Living the sustainable life in an ecovillage
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—I got wind of the ideal of living in an ecovillage after one of my interviewees, Sarah Queblatin, told me that she spent three years living—on and off—in an ecovillage in Palawan.
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PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—I got wind of the ideal of living in an ecovillage after one of my interviewees, Sarah Queblatin, told me that she spent three years living—on and off—in an ecovillage in Palawan.
Puerto Princesa City—I went all the way to Palawan just to renew my passport. Anyone who had a hard time getting a passport here in Manila would probably understand why I had to resort to this.
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—Since March is Women’s Month, I thought it would be fitting to feature Filipinas who are promoting sustainable farming and dining. For this week, I interviewed Sarah Queblatin, founder of Green Releaf Initiative, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that uses holistic systems like permaculture and ecovillage design to help local communities that are in transition. These include these include the farmers and indigenous groups who are recovering from Supertyphoon Lawin that hit Kalinga in 2016 and the families who were displaced by last year’s Marawi conflict.
In December 2017, the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) issued a directive allowing the commercial sale of food derived from genetically modified (GM) rice line known as GR2E. FSANZ said food derived from GR2E is considered to be safe for human consumption. It also requires manufacturers to label their products as “genetically modified,” in line with Australia and New Zealand’s guidelines on food labeling and to give consumers an informed choice.
Call me dilawan, but I still believe in celebrating the 1986 Edsa Revolution if only because it shows how Filipinos have the capacity to demand for change and oust a despotic leader. I have other reasons, too, but that is more suitable for another (and more political) column. What I want to focus on is the need for another revolution—a food revolution that can change our eating habits and how we view individual diet, health and the environment.
I first learned about Peranakan cuisine while living in Singapore more than a decade ago, and where I had my first taste of mee siam. It reminded me of palabok as it has vermicelli noodles soaked in a shrimp-based gravy, topped with tofu and shrimp. But mee siam was a bit sweet, spicy and soupy. Later, when I visited Penang for a personal food trip, I managed to have for a tour guide a true-blue Peranakan who introduced me to other Peranakan delights as assam laksa (the tangy and spicy fish noodle soup) and a variety of bite-sized, glutinous rice-based snacks called kueh (which this time reminded me of our kakanin). This fusion Chinese-Malay cuisine is a product of a community that was formed in the 15th century, when Chinese seafarers married Malay women and settled in what was then the British-controlled Straits Settlements of Penang, Melaka and Singapore. This community, known as the Peranakan or Straits-born Chinese, developed a cuisine which incorporated Chinese cooking techniques and ingredients, such as wok frying and pork, with indigenous Malaysian spices and herbs as turmeric, galangal, lime leaves, lemongrass and tamarind.
My answer is “yes.” This, even if I’m happily (and guiltlessly) snacking on Greek yogurt and cheese and pepperoni pizza while writing this column. But I will qualify that answer by saying that one doesn’t have to be vegan/vegetarian to enjoy a more environment-friendly diet. What we can do instead is to eat more vegetables—preferably seasonal, local and organic vegetables—and reduce meat and dairy consumption. They’re not only healthier for the body, but it also encourages farmers to grow more types of crops, enrich the soil and secure their livelihood.
Back when I was busy pounding the agri-commodities beat, one of the things that I obsessively monitored was the National Food Authority’s (NFA) rice inventory. This is not a “sexy” topic for any business reporter. Why bother with rice stocks, when it’s more exciting to cover, say, a corporate takeover that can shock and awe the stock market?
Food is memory. That’s why we consider as our comfort food is usually the food that we ate when we were growing up. We wanted to savor again the happiness and contentment that we felt while eating this comfort food with our family and old friends. Researchers said we are also biologically wired to have a sense of food nostalgia as flavor and aroma are processed by our olfactory bulb, which is linked to the hippocampus and amygdala—the part of the brain associated with memory and experiences.
DEALING with controversies can be stressful and migraine inducing. Still, I welcome heated discussions over certain topics if only because it will give light and popularize what was once obscure but nonetheless important issues. Take for instance the recent decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revoke the incorporation papers of online media site Rappler. Overnight, my social-media feeds are filled by posts of corporate law experts talking about Philippine Depositary Receipts and media ownership. Each posts will generate responses—and not just from lawyers or law students—either criticizing, defending or clarifying the SEC’s decision.
In one of my previous columns (https://businessmirror.com.ph/old-and-new-technologies-support-climate-smart-agriculture), I discussed how old and new technologies are promoting climate-smart agriculture (CSA). This farming system, which is espoused by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is not a novel concept as traditional farming practices like crop rotation and rainwater harvesting can be considered climate-smart, which, in this case, can refer to any practice and technology that can cut emissions while simultaneously raising yields and building farmers’ resilience.
“Food is the one central thing about human experience that can open up both our senses and our conscience to our place in the world.”—Alice Waters
Food is political. What we choose to eat reflects our world view—how we view our bodies (“Nakakataba kaya ito?”), what we think is right or wrong (i.e., kosher and halal food), who we want to share it with, what values we treasure, how we were brought up. I also view food choices as a conscious decision to support a particular farming system. So whenever I check our kitchen, all I can see is a mixed bag of choices and contradictions. On one hand, our family chooses to support small organic farmers by buying brown rice and honey sourced from farmers’ cooperatives. On the other, we value the convenience and affordability of packaged snacks and canned food made by industrial food manufacturers.
It might not be a highly publicized event but Manila hosted last week an important international conference that will have a huge impact on that grilled tuna you will be eating for this year’s Christmas party—the annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).
Canned tuna is my definition of fast food—cheap, no fuss, delicious and hearty. I always have several canned tuna in my pantry as I usually open a can when I’m either too tired to cook anything more elaborate or too broke to go to a nearby restaurant. With a bit of oil and onions, I can sauté a can of tuna and give myself a tuna-mustard sandwich spread, a more filling salad of tuna and greens or plain ulam for leftover rice. Sometimes I use it to make myself a big batch of tuna spaghetti sauce over the weekend, store it in the fridge, and bring pasta and sauce as baon during the busy working days that I can’t even get out of the office for a quick meal.
Tanza, Cavite—It was while living as an expat in Brunei that I learned to enjoy and appreciate gardening.
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