Be a Locavore

Boiled cassava served with freshly harvested honey

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a food garden or live next to a forest to hunt and gather from. But more and more people are doing the next best thing in choosing their food: eating local produce in season, and eliminating food miles.

Yes, in these times of crisis and climate change, it matters how far your food travels before it reaches your mouth. It seems that eating local has even a greater impact than eating organic.

In rural areas, and during simpler times, it is/was common to walk a few steps to the home garden, pick a few veggies for a simple meal, or butcher the chicken ranging freely for a more elaborate one. For a snack, harvest the cassava or camote and serve with honey.

These days, especially for us city folks, we need to exert more effort. Maybe start a small home garden, even in containers where there is no available space. Maybe beg a few sayote from a kind hearted neighbor. Or go to the market, and ask a few questions before handing over the cash.

Is that orange a a local variety, or did it come from China months ago, thereby needing preservatives? Is that garlic from Taiwan, or from the Ilocos? Are those noodles imported or locally produced? How far did that squid or chicken travel, since they come frozen in boxes, and have to be thawed in basins full of water? Is that NFA rice a product of Thailand or Vietnam?

Of course, you can also go visit Balatinaw Store at #16 Dizon Subdivision, Baguio City, and be sure that all products on display are locally produced, and good for your health. This past month, I got the following from this store: peanut butter; dried legumes and traditional beans from Kalinga; beautiful organic tomatoes, lettuce, mustard; sili; all kinds of vinegars, pickles, wines, jams and jellies; ginger from Abra; squash noodles made in Sagada; maskobado sugar from Abra; bananas from Kalinga. If you want to start a garden, you can buy compost to help you out. 

And please bring your visitors for souvenirs, like wood carvings, woven items, music, and books. There's something for everyone.#

Go Home and Plant Camote

This phrase was frequently used by my Spanish teacher to insult his students who could not answer his questions. Up to now,  camote is frequently looked down on as an inferior food by many. And those who eat it this "musical fruit" are considered lower forms of life.

Well, it is time to correct this notion, and uphold the value of this root crop through camote advocacy.

Nutrition-wise, the camote is a powerhouse. It is loaded with beta-carotene, the body's source of vitamin A, an important antioxidant that strengthens our immune system against bacterial and viral diseases, as well as cancer. It is also an important source of the B vitamin thiamin, iron, potassium and fiber. The camote is among the good carbohydrates: a complex carbohydrate packed with nutrients; with a high glycemic index, taking comparatively longer time before it is turned to glucose; and full of cholesterol-lowering fiber, which promotes digestive health. To top this, the shoots of the camote plant, or camote tops, like all other green leafy vegetables, carry concentrations of vitamins and minerals.

Camote can be cooked many ways. For a snack, it may be boiled, fried, baked, roasted in a bonfire, sweetened, etc. But I like it best simply boiled whole, and served warm, like in the canaos of old. For a meal, it may be cooked in pinakbet, dinengdeng, chicken curry, etc. A personal favorite is freshly picked camote greens lightly sauteed in garlic and a little bagoong. Yummy, for a simple, healthy meal.

Thus, going home to plant camote is not too bad after all in these times of lifestyle diseases, economic crisis and climate change. In fact, planting camote can be a viable option for those hit by the job cuts, those who need to lose that extra weight for better health, and for those who would like to contribute towards mitigating climate change. Agbiag ti camote!

Masaplora

If you have a taste for ampalaya salad, try another delicious bitter vegetable, masaplora shoots.

These shoots come from the native variety of the passion fruit, which produces egg-sized fruits, which turn purple when ripe. In my childhood, masaplora vines used to thrive around our home, and we collected the tart and deeply-flavored fruit for a delicious snack and to make juice with, for bringing to school. During those days, this variety was the more common one, and when we came across the American masap with fruits that turn golden when ripe, and have a sweeter but less intense taste, we used to fight over these treasures. Now, with the wisdom of my years, I come to appreciate the purple masaplora over its golden counterpart. Unfortunately,  this variety is now difficult to get hold of. The rare times I see them for sale, I buy a few and savor a flavor of my childhood. During the Adivay Festival, I was able to buy a bunch.

Being a city-bred girl, I did not know that the shoot of this vine is edible. Only later, meeting the likes of Santong, did I come to appreciate this food. The leaves are a healthy, glowing and growing shade of green, and can reinforce one's healthy resolutions. They are best prepared simply, by sauteing some garlic then the freshly washed leaves, allowing the leaves to cook in several teaspoons of water. Season with salt, and the dish is ready to be served with rice. A bite of this dish is nutrition-packed, and brings to mind simple lifestyles and less hectic times.

I know some people who swear that their favorite food is lightly sauteed masaplora shoots. A first taste may shock the uninitiated, but as you continue eating, the unique flavor grows on you, which drives some people to regularly search for this vegetable.

