In a country made up of over seven thousand six hundred islands, it seems incredible that over 90% of the Philippines’ salt is imported. But it wasn’t always that way. Until 30 years ago, local producers supplied around 85% of the country’s salt requirement and hundreds of Filipino families were producing artisanal sea salt. But in 1995, a law was passed, dictating that all salt in the Philippines had to be iodized to combat iodine deficiency. For 3 decades, only table salt was allowed. Artisanal sea salt-making had all but disappeared but there’s now a movement to revive their craft.
I was at the first ever Terra Madre Asia and Pacific in Bacolod, a city on Negros island in the central Visayas region. Terra Madre – Italian for Mother Earth – is the brainchild of the international Slow Food Movement. It has a rich menu of conferences, tastings, cooking demos, workshops, agro-environmental discussions, and a vibrant market where I got to discover some of those artisanal salts and salt producers.
First broadcast on PRX’s The World, 23rd April, 2026.