AVANT GARDENER The sad thing about our agriculture industry is that it moves so slowly that discussions about old problems and concerns are still relevant months later. For example, I attended a Pandesal Forum titled “Agrikultura sa Kalunsuran para sa Masaganang Kinabukasan!” (Urban Farming for...
AVANT GARDENER I know I’m late to the party, but I finally had time to catch up on my TV shows during the last holiday break, and I’ve finally seen Project 8’s Replacing Chef Chico, which stars Sam Milby as the titular Chef Chico, Alessandra de Rossi as his sous chef Ella, and Piolo Pascual...
AVANT GARDENER Every new year brings with it the hope of a new start, a better future. It is in this spirit that I present my very general hopes for the agriculture industry this 2024: Fair profit for agriculture workers. Agriculture workers remain the poorest of the poor in the Philippines. In...
AVANT GARDENER The Design Center of the Philippines is hosting an exhibit called “50 Years of Philippine Design and Beyond” in the National Museum of Fine Arts. As its name says, it presents some of the country’s top designs from different fields. One of them is Theo+Philo Artisan chocolates,...
AVANT GARDENER Once in a while, there will be a story about farmers dumping their produce on the side of the road, followed by well-meaning but ultimately ignorant and self-righteous consumers talking about how unresourceful these farmers are when they could be making pomodoro (not even kamatis or...
AVANT GARDENER A major problem in the Philippine agriculture industry is the lack of farmers’ direct access to the buyer. Another major problem is a lack of professionalization among many small farmers, which leads to mistrust among institutional buyers who require a set quota and quality of...
AVANT GARDENER This is my last column as Agriculture editor of the Manila Bulletin and editor-in-chief of Agriculture Magazine. It has been my honor and pleasure to helm Agriculture Online for the past six years, and the Agriculture Section of the Manila Bulletin and Agriculture Magazine for...
By YVETTE TAN Most people know Thou Reyes as an actor who’s appeared on TV, in film, and onstage. What not a lot of people know is that this Metro Manila Film Festival New Wave Best Supporting Actor winner is also an entrepreneur. Actor Thou Reyes is the owner of Rice and Shine, a rice and sundry...
AVANT GARDENER Most people know Thou Reyes as an actor who’s appeared on TV, in film, and onstage. What not a lot of people know is that this Metro Manila Film Festival New Wave Best Supporting Actor winner is also an entrepreneur. Reyes is the proud owner of Rice and Shine, a rice retail shop...
By YVETTE TAN Bungkol Elementary School (BES) stands beside Good Food Farm in Calauan, Laguna. It has been a beneficiary of Rise Against Hunger Philippines’ (RAHP) feeding program for almost two years, and has already seen big results. Bungkol Elementary School has been a beneficiary of Rise...
AVANT GARDENER (Part II) last week, Glenn Denning, author of Universal Food Security: How to End Hunger While Protecting the Planet, explained why it is possible to achieve universal food security given current resources. Here, he discusses how that can be made possible. Getting everyone on...
By YVETTE TAN According to an August 2023 survey by Social Weather Stations, about 10.4 percent of Filipino families have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. This means that the family has been hungry but did not have anything to eat. Hunger isn’t the only...
