AVANT GARDENER 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,...
AVANT GARDENER *“Walang tubig, walang pagkain,* *o eh di magsayaw na lang tayo.”* *Azenith Tobias* *(Temptation Island, 1980)* “No food, no water, we might as well dance.” So goes the famous line (one of many) from Temptation Island, Joey Gosiengfiao’s camp classic about a group of beauty...
AVANT GARDENER Once in a while, a brash, usually young, thing will burst onto the scene brimming with money, confidence, and sometimes even an actual business plan who believes that they and only they can solve the problems of the Philippine agriculture industry. They’re super confident, even...
AVANT GARDENER It’s time we put bamboo back on the map. I sat down with Deogracias Victor “DV” Sevillano; former governor of Ilocos Sur, former deputy speaker of the 18th Congress, and current vice chair of the Philippine Bamboo Industry and Development Council (PBIDC) to discuss the lack of...
AVANT GARDENER 2023 is the year of the rabbit, which is a wonderful coincidence because the local rabbit industry continues its steady growth in the livestock sector. Many cultures breed rabbits for meat, but in the Philippines, they are still mostly seen as pets. Many people will cite the...
On Jan. 4, 2023, the Philippines and China signed the “Protocol of the Phytosanitary Requirements for Export of Fresh Durians from the Philippines to China,” which allowed the Philippines to export durian to China. This March, Philippine farmers and exporters eagerly await the go signal for the...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Fashion designer and Filipiñana pioneer Patis Tesoro hosted a lunch for Florica Zaharia, PhD; Conservator Emerita of the The Metropolitan Museum of Art and director and co-owner of the Muzeul Textilelor in Romania. The Muzeul Textilelor is the only textile museum in...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan With the Senate’s decision on whether or not the Philippines should join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in the news once again, members of the agriculture sector gathered to express their concern about its effects on the industry should the country...
The Giving Cafe (TGC), a social enterprise that works with coffee farmers to make the value chain more equitable and transparent, launched Proud Liberica, four syrups made from byproducts of the Liberica (aka barako) coffee tree. Proud Liberica is a brand currently composed of four...
Michael Harris Conlin won silver and bronze at the Global Coffee Championship in 2021 in the Signature Coffee Latte and Signature Coffee Brewer categories respectively, both using local beans. (Michael Harris Conlin) Filipinos love coffee. The demand for the beverage is so huge that local coffee...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Eggs have been on everyone’s mind, especially after the latest onion fiasco. Supply has been low due to a number of factors, including the spread of avian flu and the resulting reluctance of some growers to continue with their businesses because of this, plus the...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan “The onion problem is a symptom of a problem,” Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) President Danny Fausto said in the organization’s monthly presscon. He was addressing the onion shortage issue that has wracked the country, even reaching...
