Start them young with Slow Food Youth

We had a young assistant chef named Jam Melchor when we started the first “farm to table” restaurant in the country in 2011. He was a quiet worker and I never really bothered him with his work in the kitchen. However, after that stint, he started more entrepreneurial ventures such as delivery of cooked meals for special diets, for those counting calories or for those who needed more protein, less fat, etc. During Christmas he makes his family recipe of Chicken Galantina, a special fiesta food from his hometown, Angeles, Pampanga. As we all know, Pampanga has a whole list of renowned chefs but Chef Jam, who is now in his mid 30s, is carving his own niche, so to speak.

Not even 30 then, he went around Southeast Asia promoting Filipino food in various locations of a global hotel chain as he did local buffets along with the Department of Agriculture, promoting Filipino culture and traditions. I was a proud Mama following him in his activities internationally.

In 2016, we went to Terra Madre event together in Turin, Italy as he was the assigned chef for the Philippine stand at the famous event held every other year. He made adobo, pancit and champorado to the delight of the Slow Food visitors, some of whom have never heard of the Philippines, much less our cuisine. It was here where he encountered young Slow Food enthusiasts, too. As soon as we came home or on or about April 2017, he started the Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN) in the country, gathering all these students and young chefs like him to hold meaningful activities like the World Disco Soup day every April 28.

It is a network appealing to the young who are afraid to commit to membership in our older group called Convivium (yes, we used a Latin word for group). He toured schools and asked them to host “youth-oriented” group events. We older ones were the Slow Food Manila convivium while he led the Slow Food Youth Network.

I cannot forget Chef Jam’s other career milestones as I saw his framed photo at the Cafeteria in Pollenzo, Italy at the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Apparently, he had been invited to cook Filipino food for a week in 2017 at the famous academy. Being invited among the world’s best chefs is truly an honor and he tells me more in our podcast (airing soon) for other young chefs to emulate.

In 2016, he also worked with a few friends to push for the celebration of Filipino Food Month, now Presidential Proclamation 469 to preserve Filipino food and culture every April. He organized the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement with like-minded friends to shepherd this idea into law.

Lately, I was following him on Instagram as he went on an ASEAN Heritage Train Cultural Exchange Program which took him and other young chefs around Asia, visiting Laos, Malaysia and Thailand for immersion, one week in each city, in UNESCO Creative Cities for Gastronomy. For someone so young to have this culture bug biting him all the time, he cannot help but work with National Commission for Culture and the Arts for Filipino Food Month. And that celebration is now in the law.

See, young people can help make laws. It’s not just for lawyers and politicians, it is also an area where advocacies cause policy change which become law. So I advise young people of today to help create laws in this manner instead of just rallying in the streets.

Oh, and Chef Jam started teaching, too. Young professional chefs can teach the youth good manners and right conduct for the hospitality industry, as many of those enrolled in culinary schools want to be chefs and cooks. We need to remind them though that cooking or ‘cheffing’ is not about themselves but about moving an industry in the right direction. And that is exactly what Chef Jam has been doing, with great results.

During the pandemic, Chef Jam and I also collaborated to do a Food Map for Pampanga and Bulacan with the request of Department of Tourism Region 3. While we worked remotely, we still were able to gather food historians, academe and tourism officers and we finished this project despite the times.

I have the greatest respect for young people who have advocacies and career interests that intertwine – just like Chef Jam. No wonder he is always invited to international events and food camps like the one he attended in France some years ago. The only requirement is a young age plus passion for cooking and love for culture. And he started at the tender age of 24.

How does one start an advocacy at a young age? It just is a recipe of exposure to other young people such as the global community of Slow Food Youth Network, the background in culinary skills and culture and the passion to make a difference. It also helps to have supportive parents who respect one’s dreams to be a chef and not think of it as a lowly profession.

Slow Food Youth Network is a good place to have your children start learning how to combine culture, community and good values. And we are only so glad that no less than a dean of the Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management of Far Eastern University, Dean Harold Bernardo Bueno, has taken the baton to lead this network to greater heights. But Chef Jam is ever at his side to guide him and inspire more youth to join the group.

Encourage your food-loving children to join SFYN so they can be with like-minded youth so we can create more Jams and Harolds. And make them express their culture and passion towards interesting careers. Read more about Slow Food Youth Network on Facebook and Instagram: SFYN Philippines.