Thursday, May 01, 2008 Wenceslao: Rice with camote By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
TRUST economic crunches to transform the unnoticed into the noticeable, or more precisely to make popular an act merely borne out of need. I mean, long before rice shortage became this country’s by-word, some poor rural folk were already eating cereals (include corn there) mixed with root crops like camote. It wasn’t voluntary; it was forced.
The point is obvious. People mix rice (or corn) with camote not to make the food palatable or nutritious but to stretch a limited budget. I have eaten corn mixed with chopped camote and I ended up, like many others who have eaten it, separating the cereal from the root crop. I have nothing against camote, but in that plate corn was preferred.
Actually, rural folk do not usually mix rice (or again, corn) with camote. They eat rice (or corn) and, when the container for bought rice (or corn) is already empty, shift to camote and other root crops, like cassava, ubi and gabi, plus unripe bananas (gardaba). Because of poverty, farmers have become experts at dealing with rice (or corn) shortages.
We urban folk are therefore the ones that need teaching. But then again, necessity is the mother of invention. Rising prices of cereal and other basic commodities will teach us to find ways to adjust. We are learning, for example, that over-dependence on rice may not do any good to us, ordinary wage earners, in crisis situations. We should diversify.
Or we can pressure government to be honest in doing something to solve the rice problem. Honesty is the key because we already have many experts who can provide government with the best solution. And exerting pressure is better than what people of other countries are doing: channeling rage into riots. We haven’t reached that stage. Yet.
It’s not that mixing rice with camote is not good. When bad becomes worse, it is, but not in the long term. Big problems need big solutions. The rise in the prices of rice is tied up to things government did wrong to the agriculture sector through the years. It is something that, if left unattended, would make even the price of camote prohibitive.
Lest I be misunderstood, I say that palliatives do have a role in the scheme of things. Whether we like it or not, they benefit some people. It’s like giving money to beggars---some degree of satisfaction is felt by giver and receiver. Of course, it won’t solve the mendicancy problem in a macro perspective. But it’s better than being passive.
