The Mama Sita Foundation was established in 1999. It currently leads a number of food missions all over the world to promote Philippine cuisine and to continue Teresita “Mama Sita” Reyes’ various advocacies.
The Foundation continues to support Philippine culinary heritage through various initiatives such as cookbook donations to different libraries and museums, rejuvenating exhausted sugarland, and the promotion of Philippine Heirloom Rice.
One of the projects by the Mama Sita Foundation is in Dingalan, Aurora. Dingalan can be considered the gateway to Central Luzon from the Pacific Ocean across the Sierra Madre Mountains. It is located at the eastern end of the government’s Urban Beltway Project running from Subic Freeport through Clark Freeport to Dingalan Port.
Dingalan’s pristine location makes it suitable for sustainable agriculture. The Foundation maintains nursery/demonstration farms in several sitios. Appropriate practices for sustainable farming are developed and adopted. The objective is to provide alternative livelihood to former loggers and their families. Eventual processing of the agriculture produce will provide more jobs to more Filipinos.
Crops indigenous to tropical Philippines, like guava, tamarind, cashew and other tropical fruit trees, are planted at logged-over upland areas. As a secondary crop, black pepper is planted. Black pepper has long been taken for granted. It must be remembered that the Philippine Islands were part of the coveted “Spice Islands.”
Mama Sita Foundation Vision: To assist in the upliftment of economic situation of Filipino family enterprises.
Objective of the Project: To help farmers improve their livelihood and to be able to support family's needs.
Location: Dingalan, Aurora, Quezon
Date of Activation: 1990 - present
The Mama Sita Foundation has visited more than 200 different countries since 1982 in line with its mandate to pursue the vision of bringing the flavors of the Philippine Islands to the world. The Foundation has presented Filipino food such as caldereta, champorado, sinigang and many others to such diverse groups of foodies, chefs and local and international communities.
Aside from Philippine Food Festivals all over the world, the Foundation has also actively initiated cooking contests locally and internationally. Internationally, the cooking contests have helped locals be more familiar with Philippine cooking and ingredients. Locally, the initiative helped discover and encourage aspirants who want to pursue a culinary career by rewarding them with culinary tours, classes and even cash prizes to start or improve their food businesses.
Some of the Philippine Cuisine Promotions that the Foundation has supported or initiated are: Lutu-lutuan Contest, the Search for a Cooking Family, the Bulacan Cooking Contest (a project of the Galing Bulacan and the PHACTO Tourism Divison), and the Ang Sarap Philippine Food Festival (a project of the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement).
Inspired by Teresita “Mama Sita” Reyes’ own passion of writing her culinary adventures and experiences, “Mga Kuwentong Pagkain (MKP)” was launched as a nationwide contest aimed to encourage everyone to share authentic, one-of-a-kind and little known stories on Philippine cuisine and cooking.
To know more about our culinary heritage preservation efforts or if you want to support our initiative, please go to Mga Kuwentong Pagkain or visit our Facebook page.