GAP CERTIFIED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AT THE NEGROS SHOWROOM
Have you visited the Negros Showroom – Our Food Market at Lacson St., Bacolod City?
This has been happening for almost 3 years now, that every Tuesdays and Fridays, a farmers’ market occupies the parking place at the Negros Showroom on Lacson Street. But when the Negros Showroom closed its branch at Lacson Street, they open Our Food Market just right beside the store.
Early morning joggers and the meticulous, health-conscious set to stop at the store, and office people find this a convenient, welcome addition to an urban commercial strip.
From farms in San Carlos City and Barangay Patag, Silay, these crops are sent in protective crates, not sacks, as a principle. Some other principle is that only potable water should be applied in the final wash of the produce. These principles are merely part of the major cause why these fruits and vegetables are not the usual. The fruits and veggies available at the Negros Showroom – Our Food Market are GAP-certified.
GAP stands for “Good Agricultural Practices,” the certification of which is published by the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Product Standards (BAFPS).
The Philippine GAP certification, adopted from the ASEAN and the global GAP, is an export requirement. So, the produce at the Negros Showroom farmers’ market is export quality.
A hallmark of a farm that is GAP-certified is its traceability. In the Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, “traceability is the ability to observe the cause of produce through specified stages of production and distribution.”
Traceability means that one is able to distinguish the origin of a crop, the conditions–whether of soil, water, atmospheric condition, or farmer–with which it was planted, grown and picked, and even the farm inputs administered with it. Farm lots are properly coded, mapped, and fenced, water is analyzed for cleanliness, and fertilizers and pesticides are kept at the safest levels. All these agricultural activities and data are duly recorded and held for two years.
Good Agricultural Practices strictly uphold food safety, environmental protection, and worker’s health, but if issues on these arise, traceability ensures that things can be tracked, addressed and corrected.
From planting, to harvesting, to selling, traceability gives vegetables a history that confidently deals with questions like, how far back into the chain can you claim that a ware is “safe”, “fresh,” “fair,” “chemical-free” and “honest trade”?
Indeed, these fruits and vegetables sold at competitive prices at the Negros Showroom farmers’ market are not the usual; not the usual because these are unlike most of the harvests in the local grocery store that fall below food safety measures.
In the Philippines, only 30 farms are GAP-certified. Three of these are farmers’ organizations are in Negros. The members of these are mostly agrarian reform beneficiaries. They were all trained in GAP, qualified, and are continually updated and linked to the market.
A program called OURFood, or “Optimizing and Upscaling Roles in the Food Supply Chain” of the AFOS Foundation from Germany guides them in GAP. Its local partner is the Association of Negros Producers (ANP) which runs the Negros Showroom.
For more information about the program you may contact:
Where can I find the complete list of GAP certified farms? I’m switching vegan soon, would like to know this info.
Hi Jm Castro, you may visit the Negros Showroom as they have the complete list of GAP Certified farmers.:)
thisis very interesting! never knew about this before! thanks for sharing! 🙂 fruitsssss
Amazing ! It’s nice to know that the fruits and veggies are GAP – certified.
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I just visited Negros showroom this afternoon and saw this little market. Know I know its fruits and vegetables are GAP certified. Wow! #sales2
it is good to know that they have it all. 😀
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Wow! I never thought that the fruit and vegetables displayed on the Negros Showroom are GAP certified that’s why it looked good and yummy
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I have seen their products up close. Those lettuces look good. #sales2
Omg fruits are my favorites. I can live with fruits!
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My stomach cant stop from starving every time I see these. #sales2
It shows that negrosanon are really rich in vegetables and fruits. This could really help the local farmers to be recognized! #sales2
Negros showroom is not only helping the local farmers but also those peole who would want to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables!
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Fresh fruits and vegetables. ! A great help to every local farmers also a great news to everyone because we can assured that we buy fruits and vegetables are safe for our health. #sales2
It’s nice that they give an opportunity to connect with local farmers. It’s not just a big help to them but also to all the health conscious people out there, they would definitely love to buy fresh fruits and veggies. #sales2
its really amazing that Negros showroom really helps a lot of people even farmers. Fresh Veggies? Available in Negros.
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omg!! one of my favorite food to eat , its more on vitamins and it can help to maintain a healthy body. #sales2
Healthy living in Negros is unlimited to everybody. We all know that eating vegetables and fruits can boost our immune system. #sales2
Fruits and veggies are the best in NEGROS..proud to be negrosanon..#sales2
It’s a good quality and fresh fruits and vegetables.
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I want this fiber fruit like pineapple #sales2
The green and yellow colors of this fruits makes my tummy really starving
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we are living in the best place,where we can plant more vegetables and fruits.:)
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Oh, I’d love to buy GAP-certified fruits and veggies, too. I wish they have a similar program here in Manila, too.
That’s wonderful! Fruits and veggies are amazing and it’s nice to support your local farmers.
I miss those papayas. Papayas here are not sweet.