Highblood
Who’s afraid of a food crisis?
By Minyong Ordoñez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:37:00 07/05/2008
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE WORRIED OVER THE PROSPECT of rice and food shortage. Obviously they have not experienced hunger over long periods of time. I did as a growing boy during the cruel years (1943-1945) of Japanese military rule in our country.
Every day, food scarcity was downright real. Few stores had a regular supply of food, especially the packaged consumer goods. There was a total absence of American-made favorites like corned beef, luncheon meat, sardines, processed ham and hotdogs, canned fruit cocktails, pickles, ketchup and many more grocery items. Cuisine dishes were out of the question.
There was practically a stoppage of private and public transport. Cargo trucks found running were seized by the Japanese military for use in carrying their soldiers and war weapons. With fewer and fewer trucks available for civilian use, efficient food distribution became impossible.
Rice harvest and delivery were always short, and fish catches, if not sold within the day, ended up as smoked tinapa or sun-dried daing or salted tuyo for longer shelf life.
In Majayjay, Laguna where we spent the worst of the war years, the problem was not only food scarcity but also the danger of getting killed in the crossfire between the Japanese and guerrillas.
To cope with the scarcity, the whole town learned to eat substitute food. The fertile soil of Majayjay provided the solution. In hills and plains, in backyard lots to plant boxes, we planted all the eatables that we could. Camote (sweet potato), in red and yellow varieties, gabi (taro root), and kamoteng kahoy (cassava) grew aplenty with the minimum of tending. Loaded with carbohydrates (which give extra energy needed for hard, physical work), these amazing root crops were great substitutes for rice.
Every able-bodied male and female, including children, took to planting root crops and vegetables as a regular chore.
In school, gardening and raising vegetable gave us the most fun among our subjects. After each harvest, we brought home with great joy the fruits of our labor: pechay, labanos, talong, mustasa, ampalaya, pipino, and lechugas.
In spite of the hardships, our traditional fiesta dance, Christmas noche buena and Flores de Mayo celebrations were held without fail. In spite of the scarce supply of rice, no one in our town died of hunger. At least, the family could eat lugaw (rice porridge) when the available rice supply was not enough.
But signs of malnutrition occurred such as scurvy, weight loss and skin breakouts in poor sectors of cities and barrios. The lack of medicine resulted in many deaths due to pneumonia and tuberculosis. Infant mortality was high due to lack of children’s medicines, vitamins and milk supplements.
Still, we were not totally deprived of delectable and sweet treats. Thanks to the seasonal harvest of sticky rice—that wonderful grain that can be made into puto, cochinta, bibingkang malagkit, sinukmani, pilipit, palitaw, espasol—and that gummy Christmas rice cake called hinalo.
In Manila, the substitute for treats was binatog, made of boiled corn sprinkled with shredded coconuts and grilled coconut called castanyog, which tasted like copra.
Sometimes the unavailability of brown sugar from Nasugbu and sea-salt from Las Piñas caused deprivation. Majayjay did not produce these primary taste-enhancers. Without sugar, there were no rice cakes for the birthday and feast celebrations. My bleakest Christmas was in 1943 when we had no rice cakes since sugar was not available. Sticky rice was also not available because all able-bodied male were locked up in the dreaded Japanese “zona.” Nobody was able to plant sticky rice during the “zona.”
But life was not all travails. There were economic benefits in spite of the food scarcity. Most of the beneficiaries were farm communities which were able to dramatically increase their farm produce and made good profits by dictating the prices of their products. Urban and town people became totally dependent on farmers for food. Farmers literally became “food kings.” They assumed a take-it-or- leave-it attitude to command high prices for their harvests.
Secondly, Filipinos learned to appreciate eating a variety of fresh, nutritious foods. I, for one, up to now love fried yellow camote, “banana cues” and camoteng kahoy in panotsa syrup. I’m a sucker for pechay, talong, kalabasa and mustasa, the cheapest veggies for your money.
When the Americans returned and liberated the Philippines in 1945, Filipinos were ecstatic. The US army had a huge surplus of K rations, canned foods, army trucks, jeeps and warfare hardware. There was a thriving black market for all kinds of army foods and goods. Filipino males wore oversized US army uniforms to replace tattered clothes. We pigged out on corned beef, luncheon meat, sardines, pork and beans, chili con carne, butter, jam, canned fruit cocktails, peaches and chocolate bars. Smoking Lucky Strike cigarettes was pure bliss. For four long years during the war, we missed these American products like mad.
US Army 6 x 6 trucks ended up in private hands to do the job of public transport and food distribution. Army jeeps ended up as public transport as well. End of the food crisis.
Who’s afraid of a food crisis? Not me. Remember our land is vast, fertile and the rainfall is abundant.
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Minyong Ordoñez is retired chair of the Paris-based Publicis Communications Group. He is a member of the Manila Overseas Press Club. Email: encarbordonez@yahoo.com.ph
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