No fools: April is Filipino Food Month

1 of 2

REPRESENTATIVES of the Department of Agriculture along with Assistant Secretary Genevieve E. Velicaria-Guevarra (2nd from right).

THANKS to Presidential Proclamation No. 469, we celebrate Filipino Food Month every April, usually with a long list of activities filling the month, from food tours to festivals, conferences to cultural presentations. And due to the Philippines’ assumption of the chair for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), this year’s theme, “Connected by Taste: Filipino Food in the Flavors of ASEAN” emphasizes our ties with the Southeast Asian neighborhood.

Proclaimed in 2018 by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, it says, “The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) shall lead the above celebration. All departments, bureaus and agencies of the national government, including government-owned or -controlled corporations, and state universities and colleges, are hereby directed, and local government units (LGUs) and the private sector are encouraged, to participate and assist in the activities of the celebration.”

Slated activities include the official launch and opening of this year’s Filipino Food Month in Iloilo City and Camarines Sur on April 6. Iloilo will host the national launch and major activities for the month due to its UNESCO status as first Creative City of Gastronomy in the Philippines. A DA-initiated Kadiwa Pop-Up Store will open on April 2, prior to the opening ceremonies.

The Iloilo opening ceremonies will also see a Welcome Dinner for ASEAN delegates, and a Gastronomy and Heritage Tour of Iloilo on April 8, and ending with a send-off dinner at Newport World Resorts on the same day.

CONFERENCES AND FESTIVALS
KainCon, an academic conference featuring papers on Filipino food, will be held on April 16 to 18, and Hapag ng Pamana — food festivals focusing on local delicacies — in Zamboanga and Marawi City on April 18 and April 27 to 29 respectively. There will also be a Hapag ng Pamana event in Nueva Ecija from April 22 to 24.

A series of festivals will also be celebrated during Filipino Food Month, namely the Balikutsa Festival celebrating the pulled candy, in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur on April 25; the Halo-Halo Festival, focusing on the shaved ice dessert, in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao on April 26; the Taraon Festival that honors the culinary and cultural traditions of Infanta, Pangasinan and the Viva Binatbatan Festival of Arts in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, which focuses on the abel Iloco weaving tradition of the area, both on April 28; and the Kanen Festival, celebrating the kakanin or rice-flour based delicacies, of Urbiztondo, Pangasinan on April 30.

Throughout the month, there will be food heritage talks, regional food fairs, academic discussions, and cultural presentations that highlight the diversity of Filipino cuisine, from indigenous food traditions to contemporary culinary innovations, from other partner agencies.

The NCCA will be holding Food Fridates at the Likhang Filipino Exhibition Halls in Pasay City, during which different LGUs take over and focus on what they have to offer, with Mabalacat, Pampanga and Samar as leader LGUs on April 17 and 24 respectively.

Filipino Food Month is set to culminate and officially close on May 2 with a turnover ceremony.

OUR NEIGHBORS AND BACKYARD
In a speech at a press conference announcing the events of Food Month on March 6 at the Metropolitan Theater, NCCA Deputy Executive Director for Administration and Support Services Marichu G. Tellano said, “We dive into the scene connected by taste, with the goal of which is to highlight and showcase Filipino cuisine, not as an isolated agenda, not as an isolated island with different flavors, but a key player in the flavors of the ASEAN.

“We look at how our shared history with our neighbors has seasoned our identity, and how we can continue to grow together, one plate at a time,” she said. “Food is not just to feed us,” she added. “From life to death, really, food serves as a common connection.”

Before concentrating on our neighbors, it’s nice to know that we’re also looking out for our own backyard (literally). Genevieve E. Velicaria-Guevarra, the Agriculture Department’s assistant secretary for agribusiness, marketing and consumers, discussed their efforts in protecting heritage crops. “We’re trying to document the gene species,” she said in a Q&A during the press conference. The idea is to try to preserve the genes and DNA of native species, “Especially for our heritage rice. Also for our mangoes,” she said.

“We’re trying to preserve as much as we can right now. Hopefully, we can expand to further crops.”

In a similar thread, NCCA Chairman and Executive Director Eric Zerrudo said that more than consumption, what the agency cares about are the practices that surround food, and therefore build a food culture. “We don’t just look at the material product of food,” he said. “Food has always been viewed by the NCCA as a practice.

“We’re trying to protect the indigenized culture of food production, but we also have to be conscious that our exchanges with our nature, with our society, with our environment, would continue to evolve new tastes and new foods.”

Jose Antonio Miguel “Jam” Melchor, founder of the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement, told BusinessWorld what ordinary citizens can do to help preserve food culture. “I think it’s important that we support local,” he said. That isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a concrete plan. “We support chefs that support local. That is somehow creating an economy na talagang mag-produce pa ng mas maraming local ingredients (that encourages the production of more local ingredients).” — Joseph L. Garcia