How You Can Support Local Farmers This Weekend: Eat and Box All-You-Can at Ayala Malls

Catch one of Rural Rising’s farmer-to-consumer marketplaces happening on June 11 and 12

Lend your support to Filipino farming communities when you get your fruits and veggies at Eat and Box All-You-Can. The two-day event, hosted by non-profit organization Rural Rising (RuRi) and Ayala Malls, makes all-local produce accessible in a key Metro Manila location: Market! Market! in Taguig. Coming up: catch Mango Eat-All-You-Can on June 11, Saturday, and Box-All-You-Can on June 12, Sunday.

Endeavoring to aid distressed Filipino farmers currently dealing with fruit and veggie overproduction in their provinces, these farmer-to-consumer marketplaces are a great venue to do part of your grocery shopping as you take on the advocacy of supporting local. Here, participating farming communities get paid above-farm gate prices when you shop their products.

What sets this weekend market apart is the fun, “all-you-can” element. For the Box All-You-Can event, shoppers are given 10 minutes to fill their boxes to the brim with all the fruits and veggies they can fit in the special RuRi box before time runs out. Ayala Corporation Associate Director Mariana Zobel de Ayala, after joining in the inaugural run of the event at Alabang Town Center, shared: “It was so much fun. I love that it was gamified, that there was a time frame, it added a different adrenaline rush to it.” She added: “The veggies and fruits were so fresh and so organic. I was really impressed by the whole experience.”

The Market! Market! stop coming up, in particular, aims to “empower the agricultural sector during the rainy season,” according to the RuRi team. “Nearing the rainy season, the farmers will have less to sell, there will be less income,” they shared. “This will be their last hurrah for a good price, this is it.”

Mango Eat-All-You-Can on June 11 brings to Manila the famous mangoes from Guimaras, where, for only ₱200, participants can help themselves to the mango “buffet” and whatever they can finish in one sitting. The treats from this event can be shared, too: those who join have the option to donate these fresh, sweet mangoes to a worker, a security guard, a rider, or a driver, for the same price. To register for Mango Eat-All-You-Can on June 11, sign up and reserve your time slot here.

Box-All-You-Can on June 12, meanwhile, invites shoppers to fill their 14”x14” RuRi boxes with as many locally-produced fruits and vegetables for only ₱699. Cop fresh beets, carrots, radish, cauliflower, eggplant, cabbage, corn, potato, pineapple, papaya, lettuce, and so much more during this leg of the two-day event, which benefits the Cabbage farmers of Cagayan; the Onion farmers of Luzon; the Cauliflower farmers of Ilocos; and the Zucchini and Radish farmers of Benguet, just to name a few.

To register for Box-All-You-Can on June 12, sign up and reserve your time slot here.

Next stop? Alabang Town Center! RuRi is gearing up for ATC’s second round of Fruit-All-You-Can on July 9 to 10, 2022 in Alabang Town Center, Commerce Avenue corner Madrigal Avenue, Muntinlupa. 

To stay updated on the Eat and Box All-You-Can at Ayala Malls and more upcoming events, visit www.ayalamalls.com. You can also follow Ayala Malls on Facebook and Instagram.