DURING one lunch meal in my favorite vegetarian shop here in the city, I shared a table with a German visitor. This young man has been a vegetarian for five years, and it shows in his lean active body.
Our conversation struck me of what he observes about the difference of our food and our diet.
“Davao has the best food. Plenty of fruits. But why do you people here eat lots of oily stuff.” He points out why we dunk everything in oil. Banana cues. Fried chicken. Oily, meaty stuff.
I truly agree this is the irony of our times. Mindanao is our country’s food basket, anything from the sea to the farms could feed every Filipino. But hunger is real and widespread.
Meanwhile, our tongues are trained to junk food thanks to advertising. Old folks would say they live longer because they eat healthy when they were young. I wonder if we are eating to die young. Outside every school in the city, lies a 7-Eleven store, a burger stand, or a fast food chain like Jollibee. While a no junk food policy is enforced in school, once this kids go outside, they flock to these stores and gobble burgers, sodas, ice cream and crackers.
We just celebrated Nutrition Month. Beyond the usual parade of school children in cute “vegetable and fruit” costumes, the cooking or baking events, there should be a more serious way to teach our children to eat healthy.
This fast food economy in this country is really making a killing, literally and figuratively. It is not just kids, but our adult bodies too are chunking sugar, meat and carbs.
How do we re-train our tongues and our pockets to eat healthy? I bemoan there are only a few healthy restos, some of which cater to the middle and upper class market. Land conversation, pollution in our seas, mining are also killing our plants and sources of food.
This is really a challenge that can be addressed collectively and personally. Organic movements and vegetarian stores are still growing in the country and in Davao. They need us to make this movements grow.
I will share a personal matter on my preference for organic. My kid with diet restrictions, as sweets, soda, processed food, red meat, even bread causes constipation in him and affects his school and play. We are done with fast foods and junk foods, and veggies, organic meat and fruit juice has helped him and us a lot.
Eating healthy comes with a global thinking about supporting organic worker-friendly farms and food makers. We see how our multimillion food industry such as the food conglomerate Jollibee and the condiment manufacturer NutriAsia, are earning billions on the backs of contractual, low-paid workers. It’s time to do our part, make these companies learn we eat with a conscience.
My friend wants to see a difference. It’s time to green and connected with earth and the people.
tyvelez@gmail.com