Consuming is not just about making the stomach full. It is not just about putting food in the mouth, chewing, tasting, and then swallowing it. Many people no longer consume what they grow themselves, but consume from other people's crops. Perhaps in the future people will no longer consume what is planted in the ground, but from machines and robots, so that traditional local food is outdated. That is the common anxiety for people who live in fertile land that overflows with milk and honey.

Supposedly, the soil that turns wooden sticks into plants can revive and support the humans who live on it without any shortage. Food is a sensitive thing that cannot be ignored. History recorded, the colonialists came to the archipelago to look for spices and other food sources. However, now everything has changed. We proudly recognize our independence, but it is ironic because it is accompanied by pride that classy food is food from abroad. Unfortunately, we did not realize that the raw materials of the foods were derived from our country and we are trapped by the consumerism of foreign products. If so, are we free? Yes, we are being colonized by imported foods and products.

Now, what needs to be considered is not how to compete with the war force of other countries, but how this country feeds the people with food of which seeds are owned by the local people, planted on people's land, harvested by the people, sold at affordable prices, and consumed by the people for their health. If it is realized and implemented, then sovereignty is not only a thought but also availability to provide food.

The writer is from Kotabumi, North Lampung where cassavas are like a mother that supports life because thousands of hectares of cassavas are cultivated in this area. Although it contains a high source of carbohydrates, this 'root of prosperity' is not very popular as a staple food because it is considered low. Various types of cassava are grown, but few people cultivate them. It makes us contemplate when we like imported food, by asking ourselves, what will happen to local food in the future? Are we willing if our treasure of local food is lost and forgotten?

As a local youth, the writer hopes for the growth of awareness to love local food from the harvest of our land because one best force of war is a full stomach and one form of prosperity is a barn that never runs out. The barn is our land, so we should not depend on other people's barns. ***

Each region has its special food and maybe it is not found in other places. There is a unique local food as typical foods of the people in Maluku, the place where I am from. Not everyone knows because it does not grow in every place but only in certain areas. I am Sarlota Wantaar from Maluku, an archipelago surrounded by the sea, so, naturally, most of the population lives near the coastline. My place has one of the typical foods as the source of carbohydrates, called sago.

 Sago or Metroxylon sp, is a plant that grows in freshwater swamps or peat swamp areas, watersheds, near water sources, and swamp forests. Sago has strong fibrous roots and bigger as it grows. The sago stem grows according to its growth reaching a height of 30 meters, a diameter of 35-50 cm on average, and some even have 80-90 cm. Its leaves reach 6-7 meters long and wide 5 cm with a leaf bone in the middle. It has fruit after two years and flowers when the age of 10-15 years. The appearance of flowers is a sign that the sago is ready to be harvested.

 Based on data from the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, the national sago area covers an area of ​​206.150 hectares (2021), most of which are in the form of smallholder plantations. The dominant sago tree grows in eastern Indonesia, such as Papua, West Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi, and South Kalimantan. However, by province, Riau province has the highest production capacity, about 261,7 thousand tons (2020) compared to Papua's 67,9 thousand tons and Maluku's 10,04 thousand tons. Regarding land potency, Indonesia has 5,5 million hectares but only 5% of it has been utilized, so it can still be developed in the future.

There are two ways to process sago into food material, manually and using machines. Manually, the old sago tree is cut down with an axe because the sago tree is very large and hard, so it cannot use a machete. Then, the sago stalks are peeled, and the sago stems are cut using a pangkur or chisel in stages and collected. Next, the squeezing process uses two containers to start squeezing the sago shavings. After the container is prepared, then prepare a filter made of soft cloth, after all the equipment is ready, then proceed with the squeezing process using running water. Once squeezed, left, or deposited. The starch is transferred to a container, usually using the sago leaves. When finished, the sago is ready to be processed in various ways, such as making papeda which is eaten directly as a substitute for rice, fried, snacks, cakes, and pom-poms.

Sago trees, besides being used as food, parts of sago tree is used for building materials, such as the leaves for roofs of houses, called sago palms. Then the midrib can be used for house walls, such as the unique Maluku traditional house with a roof made of sago leaves and the usage keeps developing creative designs. Houses made of sago wood still exist in the community even in the modern era, because the culture and the spirit to preserve the traditional ones are well-maintained. Let’s care and preserve the local potency! ***

Local food is an actual issue related to cultivation and its process. Unfortunately, people in rural areas are still not enlightened about the potency of their local food and even assume that theirs is not prospective. It happened due to limited knowledge, low innovation, less curiosity, low initiative, and a tendency to be consumers. The millennial generation is needed because they are considered innovative in executing and promoting innovations through technology.

