Thousands gather for Potato Salad Fest

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Big potatoes, big taste and a big crowd.

Last Friday’s staging of the Potato Salad Festival as part of Benguet’s 103rd Foundation Day, had all of these things.

The festival though was not one to break any record, said Provincial Tourism Council chairman Ma. Mignon de Leon, but to boost Benguet’s vegetable industry.

Towns in northern Benguet produce at least 1.5 tons of potatoes daily.

Some 5,000 people queued at the provincial capitol here to partake of four variants of the potato salad — Cordillera Sweet, Classic, Fiesta and Traditional.

More than 750 kilos of potatoes were used to make the salad garnished, depending on the variant, with carrots, sugar beets celery, pineapple, eggs, chicken, black pepper, onion bulbs and leeks, and raisins.

Madaymen and Kibungan towns brought in 10 sacks of potatoes (equivalent to 500 kilos), while Atok farmers contributed five sacks (250 kilos).

La Trinidad and Kabayan towns gave 100 kilos of celery; Bokod, onion leeks; and the Benguet State University and Saparan Livestock, 1,500 kilos of eggs.

Rose Dulnuan, the festival’s chairman, said the event highlighted the potato as Benguet’s main produce.

"We are proud to be producing export-quality potatoes," Benguet Gov. Raul Molintas said.

"It is also high time that we change our attitude and learn to eat what we produce," said Dulnuan, noting that Benguet’s vegetable farmers sell all of their produce and leave nothing for their own tables.