An online petition is asking the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to create a special commission that will “spearhead the preservation and promotion of Philippine cuisine and culinary heritage.”
While NCCA has celebrated and preserved the country’s old churches, antique carvings and other elements of culture like folk dances, Jam Melchor, who is the executive chef of Healthy Eats Manila and convenor of Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement, believes that their “culinary traditions need to be celebrated and preserved as well,” especially in the face of food culture becoming more globalized.
Melchor, who started the Change.org petition on Friday, June 3, added: “The Philippines has all the right ingredients to become an international culinary destination. So long as we can cultivate a homegrown appetite for and interest in our local cuisine, global recognition will soon follow,”
