Fresh Start Organics in Silay City is more than just a business. It’s a social enterprise helping hundreds of farmers in Negros Occidental with impacts on consumers’ health, fair trade and environmental conservation.

The organic movement in Negros Occidental started in the 1980s with players from the NGO sector. It gained a stronger support from the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental in 2005 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding of the governors Joseph Marañon and George Arnaiz to make Negros Island the Organic Food Bowl of Asia.

With her late grandfather as one of the supporters of the organic movement, I guess it’s no coincidence that Francine Marañon-Uy would herself be involved in organic agriculture. She and husband Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy, Jr.  started Fresh Start Organic farm in Silay City as a demo farm in 2005 in order to showcase the benefits of their organic fertilizer. Their efforts were met with criticisms since they were then competing with commercial fertilizers which cost P500 per bag while they were selling their organic fertilizer at P300 per bag. Then the cost of commercial fertilizer increased dramatically since it is dependent on the price of oil.  That’s when they confirmed that they are in the right business. Why depend on foreign products when everything you need for farming is available locally?

Today, Fresh Start Organics farm in Silay City has been featured in many agriculture magazines since their farm can be considered a model. Their farm earns more per square meter than a regular sugarcane farm.

Fresh Start Upholds Fair Trade

One of the things I was glad I did was when I introduced an organization of small organic rice farmers I assist in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental to Fresh Start Organics. Fresh Start buys organic rice from various farmer organizations at a premium. They usually agree on a certain price with the farmers even before the rice are harvested.  This way, the farmers already know how much they’re going to earn and that’s usually above the prevailing farm gate prices so the farmers earn more if they sell to Fresh Start than to conventional rice traders.

If the farmers lack capital for inputs, Fresh Start provides them with organic inputs and the payment would be in the form of products during harvest. This way, the farmers no longer need to borrow from loan sharks. They also assist the farmers gain more knowledge on organic agriculture through trainings.

Fresh Start Helps in Environmental Conservation

Fresh Start Organics source their coffee from small organic farmers from Sag-ang in La Castellana and Yubo in La Carlota nurtured by the rich volcanic soil of Mt. Kanlaon. Fresh Start Coffee naturally grows under the shade of dipterocarp trees and do not need chemicals to grow thus the biodiversity in the forest is protected. Each red coffee cherry is hand-picked to select the best quality. The Fresh Start coffee is available in Mt. Kanlaon Premium Blend (Arabica and Robusta) and Negrense Native Organic Coffee (Robusta). I prefer the Mr. Kanlaon Premium Blend because of its rich flavor and aroma.

Chin-Chin believes that as you nourish the soil, it will nourish the plants which in turn nourish the body. As the soil becomes healthier, you will need lesser and lesser inputs. The conventional method on the other hand, gives nutrients to the plants but destroys the natural nutrients and helpful organisms in the soil. As the soil nutrients diminish, more inorganic fertilizers and pesticides are needed.

Fresh Start Encourages Consumers to be Healthy, Inside-Out

Fresh Start Organics produce organic salad greens and herbs, fruits and vegetables, free range chickens and grass fed pigs. Salad greens are harvested, washed, packed in ziplocks and delivered fresh to supermarkets and restaurants.

Fresh Start also has a processed food line using organic and locally sourced ingredients. They have already reached Iloilo, Cebu and Manila market supplying their fresh produce and processed jams to the likes of Gaita Fores of Pepato.

To be healthy inside out, Fresh Start also has a line of personal and home care products. Their soaps are based in virgin coconut oil while their massage oil is based in virgin lemongrass oil produced in Negros Occidental. Their linen and room deodorizers are also based in lemongrass oil and are very affordable.

Fresh Start is Doing Good While Doing Well

I remember once asking Chin-Chin how their business is doing since their price is really competitive. He said they may not profit as much as they could have but it doesn’t matter as long as more small farmers benefit through Fresh Start Organics. He believes it’s an irony that it’s the farmers who work the most in the organic value chain but they remain poor. He wanted to change that and help the farmers earn more since they’re the ones responsible for putting food on our table.

No wonder Chin-Chin and Francine Uy were listed in the Town & Country magazine’s 101 People You Should Meet Right Now.  Their commitment is admirable and their dedication to their advocacy is very contagious. Not all businesses have money as their bottom-line. Fresh Start Organics invested in our small farmers and more than profit, they are now slowly reaping their rewards in terms of healthier consumers, fair trade promotion and biodiversity conservation.

