The luxurious Souq al Bahar in Dubai, with its art galleries and upmarket nightspots, will get a little earthier this Friday.
A market will sprout on the terrace of the Baker and Spice restaurant, where farmers from Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Ras al Khaimah and Oman will sell their produce.
The seeds of the country's organic market were planted in 2006, when Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, pledged his support for such enterprises, referring to a phrase often used by Sheikh Zayed, the founding President of the UAE: "Give me agriculture and I shall give you civilisation."
A year later, the Abu Dhabi Organic Farm became the first to be internationally recognised as organic in Abu Dhabi by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.
Matthias Schwarz has run Salata Farms in RAK with his father since late 2008. Their first harvest yielded about 400 tonnes of produce.
The second planting brought in as much as four times that.
So, this year, the farm is adding 10 hectares of greenhouses in a US$55 million (Dh202m) expansion.
Being part of the farmers' market is a way of "connecting to the customer", he said. "It's also a social thing. You know the person selling the product. You meet others in the morning. You create a community."
Yael Mejia, the food consultant at Baker and Spice, hopes the introduction of a farmers' market in an urban setting will inspire consumers to think about local products when buying fresh fruit and vegetables. "My main concern is food and flavour," she said. "That's what I do for a living; I cook."
She said it was absurd that most people bought produce flown in from elsewhere at the expense of both taste and the environment. And she said her message was especially timely now, considering the volcanic ash cloud that enveloped Europe in recent days and left cargoes of flowers in Kenya, fruit in Morocco and fish in Egypt.
This weekend marks the end of the outdoor growing season in this country. Farmers will soon move to hydroponic agriculture for the summer.
But Ms Mejia hopes to have whetted appetites enough so that visitors will attend a weekly farmers' market when the growing season begins in September.
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
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Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
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Favorite movie: Braveheart
Greatest of All Time
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Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle McDonald, Bill Camp, Vera Farmiga
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About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
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Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
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