The shoots are available for sale in one of the stops along Mountain Trail from Bontoc to Baguio. I have also found them being sold outside the Hangar market. Twenty pesos gives you a good bunch enough to serve 3 or 4 people as a side dish.#

Home Gardens in Barangay San Luis

Home gardens around the world are now recognized to improve the quality of life for urban dwellers. They promote food security by providing a year-round supply of nutritious food for the family. They complement family income with harvests which can be sold to neighbors or be brought to the market. They provide pleasant surroundings and contribute to greening up the neighborhood.

In Barangay San Luis, Baguio city, home gardens optimize the skill and traditional knowledge of indigenous migrants from interior villages of Mt. Province. For them, it is second nature to maintain a home garden, and those who do not are considered lazy. Gerry Cacho of ORNUS, alliance of urban poor organizations in Baguio,  shares the following:

Common Plants. Among the San Luis home gardens, it is common to find sayote, camote, gabi, and legumes like itab and patani. Sayote and camote shoots are readily available for a nutritious meal. While the root crops of camote and gabi provide healthy, filling snacks for growing children. Several varieties of camote and gabi are maintained: some for their leaves, some for their edible roots, and all useful for particular needs of the family.

Home gardeners also grow a few medicinal plants like lemon grass and ginger to maintain the health needs of the family. Fruit trees like dayap, avocado, guava and bananas are also part of the garden, when the necessary space is available.

Animal Raising. Animals are part of the home garden. Pigs, dogs and chickens are raised to support the practice of traditional rituals related to sickness, death and weddings in the city. Some practices require specific features such as a black pig or a native chicken, thus encouraging families to raise their own animals. Pigs are kept in pens, and are fed produce from the garden and organic wastes from the community and beyond. While chickens are allowed to roam freely, helping themselves to goodies in the garden.

Seed Exchange. First generation migrants carried their traditional seeds to the city, and propagated these in their home gardens in San Luis. They also carried with them their traditional practice of seed saving and exchange, sharing their seeds with neighbors, friends and relatives. This practice has maintained some varieties through the years to the present third generation of migrant families. Some varieties though have been lost, and some gardeners resort to buying commercial seeds in the market.

Children help out. Children are encouraged to maintain their own gardens and raise their own animals. They are allowed to sell their produce, and use the cash for their own needs. However, many children are losing interest in gardening, and are lured to other income-generating activities such as selling plastic bags or fruits in the market or sidewalks of Baguio. These activities are preferred because they are easier and money comes everyday, unlike gardening which requires patience and waiting for months before harvest.

Steps Forward. The community organization recently made an appraisal of their home gardens, and brainstormed on ways to strengthen the traditional practice. As a result, families are gaining inspiration and strength in improving their gardens and setting up new ones for new crops and vegetables, which will help them cope with the food crisis.

The San Luis home gardens are presently invisible to city planners and environmentalists, but surely enhance the city's ecology and increase biodiversity by converting empty lots and unused spaces to green patches which attract beneficial insects and birds.

Agbiag!

WANTED: Gaki from Balas-iyan

Lola Wilna and grandsons,

who were successfully breastfed

with the help of tengba.

Women from Besao would nod their heads in agreement. But for the rest -- gaki are small freshwater crabs, and Balas-iyan is the place where the right variety is found for a successful tengba.  And of course, tengba is that fermented mixture of gaki, salt, and pounded rice, which is said to help a mother produce enough milk to nurse her new-born baby.

When I gave birth to my first-born, my mother-in-law who hails from Besao brought me tengba. She explained the difficulty in getting the right crabs. Attempts to use available crabs in the Baguio market called kappi, resulted in a bitter batch. While crabs from the river in Besao resulted in a tasteless one. Thus, experience has taught the women of Besao that it is essential the crabs come from the river near Balas-iyan, found in the tri-boundary of Mountain Province, Abra, and Ilocos Sur, which is apparently clean, and not affected by pollution.

In Besao, tengba is served with etag and chicken to guests who come to celebrate the birth of a first-born. This is an occasion for the community to give support to a young mother, to help bolster her self-confidence as she faces a new task to care for her new-born, and to share experience and advise on motherhood. Of course, the tengba itself offers the right nutrition for a nursing mother. I guess calcium and protein from the crabs, and Vitamin B and carbohydrates from the rice, and possibly other vital nutrients for milk production still unknown. 

What a fine practice to show support to a young mother, far superior to the situation of urban-based mothers who, when confronted with problems in nursing their babies, run to the grocery to buy a can of formula milk!

Well, if you are fortunate enough to have some gaki from Balas-iyan, here's the procedure. Place your prized catch in an earthen or glass jar. Separate the legs from the bodies. Place lots of salt, and leave it to ferment for two weeks. Then pound some rice (the ordinary rice, not the sticky variety) and mix it with the fermented mixture. Allow the tengba to rest for at least one week and up to a year. You can use the paste for soups, with vegetables, or chicken. Enjoy!