Fresh Start Organics products are available at the Fresh Start Organic and Natural Store at the Robinsons Central Citywalk and at Echostore branches.

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Fresh Start Organics will be inaugurating their Organic and Natural Store today December 14, 2011 at the Robinsons Central Citywalk coinciding with the birthday of the owner Chin Chin Uy. Organic consumers will now have a place where they can buy organic fresh produce, rice, coffee, fruit jams, and personal care products of Fresh Start Organics.

Fresh Start Organics is one of the pioneers in the organic movement in Negros Occidental. Their organic farm in Silay City is a showcase on sustainable farming and a proof that organic farming is the way to go especially for small farmers.

Fresh Start Organic Grocery

Fresh Start Organic Coffee

Customers can also enjoy organic food at the Fresh Start deli such as taro-malunggay pandesal, artisan piaya, organic ice cream and fresh fruit juices and dine al fresco at the Central City Walk.

The taro-malunggay pandesal is sold for P8 per piece and it’s composed of 60% taro flour. Taro flour is derived from taro (Colocasia esculenta) a root crop we locally call bisol or palawan. The taro-malunggay bread is healthy, very filling and goes well with Fresh Start Organic coffee.

Fresh Start Taro-Malunggay Pandesal

Fresh Start Organics Ice Cream has several flavors to choose from and it’s sold for P85 per cup. The flavors were created by Pinkerton Ice Cream for Fresh Start Organics using organic ingredients.

Fresh Start Organic Ice Cream

The Fresh Start Oraganic and Natural Store opened in November without much fireworks but it has already attracted the attention of organic consumers. I have been to the store several times already and guess who I caught buying organic products at Fresh Start? No less than Margarita Fores and Silay City First Lady Marissa Montelibano.

Chin Chin Uy, US Peace Corps Volunteer Rachael Saler and Margarita Fores

Chin Chin with Silay First Lady Marissa Montelibano

Happy birthday to Chin Chin Uy and congratulations to you and Francine on the grand opening and inauguration of Fresh Start Organic & Natural store at the Robinsons Central Citywalk! I hope you continue to convince more people on the benefits of living an organic and healthy lifestyle.

The 6th Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival is no doubt the most anticipated organic event of the year. You don’t get to see all of these world-class chefs and restaurateurs in one event very often. Don’t miss to attend the various lectures on different topics on organic lifestyle and see various cooking demo by the country’s top chefs using local organic ingredients.

Meet the Chefs

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The venue of the Cooking Demo is at the Organic Market Restaurant while the lectures will be at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall.

Other activities include Daily Trade Fair, Daily Night Events, Daily Organic Cocktail Demo by Culinary Students, and Daily Organic Farm Tours (pls email viajenegrense@gmail.com for rates & schedule).

The organizers of the first and longest running organic festival in the country once again invite organic producers, retailers and consumers  to the 6th Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival to be held on December 16-20, 2011  at the Negros Occidental Organic Market and Restaurant at the back of the Provincial Capitol.

Negros Island is the Organic Capital of the Philippines. There’s no doubt about this if you consider the breakthroughs that the organic movement has made since the provincial governments of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, agreed to make Negros island as the “Organic Food Bowl of Asia” in 2005.

The following year, the 1st Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival which was held in front of the Negros Occidental Provincial Admin building.  I was able to attend the 1st Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival and since then I see to it that I get to attend the activities every year. The 5th Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival last year attracted thousands of visitors and generated a lot of sales for our organic farmers.

The 6th Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival will include the following events:

• exhibits of organic, healthy, local and vegetarian food, and eco- friendly products and technology
• talks by nationally and internationally known experts on organic food production and business and related topics
• agri-tourism health and wellness fair
• cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs, well-known restaurateurs, and culinary schools
• night concerts with live bands

Every year more and more exhibitors participate in the fair and we can expect more this year since the organizers invited various organic groups from different regions.

This year’s theme is “Food for Peace” which is in line with the food security thrust of Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr.  Sustainable organic agriculture is geared towards providing livelihood opportunities to small organic farmers to help alleviate poverty.

Christmas is the time for bazaars where you can get big discounts and hard-to-find items. However, aren’t you tired of the usual fashion bazaars? Bacolod is a haven for the foodies yet there’s no food market where you can find great-tasting, artisanal food in a venue where you can also enjoy great meals with friends.

