"We hope that young Filipinos will discover not only that farming and fishing are profitable, but that they could also be challenging, exciting and “sexy.”"
Last week, MECO and TECO signed a memorandum of understanding that would jumpstart a program for young Filipino farmers to learn more about farm management and agricultural technologies through an internship program where they study and work at the same time.
We thank Secretary William Dar and the Department of Agriculture for supporting this initiative under Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. In the virtual meeting where topics on agricultural cooperation were discussed, including business-to-business inter-action, DA Usec Rodolfo Vicerra led the Philippine panel. The presentation’s of Filipino businessmen, particularly Mr. Toto Barcelona on Taiwan-Philippine farming cooperation assisted by MECO and TECO, and a novel urban vegetable farming using vertical agri-technology by Mr. Simon Villalon were the highlights of the B2B afternoon session.
In my opening statement during the conference at the Council of Agriculture office in Taipei, I noted that the “disruption that COVID-19 brought has distracted us from equally urgent tasks, among these, food sufficiency and food security.”
In truth, food will be the next problem, as agricultural productivity all over the world has likewise been disrupted by the over-arching concern over the pandemic. Thus, food inflation would be a problem in many parts of the world next year.
In the Philippines, food prices have already spiked after we had been visited by several destructive typhoons one after the other. The African Swine Fever has also had deleterious effects of on our hog-raising industry. I keep my fingers crossed on the price of rice and meat next year as well.
All over the world, the agricultural sector is faced with several problems, and I enumerated some – the negative impact of climate change, the increasing demand for food to feed growing populations while in many countries farm productivity has remained stagnant, the lack of water to irrigate farms, and the lack of interest among young people to engage themselves in farm and fishery work.
The Taiwanese have taken good care of their agricultural sector, optimizing the use of scarce land resources by harnessing modern technology and continued research and innovation. It is this modernizing ethic that we hope young Filipinos can imbibe when they come to Taiwan for farm internship.
With the program that will be started by the MECO-TECO signed MOU, we hope that young Filipinos will discover not only that farming and fishing are profitable, but that they could also be challenging, exciting and “sexy.”
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Still on the topic of food, a lighter side is about the “fight” between Ukraine and Russia about “borscht” – that famous soup of beets and cabbage known worldwide. (My first taste of it was in a bistro near the Carnegie Center in Manhattan in the eighties, and though it was quite an experience, my taste buds still favor the relatively similar Italian minestrone).
Ukrainian chef and Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School trained Ievgen Klopotenko decries the description worldwide of borscht as “a Russian soup”, and asked Ukraine’s culture ministry to submit an application to UNESCO classifying borscht as an intangible part of the country’s cultural heritage.
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Meanwhile, Korean netizens are bristling at China’s winning an ISO certification for Szechuan’s “pao chai” as an “international standard for the kimchi industry.”
“It’s total nonsense, what a thief stealing our culture”, a South Korean netizen wrote, triggering an avalanche of protests on social media.
Not having tasted Szechuan’s pickled vegetables, I asked around about pao chai, and found the Taiwanese version to be quite different from the Korean kimchi that most Filipinos are familiar with.
Ah, food! These trivia may be on the less serious side, but worry we should about forthcoming food shortages that could trigger water wars in many parts of the world.
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Next, expect China and Japan comparing their noodle dishes, the “ramen” versus the “mee”. (Our familiar “mami” is actually an abbreviation of “mi” or noodles and “ma” or “bah” which is generic for meat). Here in Taipei, there are different varieties of noodle shops, from a 50,000 NT$ per bowl (would you pay82,000 pesos for the “President’s beef noodle” concoction?) to the more plebeian but excellent clear-broth beef noodles that I frequent in the outskirts of pricey Xinyi district which costs 180 NT$ (about 300 pesos).
But one of the best ramen experiences here in Taipei is a hole-in-the-wall shop in an alley off Linsen St. in Zhongshan, which is hands-down better than the ramen chains with branches all over, even in Metro Manila. It is run by a middle-aged Yokohama native whose broth is simply divine!
Still, as far as noodles are concerned, my most unforgettable experience is at Honke Owariya, with a 500-year old history serving buckwheat soba in ancient Kyoto. The “rikyu soba” and a serving of prawn tempura on the side was so very, very good.
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During President Duterte’s first visit to Japan in 2017, a group of us savored shabu-shabu like no other in a restaurant owned by world-acclaimed Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, and in the conversation, we talked about Filipino taste buds and the seeming lack of appreciation among young people about authentic native culinary delights.
“Corrupted by Western fast food influences ang taste buds ng mga kabataan,” the businesswoman wife of a Philippine ambassador rued as we dipped Matsuzaka beef slices in ponzu or ground sesame seed sauces. Indeed!
One of my must-try projects that I have not yet accomplished is a travel book about the best native and regional dishes, and where in our 7,000 islands we could savor these. Sadly, many have already closed shop, unable to withstand the competition from fast food outlets that have “killed” even the mom-and-pop restaurants and carinderias even in the provinces.
Still, I find myself fortunate to have been born after the war, and tasted native as well as Hispanicized and Sinicized Filipino cuisine that younger generations are no longer able to savor.
Kawawang kabataan!
