Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr. is a sustainable-food entrepreneur based on Negros Island in the Philippines, which recently hosted the global “good food” movement Slow Food’s first-ever regional conference in Asia and the Pacific.
Held in Bacolod City, in Negros Occidental province in November 2025, the gathering brought together farmers, chefs, food artisans and policymakers from across the region to discuss agroecology, biodiversity and climate-resilient food systems.
Uy has also been named “Slow Food councilor” for Southeast Asia, after having spent nearly two decades working with organic farmers and the provincial government to advance a vision of Negros as an “organic island” — a sustainable food hub where people can access healthy, locally grown produce at fair prices without relying on imported, oil-based chemical fertilisers that undermine environmental health, farmer livelihoods and food security.
That vision now encompasses an estimated 20,000 hectares (nearly 50,000 acres) of organic farmland across Negros, involving roughly 20,000 small-scale farmers and farming households, with Bacolod serving as a key urban hub linking producers, markets and institutions.
Uy’s work in sustainable food systems began in 2005, when he and his wife started a composting business that converted organic waste into fertiliser. At the time, chemical inputs were inexpensive and widely used, but a subsequent spike in global oil prices exposed the vulnerability of conventional agriculture to fossil fuel dependence.
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We want people to build relationships, exchange cultures and talk honestly about how to make the world a better place. We grow organic food, improve farmers’ lives, preserve the environment and earn a living. I don’t think there’s a better job than this.
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr, founder, Fresh Start Organics
That experience prompted Uy to establish an organic farm in 2006, both to demonstrate the viability of organic inputs and to build direct relationships between farmers, chefs and consumers. Over time, his efforts expanded into farmer consolidation, retail outlets and food enterprises designed to bypass middlemen and improve farm incomes.
As a Slow Food councilor, Uy has taken this work beyond Negros to the national and regional levels. The designation of Bacolod City as the Center for Sustainable Gastronomy and Negros Occidental as the Organic Capital of the Philippines reflects that broader ambition. For Uy, these recognitions are not symbolic but strategic — intended to position the island as a platform for promoting agroecology, biodiversity and regenerative agriculture as practical responses to climate change across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Mongabay’s Keith Anthony Fabro interviewed Ramon Uy Jr. during the Slow Food event in Bacolod. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Mongabay: Chin-Chin, how did you get started in the sustainable food movement?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy: We started in 2005 with a composting business, producing organic fertiliser from waste. My family owned equipment for composting, and since I had experience in vermicomposting [composting using worms], my wife and I thought it made sense to turn it into a livelihood as we were preparing to get married. We began buying waste, converting it into organic fertiliser, and selling it. That’s how everything started.
At first, people laughed at us because chemical fertiliser was still cheap. But about a year after we started our Fresh Start business, oil prices soared, and fertiliser prices, being oil-based, jumped almost overnight in 2006. Many farmers were worried because costs were rising, but since we weren’t using chemicals, we weren’t affected. That was when we realised how empowering organic farming could be.
Mongabay: How did that early experience shape your thinking about industrial agriculture more broadly?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: That experience showed us how dependent chemical agriculture is on oil. When oil prices go up, farmers suffer immediately. We didn’t feel that shock because we weren’t using chemical inputs. That’s when we saw that organic systems are not just environmentally better, but also more resilient to global energy shocks.
Mongabay: As an entrepreneur focused on agroecology, what ideas, philosophies or frameworks guide your work?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: I spend a lot of time listening to audiobooks, and authors like Michael Pollan and Dan Barber have really shaped how I think about food policy. I’m also very lucky because I work closely with many organic experts, and since I started, I’ve always been learning from my colleagues.
I don’t have a formal degree in this field, but we study and learn based on what we see and experience on the ground. I’ve been part of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) since 2010, and I currently sit on its Asia board. I also serve as a Slow Food councilor.
Mongabay: What does Slow Food mean to you?
Ramon “Chin-Chin Uy Jr.: Slow Food is a movement. It was founded in Italy in the 1980s as a response to industrialisation and fast food. When the first McDonald’s opened on the steps of Rome, Italians, who are very protective of their food culture, felt the need to defend it, so it wouldn’t disappear.
Fast food makes you lose flavor. In agriculture, we’ve become focused only on yield, not on taste. When you target yield alone, you end up relying heavily on chemicals.