A group of young Negrense students who are starting out in their food business or simply just have a knack for cooking thought of starting Comer.Cio food market in Bacolod City. The food market will open at 4:00pm and will end at 1:30am this December 16-18, 2011 at the Central District.

Comer in Spanish means “to eat” so expect to enjoy great-tasting food and even heirloom recipes from these young Negrenses. December is perhaps the only month where we have a lot of excuses to eat. Tag along your friends so you will not be the only one to gain weight.

For more details and if you want to apply as one of the exhibitors, you may contact the organizers at 0922-8291049 or email them at comercio.bacolod@yahoo.com.

Allow me to borrow the title of a photo album in Silay City‘s Official Facebook page for the title of this blog post because that’s exactly what the bloggers discovered during a heritage tour of Silay as part of the activities for the Philippine Blog Awards Visayas.

We are very familiar with images of Silay with its grand ancestral mansions but what really make Silay special are beyond those landmarks. It is its people, their culture and traditions which make the “Paris of Negros” stand out.

A guided tour personally facilitated by no less than Silay City Tourism Officer Ver Pacete made the bloggers discover a different facet of Silay that we don’t usually see. Some of it may not be positive but it will give any visitor a more understanding of life in Silay City.

Who are the Silaynons? What makes them tick? From the time the Spaniards landed on a village known as Carobrob in 1565, it has become a melting pot of people and culture. Silay has perhaps more than any other town in Negros Occidental, is where most Panayanons (people from Panay Island) migrated to. It was Fr. Eusebio Locsin of Molo, Iloilo who was instrumental in inviting his family and friends to come to Silay where the land is fertile. And so came the Locsins, Lacsons, Jalandonis, Lopezes, Javellanas, Montinolas and other affluent families who became the hacenderos of Silay.

Hacienda Adela residents

Silay not only attracted the affluent families from Panay but also the seasonal workers we call the sacadas. We were brought to Hacienda Adela where the people still practice old Ilonggo oral traditions such as the composo and luwa. Most of the residents trace their roots to Panay and these traditions were handed down to them by their forefathers.

Silay Pottery

There are also traditional crafts that still exist today. The maninihon (artists) of Brgy. Guinahalaran still make clay tiles, pots, stoves and garden accessories. Although pottery is an ancient art, it is on the verge of disappearing. In fact, the pottery makers in Guinhalaran are the remaining three groups still existing in Negros Island.

Just like any community in the Philippines, stories and legends abound in Silay to explain mysterious incidents. Stories of enchanted trees and places refused to die especially when fed with our rich imaginations. There exist two century-old trees in along the highway going to Silay which nobody dared cut-down lest they earn the ire of its “residents”.

It’s also always interesting to talk to locals who spent their childhood in Silay.  It’s from them that you get to hear what only get to be whispered. Family secrets would almost always be far more interesting than the architecture of their houses.

One never goes to Silay without sampling its native delicacies. The oldest bakeshop in Silay, El Ideal, opened in the 1920s. In Silay, you get to taste the best piaya, lumpaiang ubud, pili squares, and other local delicacies not from pasalubong outlets but from the kitchens of its makers. Most of these are family recipes handed down from generations and are not available anywhere. Aside from the local institutions like El Ideal, there’s the manuglibod who goes around Silay selling local delicacies. Most kakanins traded in Bacolod are from the manuglibods of Silay.

Fresh Star Organics Farm

Silay is a microcosm of a society undergoing change constantly. The opening of the Silay Airport opens a lot of opportunities for industries within Silay City. With the priority of the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental to make Negros the organic food bowl of Aisa, the vast land of Silay is a resource waiting to be tapped. One of the first companies to into organic agriculture was Fresh Start Organics whose farm is located in Hacienda Maquina. The company now produces and markets its organic produce not only in the province but even to Iloilo and Metro Manila.

Clearly, there’s more to Silay than meets the eye. All of these are just waiting for you to discover and experience. As what we bloggers discovered, beyond Silay’s landmarks is a Silay pulsating with life and a culture that’s unlike no other. No wonder migrants have found their home in Silay. Life is definitely sweeter here.

Stay tuned for more features on Silay City.

The 14th Adobo Festival on Saturday, November 5, 9am-2pm at the Balay Negrense boasts of the The Great Adobo Lunch which will highlight past winning recipes of the annual food competition and fair.

