The Philippines formally launched Terra Madre Asia & Pacific 2025 recently at the North Forbes Park Pavilion in Makati City, a historic first for the global Slow Food movement in the region.
Hosted by Slow Food International in partnership with the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental, the City of Bacolod, the Department of Tourism (DOT), and other national government agencies, the event underscores the country’s rising leadership in the Slow Food movement under the Marcos administration.
“The launch of Terra Madre Asia and the Pacific 2025 is a proud moment for the Philippines.”
“The launch of Terra Madre Asia and the Pacific 2025 is a proud moment for the Philippines. For food carries our culture, sustains our communities, and provides livelihood for our people, and this Terra Madre is our global opportunity to tell the Filipino story to the world,” Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said in her keynote address.
“Under the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Department of Tourism has placed gastronomy front and forward at the heart of our national tourism strategy,” Frasco added.
She cited the Michelin Guide’s entry to the Philippines, the hosting of the UN Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy in Cebu, and the Philippine Experience Program as markers of the nation’s leadership in gastronomy tourism.
“In every region, we have discovered a diversity of flavors that is not only our pride as Filipinos, but indeed is turning out to be our greatest value proposition for Philippine tourism,” she stressed.
Bacolod City and Negros Occidental will host the Terra Madre Asia and the Pacific 2025 from November 19 to 23. The province was formally designated in 2024 as the Slow Food International Hub for Asia-Pacific.
“Bacolod and Negros Occidental, our organic capital, are a fitting stage for this gathering: a place where tradition and sustainability meet, and where the lessons of the land guide the promise of the future,” Frasco explained.
“Here, our stakeholders from Asia and the Pacific can show that progress is not achieved by profit alone but by equity, resilience, and care for our planet,” the tourism chief added.
The event, themed “From Soil to Sea: A Slow Food Journey Through Tastes & Traditions,” will gather farmers, fisherfolk, chefs, artisans, Indigenous peoples, youth, policymakers, and advocates from across Asia-Pacific. It will include knowledge exchanges, workshops, food exhibitions, and dialogues aimed at strengthening sustainable food systems and community livelihoods.
The tourism head framed Terra Madre as more than a meeting of voices, but a call to action “to defend our biodiversity, end unsustainable practices, and strengthen our communities for generations yet to come.”
“As we look to November, let us make Terra Madre Asia and the Pacific a legacy that endures.”
“As we look to November, let us make Terra Madre Asia and the Pacific a legacy that endures, with strong communities, sustained livelihoods, and traditions preserved for the future of our nation,” she concluded.
In attendance were Slow Food International Director General Paolo di Croce, Congressman Javi Benitez of the 3rd District of Negros Occidental, Congressman Duke Frasco of the 5th District of Cebu, Congresswoman Florabel Yatco of Nanay Partylist, Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya, Slow Food International Councilor for Southeast Asia Ramon Uy, Jr., Slow Food Community of Negros President Reena Gamboa, DOT Undersecretary Verna Buensuceso, Director Paulo Benito Tugbang, and DOT Region VI and concurrent Negros Island Region Director Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez, alongside national government agency representatives, local officials, top chefs and mixologists, private stakeholders, and representatives of the Slow Food movement in the Philippines and Asia-Pacific.
