Organic farming

Through her Facebook lives and website updates, Burich aims to offer an authentic experience of a living organic Pacific Vanilla Farm that is 100 per cent Samoan indigenous and nurtured.

“I really love what I do with the vanilla, I love growing it - I talk to them because they're my babies - I've just got a very deep passion,” she said.

Most people are familiar with vanilla because it's widely used in both commercial and domestic baking, as well as being a desired scent in perfume manufacturing and aromatherapy.

Termed the ‘soil health trials’, the research will actively engage farmers in Niue, Cook Islands and the Republic of Marshall Islands, with the results expected to benefit the entire region.

Led by Solomon Islander and soil scientist Dr Shane Tutua, the research will develop the scientific evidence base supporting the push for organic farming for sustainable agriculture and climate resilience in the Pacific Islands.

Hosted in Barbados, the 2nd Caribbean Agribusiness Forum was held earlier this month and featured Women in Business Development’s associate director Alberta Vitale, Milani and Paddles chef Dora Rossi and chef and author Robert Oliver.

Vitale said in designing Organic Farm to Table, there were three key audiences – the farmers, the chef/restaurant/hotel owners, and the consumer.