Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012
Manila: Filipinos will be urged to eat more vegetables following reports that they are not eating enough greens based on the daily requirement of the World Health Organisation (WHO), a senior official said.
From 2013 to 2016, all Filipinos will be urged to meet from 65 to 100 per cent WHO’s requirement of vegetable consumption of 146 kilos per capita consumption per year, instead of the recorded 40 kilos per capita consumption in 2011, said Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala.
The country’s vegetable per capita consumption of 40 kilos means only 3.8 million metric tons of vegetables for about 95 million Filipinos, Alcala said, adding the country’s vegetable eating record should be higher by 75 per cent.
The department of agriculture’s High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) will undertake the greening of the Philippine diet in four years, said Alcala.
At the same time, Filipinos farmers will likewise be educated to produce more vegetables with profit and not at as a losing proposition, to meet the demand of Filipinos who would have been educated about the value of eating vegetables in 2016, said Alcala.
Analysts observed that even poor Filipinos prefer a more expensive diet of meat than the cheaper but healthier meal of vegetables.
The department of agriculture has already allotted an annual budget of P 34 million (Dh52.83 million) to start sustaining and propping up the country’s vegetable industry, said Alcala.
This will help traditional farm-areas like Benguet in northern Luzon, Nueva Ecija in central Luzon, and Metro Manila’s northern suburban Bulacan which also suffer from flooding and drought.
Right now, the government is focused on making the Philippines a rice exporter, said Alcala, who also promised, “After attaining rice sufficiency, our next focus is to achieve self-sufficiency in vegetables.”
By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