In the Biodiversity program of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta, young people are expected to develop their region by utilizing local food potency. Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta provided training and exposure in several places in Gunungkidul regency to open new minds and insights about local food and its prospects for me and others students from various backgrounds and campuses. The activities bridged the gap between theory and practice among students by finding some opportunities and real needs of society.

I am Eufemia Sarina, a STIPRAM (Institute of Tourism) student from Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, quoted the words of one of the speakers, Alan Efendi, the initiators of the Aloe Vera home industry in Katongan village, Nglipar, Gunungkidul Regency, who said that business requires knowledge and motivation if it fails you must try again. Through the training, I gained new experiences and ideas, especially in processing local food in my area, especially coffee.

I want to do something different for my village, Waerebo, Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, which is now one of the world's tourist villages. I challenge myself to innovate by promoting coffee as an alternative tourist destination. Why did I choose coffee as a new tourism alternative in Waerebo? Because Waerebo is one of the largest coffee-producing villages in Manggarai and has various types of coffee, such as Arabica, Colombian, and Robusta.

From my observations, tourists always ask what coffee is served to them, and people only tell them the name of the coffee without describing the shape and color. By initiating a coffee tour, tourists will experience not only the uniqueness of the Waerebo traditional house and enjoy a cup of coffee, but also experience the process of coffee making from the seeding, planting, cultivating, picking coffee beans, and processing the coffee covering process of sorting, drying, and grinding to make coffee powder. Thus, when tourists visit Waerebo, they gain knowledge and experience about Waerebo coffee.

Making of coffee is common for people, but if it is developed creatively, the idea will become a new attraction to increase tourist visits and to make Waerebo a unique coffee village for the tourists. Who else will start to develop the area if not the young Waerebo themselves? Do not wait till you finish college and  bring a graduate certificate but cannot contribute to the village development. While still in Yogya, expand your network, broaden your knowledge, join youth organization and recognize opportunities for development in the village. Waerebo, wait for me to come home. *** 

As agents of change, youth have an important role and strategic position in pioneering village development, one of which is in the dairy goat. In the last 10 years, there has been a positive trend of initiatives to promote local potency through the development of dairy goats from upstream to downstream in Indonesia. The increase of the dairy goat business cannot be separated from the positive response from the goat milk market even though the population is still fluctuating from time to time.

The above thoughts were revealed in a study visit to a dairy goat farm in the tourist village of Nglanggeran Wetan, Patuk district, Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta. This was a part of Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta training (Sunday 28/8/2022) about 'Biodiversity: local food initiatives. In this farm, there are several types of dairy goats, including the Etawa (PE), Saanen goat, and Sapera goat, the result of a crossbreeding between a male Saanen goat and a female PE goat, which is a milk-producing goat, with the selling price of milk ranging from Rp 20.000-Rp 30.000 per liter.

The total population of goats on the farm is around 15 -20 goats, and during the dairying period, the production of fresh milk is 1-2 liters/day on average. In addition to fresh milk, goat's milk products are processed into various dairy products with several flavors, milk candy, milk soap, and others. Processing fresh milk into derivative products will increase product variants and extend their storage period, also keep selling prices high by making them look more attractive.

Based on research from the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA), the nutrition of Etawa goat's milk is close to the perfect composition of Mother's Milk (ASI). Every 100 grams of goat's milk contains 4-7% fat, 3-4% protein, 134 grams of calcium, 4.5% carbohydrates, and 111 g of phosphorus. The chemical composition of Etawa goat's milk contains protein, carbohydrates, calories, calcium, phosphorus, iron, fat, sodium, magnesium, potassium, vitamins A, B1 (IU), B2 (mg), B6, B12, C, D, E, Niacin, V, Pantotenant Acid, Choline and Inositol. The fat content of goat’s milk is lower than cow's milk.

Dairy goat farming is a prospective business opportunity, because the content of goat's milk is better than cow's milk, especially the lifestyle of today's people who are increasingly 'literate’  to be healthy, so the development of dairy goat farming can become a potential business, even in the future, the market for dairy goats. Goat's milk can compete with the cow's milk market.

Young people in various regions can develop dairy goat farming as an alternative to earn money not less than income from office work. The benefits will be multiplied if the business management covers upstream to downstream with a technology touch to increase the productivity of goat's milk. A further achievement is the realization of self-sufficiency for goat's milk.

The Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta activity has created a connection between young people and the local potency of their origin areas. Eventually, young people find enlightenment to start paying attention to the potency of local food and to develop it. Success for Stube HEMAT Yogyakarta. ***