From Pasil to the world: Indigenous rice champion wins global food award

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – A woman from Pasil, Kalinga, who has spent years helping protect indigenous rice varieties and food traditions has been recognized by one of the world’s best-known food movements. Rowena Gonnay, co-founder of the Slow Food Community Pasil, received the 2026 ByungSoo Kim Award from Slow Food International during the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy. Gonnay was not in Turin for the ceremony. Reena Gamboa received the award on her behalf, according to Gonnay’s own post after the recognition. The award citation honored Gonnay for her “outstanding dedication to preserving indigenous food heritage, protecting biodiversity, and passing ancestral knowledge to future generations. ” Rowena Gonnay of Pasil, Kalinga, receives the 2026 ByungSoo Kim Award for her work in preserving indigenous food heritage, biodiversity, and ancestral knowledge.

Photo by Mia Magdalena Fokno/Rappler Gonnay said the recognition belongs not only to her, but to the farmers and community she works with. “This award is not only for me, but for our community, our farmers, and everyone who continues to protect our indigenous food, culture, and environment,” she wrote. She dedicated the award to the people of Pasil and to fellow Slow Food advocates who support the movement’s principle of good, clean, and fair food. Gonnay’s work is closely tied to Pasil’s traditional rice varieties and the indigenous knowledge that keeps them alive. Slow Food identifies her as a member of the indigenous Kalinga community and a guardian of the Unoy Rice Presidium, which protects traditional rice varieties cultivated in Pasil’s highland terraces. The Pasil community grows indigenous rice varieties such as Unoy and Chong-ak, with women farmers playing a central role in seed selection,…