The menu will include last year’s winner Adobo Crevette A L’Anglaise by Robert Harland. The other champion Adobo dishes and heirloom recipes are Adobo Mañosa, Chicken Pork Adobo, Baked Chicken Adobo, Adobong Takway, Adobong Puso ng Saging and a wide array of Adobo dishes.

Susan Calo Medina’s Travel Time show and magazine will be also present to document and feature the event and the activities which include Adobo Cooking Competition, Muscovado Cooking Contest, Kitchen Art Exhibit, different booths and side activities.

Chef JP Anglo, chef of Mushu Asian Restaurant and host of Pinoy version of the Junior Masterchef TV show, will be also be doing a surprise dish for the Gourmet Adobo Cooking Demo.

The Negros Cultural Foundation, the non-profit organization that runs Negros Museum and Balay Negrense, invites everyone to witness an event that marries history, culture, arts, tourism and food in one festival. The cooking competitions becomes a venue for Negrense youth and aspiring chefs to master the cooking of Adobo, incorporate local ingredients, develop some of these heirloom recipes and giving them a twist.

For more information, please contact The Negros Museum at 4334764 | 7085080 | 09213307861 or Balay Negrense at 714-7676. You can also find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.  (PR)

Before they wore the hat of restaurateur, they were already engineers, educators and inventors. Caido del Cielo was not in their immediate plan but as the name suggests, it’s a blessing in disguise sent from heaven for a purpose.

The space at Sta. Isabel Bldg. in Yakal St. was initially rented by a friend of Engr. Dioscoro “Nonoy” Marañon under his name. However, the friend backed out and now he was left with a space which he has to pay whether he will use it or not. He consulted his colleague and “partner in crime” Engr. Paolo Petalver on what to do with it and the rest is history.

Engr. Paolo Petalver and Engr. Dioscoro "Nonoy" Maranon

It wasn’t hard for them to think of a restaurant specializing in organic and healthy foods. They are both advocates of organic and healthy lifestyle and they have been developing products  in support of the industry. I know them both professionally since Engr. Petalver is also a Chemical Engineer and Engr. Marañon is the Dean of the College of Engineering of West Negros University. My colleague and I were invited by Engr. Marañon for a meeting and I took it as an opportune time to review Caido del Cielo.

The ambience was very cozy and it could be a nice meeting place for a small group who needs a quiet venue. You could even bring your date here. The red tables and the interior lighting can make the place ideal for an intimate dinner. The building has plenty of parking space and it’s far from the crowd of downtown Bacolod.

Caido del Cielo interior

I was impressed by the sophisticated and expensive looking floor lamp. But upon closer inspection, I realized they were made from garbage can and PVC pipe. It’s the owners and their innovations at work.

Caido del Cielo has a wide variety of  Fruit and Vegetable Smoothies. I’m not very adventurous so I chose Broccoli Strawberry Delight. I  was pleasantly surprised that they serve it on a tall glass which makes it really affordable at P50.

Broccoli Strawberry Delight

It’s really refreshing with the taste of raw broccoli and a hint of peanuts. I happen to love broccoli so if you’re not into this vegetable, you may want to choose a fruit smoothie. But remember, broccoli is high in vitamin C and has anti-cancer properties.

For our main dish, we had Steamed Tilapia and Tangigue in Mango Salsa. These are all priced at P150 per serving which is already good for two. It also comes with a free laswa (vegetable stew).

Tangigue in Mango Salsa

The salsa was simply mango, tomatoes and onions and a good flavor enhancer of fish. We tried the fried tangigue instead of tilapia for variety. It was good but I would prefer the salsa for steamed fish for a healthier option. You can actually give instructions how you want your fish to be cooked.

Steamed Tilapia

The Steamed Tilapia was topped with an escabeche sauce with lots of ginger and spring onions. Any steamed fish would be perfect for the sauce specially if it’s fresh. The sweet and sour flavors blend well with the steamed fish.

Caido del Cielo was really heaven sent not only for the owners but also for customers who are looking for affordable and healthier food options. They also serve pasta, breakfast combo meals and brewed organic coffee.

Visit Caido del Cielo’s Facebook Page for their menu and prices.

How to get there:

From downtown Bacolod, take the Shopping (La Salle or San Agustin) jeepney and get off at corner Yakal-Lopez Jaena near Circle Inn Hotel. Take a trike to Sta. Isabel Bldg. or you may walk since it’s close enough.

