Bacolod City's culinary celebration leaves a bittersweet taste.
The vibrant city of Bacolod, Philippines, recently hosted a grand food festival, but not everyone is satisfied with the feast. Terra Madre Asia and Pacific (TMAP) 2025, a five-day extravaganza held from November 19 to 23, 2025, promised to showcase the best of local cuisine and boost the region's organic farming industry.
The event was a crowd-puller, attracting 75,000 visitors and 2,500 delegates from across the Asia-Pacific region. TMAP's executive director, Reena Gamboa, boasted impressive sales figures, with a whopping P46.5 million generated from popular attractions like the Street Food Exhibition and Taste Workshops.
But here's where it gets controversial: Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson has a different story to tell. He claims that the much-anticipated synergy between TMAP and the Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival, a key objective of the province's P6 million investment, didn't quite live up to the hype. Lacson's data, sourced from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA), indicates that the Organic Farmers Festival only generated P185,000 in sales directly linked to TMAP, a far cry from the P1.4 million claimed by TMAP co-chair Ramon Uy Jr.
And this is the part most people miss: Lacson's concern lies in the timing of these sales. He noted that sales were sluggish for most of the event, with a sudden surge occurring only in the final days. This discrepancy has raised questions about the festival's true impact on local farmers and the effectiveness of the province's investment.
Now, the governor is calling for a thorough post-event analysis to identify the reasons behind this unexpected outcome and to develop better strategies for future events. He has also requested a verification of the sales figures, given the significant difference between the OPA's data and TMAP's reported numbers.
This situation leaves us with a tantalizing question: Did the festival truly benefit the organic farmers as intended, or did the economic gains bypass the very people it aimed to support? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and let's explore the complexities of this culinary conundrum.
