ILOILO City – Underlining the significance of preserving and promoting local products and indigenous food as key toward economic recovery and upheaval, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Western Visayas recently marked the Filipino Food Month (FFM) celebration.
The celebration featured an agricultural trade fair and exhibit at Robinsons Place Iloilo with 13 exhibitors from Iloilo, Guimaras and Negros Occidental. Fresh fruits and vegetables, and value-added agri-fishery products were featured.
Participating farms and farmers’ associations included Anita’s, Aklan Mushroom, Ariana, Enriquita’s Tablea, Male Farmers Association of Tubungan, Leon Bagsakan Center, Guimaras Herbal Growers, Guimaras Mango Growers, Guimaras’ Mushroom Growers’ Association, Rural Improvement Club of Bago City, Primo Brotherhood Association, Central Philippine University Philippine Native Chicken, Deala’s Integrated Farm, and Kape Iraya.
DA regional executive director Remelyn Recoter said this was the agency’s fourth year of FFM. This year, it centered on the theme “Pagkaing Pilipino, Susi sa Pag-unlad at Pagbabago.”
April was declared as “Buwan ng Kalutong Filipino” through Executive Order 469 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018.
Western Visayas has a wide range of indigenous food unique to Ilonggo cuisine such as kadyos baboy langka, laswa, tinuom nga manok, and inubaran nga manok, among others.
As the FFM celebration coincided with the recent High Value Crops Week, the DA also conducted free training on urban or containerized gardening, cacao production, coffee production, and backyard farming on April 12 to 13.
The DA Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division will also conduct the Still Life Painting and Food Carving Contests as part of the FFM event. (DA-6/PN)