Mongabay: Based on what you see in Bacolod and across the Philippines, how would you describe how agroecology is practiced on the ground?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: I call it “organic by neglect.” Because we’re an archipelago, there are still many places where farming is essentially organic. There are farmers who grow food without chemicals, but they don’t call themselves organic farmers. They plant crops like sweet potato because our soils are naturally fertile.
Most farmers here manage 1 or 2 hectares (about 2.5-5 acres). That scale is easier to manage organically. Once farming becomes large-scale, that’s when you start needing chemical interventions.
Mongabay: You’ve been critical of food systems where organic products are exported while local communities eat chemically grown food. Why do you see this as a structural problem?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: In many developing countries, farmers grow organic food for export to wealthy countries, while their own communities eat food grown with chemicals. That shows how broken the food system is. Organic food should be for everyone, not just for export or for the rich.
Mongabay: Critics often argue that organic farming cannot match conventional yields. How do you respond?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: With crops like rice, you can grow organically without chemicals, and yields can be comparable. What matters more is net profit. Organic farming lowers costs, so even if yields are average, farmers earn more. There are also health benefits for farmers and consumers.
Mongabay: You’ve said there is “no such thing as cheap food.” What do you mean?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: Non-organically grown vegetables may appear cheaper, but once you factor in the costs to human health and the environment, they are not truly cheap. When you apply true cost accounting and include environmental externalities, there is no such thing as cheap food — we pay for it later.
Chemical-based farming may give high yields in the short term, but degraded soils, pollution and depleted water tables all come at a cost. The question is: who will pay for that?
Mongabay: What are the main limitations of the Philippines’ Organic Agriculture Act; why has it fallen short of helping small-scale organic farmers?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: The Organic Agriculture Act is meant to support small organic farmers. The problem is really certification. We lobbied to move away from third-party certification and shift toward a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).
But right now, the government is still implementing PGS using a third-party approach. If I’m the farmer and you’re the buyer, and we already know and trust each other, why does someone else still need to come in to inspect my farm just so I can call my produce organic? That defeats the purpose.
Organic farmers are already building healthy soil, protecting the environment and producing healthy food. Yet we’re the ones required to submit documentation, ensure traceability and even pay fees just to call our products organic. Meanwhile, conventional farmers using chemicals face almost no regulation. That’s not just a Philippine problem — it’s happening globally.
Mongabay: What policies are needed to help farmers transition, given that the Organic Agriculture Act is not enough?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: We need to give more importance to farmers, especially when it comes to prices. Farmers work hard but often sell at very low prices. Staple crops like rice should be supported, and farm-gate prices protected.
We also need incentives and real financial support so farmers don’t rely on middlemen and fall into debt. Without that support, farmers lose motivation to keep farming.
Mongabay: Negros Island has a long history of sugar monoculture. How can sustainable food initiatives help address biodiversity loss and land-use pressures?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: Biodiversity is the opposite of monoculture. You don’t want to rely on just one crop — that’s a lesson we already learned from sugar. Diversification is a core principle of organic agriculture.
When you have many varieties, if one crop fails, you have backups. That diversity makes farms more resilient.
Mongabay: Across the Philippines and Southeast Asia, farmers are facing stronger typhoons and climate impacts. How do agroecology and community-based food traditions contribute to climate resilience?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: Organic farming is more climate-resilient. Organic soils absorb up to four times more water, so they perform better during droughts and heavy rains.
For me, sustainability is no longer enough. We need regeneration. We need to make the land better than it was before. Regenerative organic agriculture restores ecosystems while producing food.
Mongabay: From the farm tours to the Foodways Exhibition, what did you see Slow Food attendees learning, tasting and discovering?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: This was an international meeting place for farmers, chefs, artisans and food policy advocates. People saw many cultures and how proud communities are of their food traditions.
Many said this felt like it was the real Philippines — not a polished image, but people, culture and food.
Mongabay: As Slow Food councilor for Southeast Asia, what kinds of partnerships do you want to cultivate moving forward?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: We’re open to partnerships across sectors. We don’t work alone. After this event, our focus is on developing Slow Food communities across the Asia-Pacific region, supported by dedicated staff, Slow Food Travel, and biodiversity mapping.
Mongabay: Finally, if there’s one key takeaway you hope people bring home from this event, what would it be?
Ramon “Chin-Chin” Uy Jr.: We want people to build relationships, exchange cultures and talk honestly about how to make the world a better place.
We grow organic food, improve farmers’ lives, preserve the environment and earn a living. I don’t think there’s a better job than this.
This story was published with permission from Mongabay.com.
