Yvette Tan

Yvette Tan is Manila Bulletin’s Agriculture section editor and also the Editor in Chief of Agriculture magazine. A Palanca-award winning writer, her perspective on agriculture is unique. Originally coming from lifestyle and food journalism, she has seen firsthand the deep divide between the realities of food production and the trendiness of foodie culture. She is dedicated to encouraging people to push for sustainable food sources and is an advocate of food security, food sovereignty, and the preservation of community foodways.

Contact her at agriculture@mbulletin.com.ph

I see you looking at my P-I-C: Why the influencer model won’t work in agriculture

The agriculture industry is getting desperate, and rightly so. It’s been suffering for decades, with more people giving up, less people entering the industry, and only the very successful, optimistic, or desperate staying behind.

It starts in the womb: Good citizenship begins with proper nutrition

Do Filipnos really have a lower IQ than the world average? The World Population Review ranked the Philippines 111th out of 199 countries in terms of average IQ. The report said that Filipnos have an average IQ of 81.64, which is below 85-114, the scores for what is considered average intelligence. There are parties who question the veracity of the information but even if the study hadn’t caught people’s attention, there are many studies, such as UNESCO Bangkok’s December 2022 report on Filipino students’ lackluster performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), that make it believable.

Rise of the machines: How high should we aim in terms of agritech?

It’s an exciting time to be in the tech industry, with so many advancements occurring in so many areas at the same time that it feels like we’re living in a science fiction novel, except this is reality. And while tech bros can make any form of new technology sound hot and sexy and cool and necessary to jettison Earth and its human inhabitants (especially its rich ones) into the 22nd century, it might be a good idea to hold our horses before joining the bandwagon (as opposed to jumping on it, so as not to injure our imaginary horses or inconvenience those already inside said wagon).

This is not a sports column

We Filipinos love our basketball. You may have no interest in sports but will still know who Robert Jaworski is. Alvin Patrimonio. Benjie Paras. Basketball is the biggest sport in the country, its players the highest paid local athletes, the sport earning millions, if not billions, each season. Nothing wrong with this. We love our basketball.