Thursday, October 05, 2006 Negative image of veggies hurt industry By Mary Grace Plata
COUNCILOR Leonardo R. Avila III found an ally in the vegetable industry in defending vegetables and fruits from being given negative connotations, just like in giving kalabasa awards to persons perceived as bad.
Vegetable Industry Council for Southern Mindanao chair Roger Gualberto, a known advocate of organic farming, said Wednesday using vegetables to symbolize negative attributes creates a stigma that makes it difficult for the industry to flourish.
In last Tuesday's regular session, Avila cautioned against using age-old terms associated with vegetables and fruits to insult or castigate somebody; words like "nangamote", "namayabas", and giving out "kalabasa" awards.
In the 2003 survey of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Filipinos have come up on the end of the nutrition totem pole by being the lowest vegetable consumer in Asia with 40 kg per capita annual consumption. So much for associating veggies with losers, Filipinos ended up on the losing end mainly because we are "meat-eaters."
Gualberto said Vegetable Industry Council-Southern Mindanao has been working for the advancement of the vegetable industry through the National Vegetable Congress and projects like "Gulayan sa Barangay," which has been adopted by the City Government.
The National Nutrition Council has also launched a vegetable-awareness focusing on encouraging schoolchildren to eat vegetables by showing its nutritional value.
However, Guablberto laments that they are fighting an uphill battle and their efforts might be all in vain with the recent "Kalabasa" awards highlighting the deplorable image Filipinos have of vegetables.
Gualberto asked all sectors to highlight instead the positive attributes of vegetables.
Patronizing vegetables is a win-win situation, Gualberto said, adding that this will not only help the economy but it will also ensure a healthier country.
