The City of Smiles, Bacolod City, will be hosting next year’s Terra Madre Asia Pacific, as the country signified its commitment to making the Philippines an international gastronomy hub.

According to the Department of Tourism, the Terra Madre Asia Pacific, now known as the Slow Food International Hub for Asia Pacific, is a key part of Slow Food, a global grassroots organization founded in 1989, aimed at safeguarding food cultures and traditions, countering the fast-paced lifestyle, and rekindling people’s connection to the food they consume.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the event also encourages a deeper understanding of food’s role in society.

Since its inception, the movement has grown to attract millions of people across over 160 countries, advocating for access to food that is good, clean and fair for all.

The group Slow Food stated that food is not only about sustenance but is also intricately linked to culture, politics, agriculture and the environment.

Through mindful food choices, individuals can collectively influence how food is cultivated, produced and distributed, thus fostering positive change on a global scale.

With this, Secretary Frasco stressed that the DoT, through its cultural tourism team, is actively developing food and gastronomy tourism as one of its priority sub-sectors, with the commitment to preserving and promoting Filipino cuisine as an essential part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

Part of its efforts is incorporating Slow Food principles to promote sustainable tourism within the food and gastronomy sector.

“With gastronomy tourism ranking very high in the priorities of the Department of Tourism under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., whose vision is one of tourism transformation, the Slow Food movement in the Philippines is increasing the value proposition of our destinations while fostering regeneration of our natural resources and ingredients, and expanding economic opportunities one meaningful and delicious dish at a time,” Frasco said.

“The culmination of your efforts to the hosting of Terra Madre Asia Pacific next year is only the beginning of the ascension in the Philippines as a hub for gastronomy in the world, for this is the vision of our President of the Philippines, becoming Asia’s next tourism powerhouse where tourists come to the Philippines, stay longer, spend more, savor our delicious dishes and uncover the very many reasons to love Philippines,” she told the Negrense stakeholders.

For their part, local government executives thanked the DoT for its efforts in advancing tourism in Negros Occidental and expressed their continued support.

“We are very happy that we will be hosting the very first ever Asia Pacific Slow Food next year. It is also made possible because of Secretary Frasco,” Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said.