People 1 minute 29 August 2016

Beyond the Table: Chelsea Wan of Jurong Frog Farm

A celebration of the farmers and kitchen craftsmen who work their magic beyond the dining table.

Every chef knows that his work is only ever as good as the ingredients and tools he works with. Our Beyond the Table video series takes you beyond the pomp and grandeur of the restaurant dining room and into the lives of local farmers and kitchen artisans - the ones who toil quietly at their craft to help make your dining experience complete.

Not many university graduates would want to spend their afternoons among slimy bullfrogs, but for Chelsea Wan, it was a natural calling.

Her father Wan Bock Thiaw started Jurong Frog Farm (JFF) in 1981 when he foresaw potential in the farming of American bullfrogs, and 32-year-old Ms Wan joined the family business in 2006, armed with a sociology degree from the National University of Singapore and a bout of new ideas to further rejuvenate the farming trade.

Today, together with her younger brother and her parents, Ms Wan oversees a 1.2-hectare Lim Chu Kang farm plot that is home to almost 20,000 bullfrogs. The farm regularly conducts educational farms tours and produces frog meat and hashima in dried and ready-to-drink bottled forms to restaurants and supermarkets islandwide.

(Read more: Local produce you didn’t know could be grown in Singapore)

Watch our video interview with Chelsea below as she muses on her motivations for joining the family trade and her hopes for the next generation of young, urban farmers.

Want to learn more about Singapore's local farmers and artisans? Watch our entire series of videos here.

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