeting took place several times and one of the meetings was recorded and uploaded through the YouTube channel link1 "Sang Petani". The meeting continued with a discussion of ‘anxiety sharing’ about the community's dependence on food that was not produced by themselves. A discussion with students of Stube-HEMAT Bengkulu was held at the Bhadrika Hall, Bengkulu City (03/04/2023). The Multiplicator of Stube HEMAT in Bengkulu, volunteers, and 12 participants attended the meeting. Each of them listened to the conversation with Pastor Joko who is known to have an interest in local food.

Pastor Joko started the presentation with his passion for seeds and rice plants. In the early days of his service, he was able to understand cropping patterns, seeds, pests, and post-harvest processing. His passion for farming grew because he was born and raised as the son of a farmer. On a trip with other pastors to Gunungkidul Regency, Yogyakarta, he came across a rocky area with thin soil but fertile land. People know it now as Pindul Cave, Bejiharjo. It is strange to see cassava plants that are small but produce big harvests. Sweet potato is the staple food to substitute rice if its supply is hampered.

Observing Gunungkidul, he found sorghum, cantel, arrowroot, barley, gadung, and gembili plants. He also has attention to the taro as a native Indonesian potato. He delivered an understanding to the participants that we should consume products from our surrounding nature, we eat what is provided by our nature. We take from what grows there. There are many taros in Mentawai island, tiwul from cassava in Java, corn in NTT, sago in Ambon and Papua, and sweet potato in mountainous regions of Papua. God gives blessings through plants that grow around us and enjoying the tubers is a form of gratitude. Local food is the best food and it will not reduce our standard of living.

Currently, Romo Joko is campaigning gembili as a source of carbohydrates. He promotes Gembili as rice through ‘Sang Petani’ on the YouTube channel. It can be grown in areas with minimum water, does not need irrigation, and it is superior because it is pest resistant, relatively easy to grow, and it tastes good. Currently, the Pastor has planted it in the yard of St. John's church and Theresia Chapel, Sidomulyo, Bengkulu.

Questions came from the participants, such as Iman Kristina who wants to know how to process the products, whether it is the same as sweet potatoes? Yosafat asked how long it took to grow gembili until it was harvested, whether the production is cheaper than rice. Pastor answered that the process is quite easy by boiling it. The harvest period is a year – waiting for all the leaves and stems to dry.

No less interesting was the question from Hendy if the rice runs out, also Titus asked how to make people willing to consume rice substitutes. Pastor answered, “Of course if the rice runs out, then humans will look for a replacement and they will depend on the substitute food. It’s like Noah who kept making the ark despite being laughed at. We need to do little things that we can. Do what you can do to open something new, a creative one. He also admitted that his efforts have not impacted a lot yet.

However, if it is constantly discussed in simple language, people will understand the ideas we offer. Hopefully, the participants of the discussion will be able to start it when they return home and become pioneers of local food creations. ***