The Sunday food and agriculture fair at Valencia’s town plaza in Negros Oriental is attracting a growing number of visitors seeking to sample local and international cuisine and purchase fresh farm produce. The market has seen an upswing in business since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Manang Violeta, one of the vendors, shared that she visits the town plaza on Sundays to sell vegetables directly from her garden while also sharing a stall with a neighbor. She normally sells vegetables and sometimes fruits from a supplier in Dumaguete. However, when she discovered that sellers could earn a considerable profit in Valencia, she decided to give it a try for the first time about three or four months ago.
Desiderio Tilos Jr., the local tourism officer, explained that the Sunday food fair and agri-fair started as a “paunay” or flea market 18 years ago to eliminate middlemen. Initially, only local farmers came to sell their products at the town plaza, but in recent years, food sellers from outside Valencia have joined the market. The market began to boom when pandemic restrictions eased and many popular restaurant and resort owners from Dumaguete, Dauin, and other places, as well as foreigners, began to participate.
Now, farmers and food sellers coexist and complement each other on Sundays, and the market runs from 5 a.m. to noon. The municipality collects a maximum of PHP500 for renting space, but the price varies depending on what vendors are selling. The town implements a “no plastic policy” at the market, which means vendors must use paper bags or eco-bags for the products they sell.
Tilos stated that the town deploys workers to monitor the Sunday market’s activities, and members of the Valencia Local Council of Women sell tote bags in the plaza vicinity. Foreigners married to Filipinas and residing in Valencia or other parts of the province also sell a variety of food and other products at the market.
Visitors can sample various dishes, delicacies, and beverages from countries such as Iran, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Germany at the food stalls. The number of stalls varies each Sunday, but about 40 of them set up business at one time or another. Additionally, fresh vegetables and fruits are available at lower prices compared to grocery stores and supermarkets. Plants and flowers are also sold at the plaza.
According to Tilos, the Sunday market, held all-year-round, has helped stimulate Valencia’s economy and not only benefits the town’s farmers but also other businesses.
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