The best part of the workshop was not even because it’s free. I would have paid for it if that was the case. The best part was because Amy Besa was the instructor for the Food Writing and Food Research Workshop. The fact that it’s still free made me doubly grateful to the Negros Museum.

Amy Besa is a New York based food writer and with her husband, Romy Dorotan owns of the Purple Yam restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. Memories of Philippine Kitchens, co-authored by the couple, features Filipino cuisine and culture and won the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Jane Grigson Award for scholarship in the quality of its research and writing in 2007.

I’m not a good cook although I sometimes made successes in the kitchen specially with food that my mother used to prepare at home. But what I lack in skills as a cook, I try to make up with my skills in food writing. But my quest to improve my culinary skills doesn’t end there since I believe you can be a better food writer if you are a good cook.

From left: Betsy Gazo, Moi, Sandy Solinap and Amy Besa

Amy asked us to describe batuan in a sentence so that a reader would want to read the rest of what you wrote. She also asked us to differentiate sinigang from tinola. Sounds easy but based on what each has written, everyone has a different descriptions of sinigang and tinola.

For me and perhaps for most of us, tinola only has the basic ingredients of meat or fish, vegetables, and tomatoes without the souring ingredient. While sinigang can also be fish or meat, with more vegetables, and souring ingredient.

As for souring, can you describe how a guava, tamarind, and iba tastes like? Can you describe their flavor aside from being sour? Amy told us to learn to recognize and describe the flavors of the ingredients so that even if we don’t know what’s in the food, we’ll recognize them by the taste. She also encouraged us to do our research on the history of Negros, the local cuisine and ingredients.

Amy is also an advocate of organic and healthy lifestyle and she encouraged us to promote Negros as the Organic Capital of the Philippines. To assist us on this assignment, Chin-Chin Uy of Fresh Start Organics gave a talk about his company and on the organic movement in Negros.

It wouldn’t be a food writing workshop if there’s no food, right? Trust our Kusinero Negrense Ronnie Guance to cook up something as exotic as Pagi Burrito.  I made up that name. The dish doesn’t have an official name yet. It’s made of pagi (stingray meat), with tomatoes, basil and buffallo mozzarella on piaya-based wrap. Sorry Ms. Amy but I failed you. Words elude me. All I can say was, Namit gid!

By the end of the workshop, we enjoyed it so much we were all complaining it was too soon. But before we bid our farewell to our mentor, we were tasked to continue on the topics we worked on during the workshop which we have to submit after a week. We have a busy week ahead and we’re loving it!

Photos by Teytey Sevilleno

Not all Manapla Puto (rice cake) are created equal not even when they’re made in Manapla, Negros Occidental. Everybody who’s making puto on a banana leaf these days call themselves Manapla puto. Let’s weed out the copycats from the real McCoy and what do we have? Capulso Manapla Puto.

Capulso Manapla Puto claims to be the original maker of puto in Manapla. Mrs. Magdalena Balgoa-Capulso started making puto commercially in 1954 and has been a thriving business ever since . I had a chance to talk to Mrs. Capulso and she told me that puto making has been a family tradition and the special puto recipe was handed to her by her aunt. The same family recipe has been handed down to her children  who continue to make the delicious puto. I told her Manapla should be grateful to her since their puto has made the town famous. I asked her about the Manapla puto maker in Iloilo and  she said it belongs to the family of her brother.

Her sons who now manage the business said there’s really no secret in  making puto. You just have to have the right ingredients like laon or aged rice which is best for puto. Mr Jerry Capulso believes it’s probably experience that’s on their side. They can easily determine the right combination of quality ingredients even with the different rice varieties available today in order to get the quality of puto they want. He added that it’s also in the cooking technique that’s why puto making can never be mechanized because the right consistency of the rice batter cannot be achieved using a mixer.

Manapla puto is soft, tasty and has fine, uniform texture. Available variants of Capulso Manapla Puto are plain puto and puto cheese. Manapla Puto best complements flavorful dishes such as batchoy and dinuguan. Puto at room temperature is highly perishable but when kept in a freezer, it can last for a month. Just reheat in a steamer before eating.

Capulso Manapla Puto is available at Lopue’s East, Pendy’s and Deco’s. They deliver daily so you get freshly cooked Manapla puto. They don’t sell through vendors but you can also buy from their store at Crossing Manapla. Just come early since products are easily sold out. You may call them at (034) 491-0092.