Food and motherhood

Like the air we breathe, food is indispensable to life. The first cry of a newborn child is a demand for nourishment from the mother’s breasts. This marks the beginning of a lifelong need for sustenance which both parents and the state are bound to provide.

But have we been successful in fulfilling this obligation? Millions of school children cannot even have a daily glass of milk. And how many Filipino families can afford three meals a day?

In a populous country like the Philippines (with population now numbering 110 million), food concerns must take precedence in national planning and funding. This should be at the center of the presidential candidates’ concerns.

We need to double state efforts to catch up with population growth. Government must lead the way and set the pace in food production. For while actual work starts in the fields and the farms, the keys to the engines of production are held by government and its implementing agencies. Policies on land use and ownership, as well as funding for infrastructure like irrigation, power supply, and farm to market roads, emanate from Congress. Permits to operate agribusinesses are issued by local authorities, with the nerve center of production being the Department of Agriculture.

But the cavalier and lukewarm attitude of government leaders on the crucial food situation has dismayed millions of housewives and breadwinners who contend that any serious study or survey on food supply and shortage should include inputs from stakeholders like them. After all, they constitute the biggest market of consumer goods, including food. High prices, the quality and safety of the food they buy are important considerations. Will their families want to eat imported pork, fish, or vegetables of doubtful origin? As the saying goes, when it comes to food, “Mother knows best.”

Treating farmers and housewives as nonexistent entities is utterly disrespectful if not chauvinistic. Thus, they deplore decisions to import food that are simply announced as “done-deals,” saying these do not reflect facts and realities on the ground. Why not have advanced studies and data gathering to avoid impulsive responses, they ask.

Unlike other endeavors, food production is a peculiar enterprise. It is part business and part missionary effort. Much of the hands-on work in the entire food chain are done by women.

Take note as well that plants have their own schedule of growth, while animals are nurtured from birth until they grow into marketable size. While waiting for them to grow and fatten up, it is Mother Nature that is in control. That’s why some countries subsidize farmers and come up with protective measures to ensure food sufficiency and reserves, as well as affordability.

Food production is therefore a conscience call because it is imbued with national interest. The strength of a nation depends on the health of its citizens. The specter of famine lurks at every corner if problems in our food situation are not promptly and properly addressed. We cannot maintain a robust republic if it is populated by weaklings and ruled by a horde of malnourished imbeciles.

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Eva Maggay Inciong, 87, is a former teacher and rural development advocate. She taught history and political science in her younger days. She once headed the Philippine Association of University Women, whose founders spearheaded and won the campaign for the right to vote among Filipino women.