The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines on Tuesday launched a campaign to promote sustainable consumption and production and empower Filipino diners to help transform the local food-service industry in the country.
Dubbed “The Sustainable Diner: A Key Ingredient for Sustainable Tourism”, the project launched on September 26 at the Seda Vertis North in Quezon City highlighted the Filipinos’ love for food, their willingness to shell out hard-earned money dining out and traveling places in search of new delicacies that boost the local tourism industry.
“With The Sustainable Diner project, we hope to connect the Filipino dining public with government and food service industry stakeholders so we can all have a productive and collaborative discussion on the changes we can implement to make the local dining scene more sustainable,” said Jose Angelito Palma, president and CEO of WWF-Philippines.
“The choices that the Filipino diners make are now more important than ever, and if we want to transform both the food-service industry and the tourism industry, they are the key ingredients toward achieving a more sustainable Philippines,” Palma added.
The project is in partnership with the Climate Change Commission and is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.
Through the project, WWF-Philippines will work with the Filipino dining public, the government and the food-service industry to promote sustainability in the food industry.
The Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines through its president, Raoul Roberto Goco, has expressed support for the project.
A chef and restaurant owner, Goco underscored the importance of promoting Filipino dishes using locally produced food in support of the local food producers.
WWF-Philippines believes that food-service industry can be shaped by dining choices the Filipino dining public makes.
During the launch, WWF-Philippines’s partner-cities, namely, Quezon City, Tagaytay City and Cebu City, affirmed their support and commitment to the project.
According to WWF-Philippines, Filipinos love to eat and it doesn’t matter where they are, whether in comforts of their home or outside in restaurants and food parks and are fond of seeking the latest food trend in various social-media platforms.
WWF-Philippines said eating is an integral part of the Filipino’s daily life.
Given higher dispensable incomes and fast-paced city living, eating has become an almost daily habit among Filipinos, WWF-Philippines noted.
This fascination for food has its downside. According to the WWF-Philippines, Filipinos waste up to 308,000 tons of rice every year. This is ironic, considering that 2.7 million Filipino families have reported going hungry in the past year.
Added to this is because of the high demand for certain ingredients, sourcing practices are becoming more commercial, with less regard for where the food comes from, WWF said.
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons