Reclaiming our root crops

SECOND OPINION: Reclaiming our root crops
Philippine Daily Inquirer
05 March 2020

Gideon Lasco
Columnist

Most Filipinos today consider rice as by far our most important, if not our one and only, staple food, a sine qua non of our daily meals. Whether one’s viand is bistek Tagalog, lechon Cebu, fried chicken, or sautéed fish, it is cooked with rice in mind.

In some parts of the country, the primacy of rice has been around for centuries;

Pigafetta noted as much. But the same cannot be said of other areas where it was root crops that people ate regularly. Even where rice was a staple, root crops shared its place among the commonly consumed foods, as in sinigang which was meant to be a complete meal, with gabi serving as carbohydrate source. Our ancestors would have been none the poorer. Unlike rice, which is relatively labor- and land-intensive, root crops grow even in unfavorable conditions. They also have nutritional profiles superior to white rice. Gabi (taro), for instance, is rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and the leaves are edible, too (laing!). Beyond gabi, ube (purple yam), and the New World-sourced kamote (sweet potato), and kamoteng kahoy (cassava) -- each of which has different varieties -- we have dozens of root crop species with their unique flavors and profiles.

What can explain the shift to rice?

People might respond by saying “well, rice tastes much better.” But even taste, a subjective quality, is shaped by culture; our fondness for rice draws from our having been eating it since childhood and our meals having been designed to complement rice. There must be a stronger explanation for the relative decline of root crops in our consciousness.

One answer involves changing attitudes toward both rice and root crops. As the physical anthropologist Francisco Datar said in the Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao (UGAT) conference last November in Visayas State University, Baybay, Leyte, rice was — and still is — perceived as a “prestige food” in various parts of the archipelago, leading to its desirability and eventual ubiquity. Conversely, root crops were seen as an inferior food, leading to their being shunned by people. We still see this low regard for root crops today in expressions like “kinakamote” and the very telling “Go home and plant kamote!”

Agricultural technologies that have made rice widely available are another contributory (and corollary) factor, with rice varieties today far more productive in yield than those in the past. Even with rice shortages, the ease of importing all but guarantees rice’s ubiquity, even as the economics of it raises questions of equity for our rice farmers.

Conversely, despite the efforts of scientists (there are Root Crops Research and Training Centers in Baybay, Leyte, and La Trinidad, Benguet, not to mention the work of DOST and UPLB), there has been relatively little investment in root crops, whether in terms of agricultural research, food technology, or marketing.

This marginality of root crops is unfortunate for a number of reasons. As mentioned earlier, root crops are actually very nutritious, and hold the potential to enrich our culinary heritage. Although ube is beloved by Filipinos as a dessert and is increasingly being recognized abroad, we miss out by ignoring other varieties and species. In the UGAT conference, for instance, UST’s Hermel Pama gave a colorful account of namu in Bicol, and when I shared this topic with my medical colleague Johanna Banzon, she spoke of kayos in Iloilo.

Moreover, root crops can reduce our (over)dependence on rice, increasing our food sovereignty and diversity, benefiting overall nutrition, and helping indigenous and marginalized communities who are most vulnerable to inflation and fluctuations in rice prices.

Finally, a revival of root crops can contribute to building resilient communities, particularly in our age of climate crises. As Development Academy of the Philippines’ Julieta Roa pointed out, also in UGAT, root crops have always served as “survival foods” -- but knowledge about them, including how to remove toxicity, is fast fading away.

Of course, I am not saying we should abandon rice completely. My modest appeal, echoing what others have said, is that we include root crops as part of our diet and give them the attention, research, and investment they deserve. Reclaiming our root crops will make us more rooted in our rich biocultural heritage, healthy in our diets, empowered in our food choices, and resilient as a nation.

Follow @gideonlasco on Twitter. Send feedback to glasco@inquirer.com.ph.


Reference: https://opinion.inquirer.net/127805/reclaiming-our-root-crops

UGAT 41st Annual Conference - Book of Abstracts

UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)

Anthropological Association of the Philippines

and

Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

41st Annual Conference

FOOD (IN)SECURITY:

An International Conference on Anthropology of Food and Eating

07-09 November 2019

Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 

UGAT 40th Annual Conference BOA - download here

UGAT 41st Annual Conference Call for Participation

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)

Anthropological Association of the Philippines

and

Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

41st Annual Conference
FOOD (IN)SECURITY:
An International Conference on Anthropology of Food and Eating
07-09 November 2019
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

UGAT cordially invites you to its 41st Annual Conference at the Visayas State University in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines on 07-09 November 2019. The conference theme is “food (in)security” where food and eating will be interrogated and unpacked in the context of local understandings vis-à-vis global processes in various human conditions and temporalities. While global processes shape and inform foodways and eating habits, anthropology pays attention to myriad and contested ways on how specific contexts understand, interpret and articulate the meanings of food and the practices of eating.

In addressing the theme, the conference offers two keynote addresses, five distinguished lectures, 120 paper presentations, film screening, and other activities. The UGAT conference aims to provide an arena for reflexive and critical discussions on food-related issues, and to foster meaningful and engaged discussions among practitioners of anthropology – whether in academe, development and cultural work, media, art, advocacy, policy and governance, community work, or other forms of social action.

Conference Convenors

Dr. Cynthia Neri-Zayas
Jessie G. Varquez, Jr.
Dr. Guiraldo C. Fernandez, Jr.

Conference Registration Fees

UGAT member (Php3,500) ｜ non-UGAT member (Php4,500)

Undergraduate student (Php2,500) ｜Foreign participant (USD100)

To pay the Conference Registration Fee (CRF), please deposit the amount to “Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao, Inc.”, CA 393359300015 (Philippine National Bank-UP Campus) at any PNB Branch. If you wish to pay the CRF through PayPal, please contact Dr. Melvin Jabar (UGAT Treasurer) at melvin.jabar@dlsu.edu.ph. Kindly email the bank deposit slip to the UGAT Treasurer, as well as present the actual deposit slip during conference registration. Membership in the UGAT is not included in the Registration Fee. The annual membership fee is Php1,000 inclusive of a copy of the AghamTao journal. You may sign up for UGAT membership during the conference.

Conference Documents: Please access all conference-related documents (e.g., Travel and Accommodation, Conference Program, CHED Memo, etc.) here: http://bit.ly/2kjOu6Y.

Conference Preregistration: To avoid the hassle of onsite registration, you are strongly encouraged to preregister online at http://bit.ly/2YFdSpS. This form can only be accomplished if the CRF payment has already been made.

Important Advisory: The 41st UGAT Annual Conference is aiming to be plastic-free. Everyone is encouraged to bring their own water bottles and/or coffee tumblers.

For further information, please contact the head of the conference secretariat Ms. Annabelle Bonje at mobile number +63 915 547 7877 or email at ugat.conference@gmail.com. Please like and follow UGAT Facebook page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/ugat1978/.

Kindly forward this Call for Participation to your contacts and networks. See you in Baybay!

Deadline of Payment for Reduced Conference Registration Fee

EXTENDED! The deadline of payment for reduced Conference Registration Fee is extended until 30 September 2019!

Join us at Visayas State Univeristy in Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines on November 07-09, 2019. Pre-register now to avail a reduced conference fee (until September 30) and avoid the hassle of on-site registration!

Details of the Conference Registration Fee are found here: bit.ly/2HrFLrI
To pre-register, please follow this link: bit.ly/2YFdSpS

Pre-Registration Form is open until 31 October 2019.

See you in Baybay!

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/ugat1978/photos/a.728986934224815/766351863821655/?type=3&theater

E. Arsenio Manuel Best Student Paper Award

E. ARSENIO MANUEL BEST STUDENT PAPER AWARD

41st Annual Conference

UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)

Anthropological Association of the Philippines

07-09 November 2019
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

ELIGIBILITY

Accepted paper submissions from students (enrolled undergraduate or graduate students at the time of the conference) are eligible to participate in the E. Arsenio Manuel Best Student Paper Award. The author(s) must indicate in the Abstract Submission Form that they intend to participate in the competition. The competing papers must also be orally presented during the conference.

FORMAT

Document: A4 paper size, 1-inch margin on all sides, TNR 12, 1.5 space
Content: Title, Abstract, Keywords, Body, References (Aghamtao citation style)
Length: minimum of 3,000 words, maximum of 5,000 words
Author identification: on a cover page, indicate the full name(s) of the author(s), contact details (email and mobile), institutional affiliation, and degree program; do not indicate author(s)’s name in the paper

SUBMISSION

File: name the doc file as "(last name of author)_StudentPaper_UGAT2019" - e.g., Cruz_StudentPaper_UGAT2019 (if multiple authors, indicate first author only)
Email: send the paper as doc file (not pdf) to ugat.conference@gmail.com using the file name of the doc file as the subject
Due: 31 October 2019

AWARD

Submissions will be duly notified. A board of judges will evaluate all submissions. The award will be given during the Closing Ceremony of the 41st UGAT Annual Conference. Aside from a certificate, the winning paper will also be automatically accepted (subject to the editorial process) for the next issue of Aghamtao, the official journal publication of UGAT.

E. Arsenio Manuel sketch by Angeli Marie G. Narvaez for Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino 

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/ugat1978/photos/a.728986934224815/798642930592548/

UGAT 41st Annual Conference: Keynote Address

KEYNOTE ADDRESS 
Mythologies, Rebellions, and Hopes: The Indigenous Lumad's Struggle for Self-determination

Prof. Sarah Raymundo 
University of the Philippines, Diliman

The struggle for self-determination of Indigenous Peoples (IP) in the Philippines persists in the face of continued attacks on their rights. In the age of agribusiness, farm-to-market roads, malls, and increased environmental risks, the views of children who are bound to inherit the struggle of their ancestors for ancestral domain are worth documenting and analyzing. In particular, how school children describe how development looks like may not only be indicative of the current conduct of IP struggle. Its very documentation and discussion are persistent in an anthropological project which has made the discipline more inclined than others in the Social Sciences to unpack the "myths' which have been suppressed by colonialism and neoliberalism. Asked how a good life looks like, a group of Lumad school children agreed on a concrete vision: "When our parents no longer need to go to the city and buy our food from the grocery, we know life is good." This is in stark contrast to how most people perceive a good life shaped by a cash economy. Through qualitative research methods, this study aims to put forward the suppressed myths about the IP's construction of the good life. This study mainly argues that recognizing these "myths" as presence in our lives, research projects, and institutions is constitutive of a necessary critique of our monopolized market system and a compelling invitation to conspire with these myths long suppressed to make food sovereignty and respect for ancestral domain sound nothing more than just "myths."

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Sarah Raymundo teaches at and directs the University of the Philippines-Diliman Center for International Studies. She is engaged in activist work in BAYAN (The New Patriotic Alliance), the International League of Peoples' Struggles. She leads the Committee for International Affairs of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers. She is the Chairperson of the Philippines-Bolivarian Venezuela Friendship Association. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal for Labor and Society (LANDS) and Interface: Journal of/and for Social Movements.


UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)
Anthropological Association of the Philippines and
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

41st Annual Conference
FOOD (IN)SECURITY: An International Conference on Anthropology of Food and Eating
07-09 November 2019
Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

UGAT 41st Annual Conference: Keynote Address

KEYNOTE ADDRESS 
Of Forests and Gods: the biopolitics of (un)making life and livelihood in the Philippine uplands

Dr. Wolfram Dressler
University of Melbourne

Acts of governing upland peoples and landscapes increasingly reflect biopolitical endeavours in the frontiers of Southeast Asia - endeavours that aim to enhance and optimise the possibility of life. Beyond state schemes, actors in civil society fixate on the uplands to govern and discipline indigenous peoples' bodies, beliefs and behaviours in the service of outsider aims. Today, indigenous uplanders negotiate an increasing number of non-state governance practices that aim to reform life and livelihood through sustained discursive and material disciplining. Bridging Foucauldian biopolitics and material studies, in this talk I describe how the intersection of NGO and missionary practices strive to optimise upland life in contrasting yet reinforcing ways by reordering the livelihood practices and food choices of Pala'wan uplanders towards 'modern' ideals and existence. In doing so, I explore how NGOs reify Pala'wan custom and tradition to optimise livelihoods and food preferences for forest conservation, and how Seventh Day Adventists prohibit certain myths, rituals, and associated (customary) foods for locally situated proselytization. I describe how these actors' efforts to condition and discipline Pala'wan bodies, behaviours and diets powerfully intersect, reforming how uplanders reproduce themselves over time and space. I conclude by asserting that indigenous sovereignty over life and livelihood matters now more than ever as biopolitical interventions intensify and manifest in the uplands.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr. Wolfram Dressler is an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. He works at the intersectionof anthropology, political ecology and agrarian change in Southeast Asia and the Philippines in particular.


UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)
Anthropological Association of the Philippines and
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

41st Annual Conference
FOOD (IN)SECURITY: An International Conference on Anthropology of Food and Eating
07-09 November 2019
Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

UGAT 41st Annual Conference - Final Call for Papers

FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS

UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)

Anthropological Association of the Philippines

and

Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

41st Annual Conference
FOOD (IN)SECURITY:
An International Conference on Anthropology of Food and Eating
07-09 November 2019
Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

Food is an essential means of sustaining human life. Yet despite massive efforts on technological and scientific innovations in intensifying and improving food production and distribution on a global scale, food-related issues such as hunger and famine still beset ‘local’ communities. This precarity is further exacerbated by interlocking issues such as environmental degradation (e.g., massive biodiversity loss), disasters caused by climate change (e.g., prolonged droughts and strong typhoons), weak political institutions (e.g., food aid failures), unsound economic policies (e.g., food prices impact on family hunger), and social inequality, among others. As a consequence, the emergence of counterculture mass movements due to food (in)security, such as slow food movement, locavorism, vegetarianism and veganism, among others, is becoming popular and powerful, irrespective of national boundaries and identities.

There is thus a need to reexamine and rethink how food is produced, circulated, and consumed. Food and eating has to be interrogated and unpacked in the context of local understandings vis-à-vis global processes in various human conditions and temporalities. While global processes shape and inform foodways and eating habits, anthropology pays attention to myriad and contested ways on how specific contexts understand, interpret and articulate the meanings of food and the practices of eating.

This year’s UGAT Annual Conference organizers are accepting papers, panels, and short film/video proposals that consider ‘security’, or lack thereof, as the key frame in understanding themes and issues concerning food and eating. The UGAT conference aims to provide an arena for reflexive and critical discussions on food-related issues, and to foster meaningful and engaged discussions among practitioners of anthropology – whether in academe, development and cultural work, media, art, advocacy, policy and governance, community work, or other forms of social action.

Proposals are welcome to address any of the following topics:

• Global Issues -- authenticity (food identities, heritage, heirloom veggies, agricultural tourism, tourism and gastronomy; security and hunger (insecurity and internal displacement, food sovereignty, impact of climate on food and nutrition, sustainability)
• Ethnographies -- Production (bayanihan farming, innabuyog, fishing, hunting, farming, subsistence vs surplus, seasonality, material culture in preparation, distribution and consumption); Processing(boiling, gata, sugab, kilaw, seasoning (Japanese dashi), kakanin); Distribution(tabu, tiangge, palengke, supermarket, hypermarket, food sharing, gift-giving); Consumption (sociality, manners, food etiquette, structure of the meal, feasting, fasting & famine)
• Economy and Environment -- food trade, trade wars, multinational corporations, plantation economy and agribusiness, food and agriculture, farming systems, livestock, food and the sea; environmental decline, biodiversity loss; more-than-human anthropology (human-animal, human-plant relationships), producing non-food cash crops, overharvesting, genetically-engineered food and transgenics
• Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems and Practices -- ethnobiology, ethnoscience, endemic food; recipe studies (historical, contemporary, cross-cultural, regional, importance of place)
• Health, Medicine, Nutrition, Food Safety -- diets and fads, child overweight and adult obesity, food as medicine, hidden hunger and malnutrition; hygiene, food science, food education, fake food
• Eating Ideologies and Practices -- organics, vegetarianism, veganism, locavorism, culinary triangle (raw, cooked, rotten), fast food vs slow food, food fallacies, food rituals, food taboos; food and gender: body image, gender roles, gender stratification through food and eating
• Archaeology of Food -- ancient diet, reconstructing diet from human remains, material culture, hunger and famine in archaeological contexts, food cultures in prehistoric societies
• Aesthetics and Sensibilities -- food as art, culinary art; food tourism and gastronomy; prestige food and pride of place, food memories
• Food Rights -- geopolitics, governance and regulation, development goals, land grabbing, displacement, land conversion, dispossession, access to food, household intake and urban poor, food policies
• Communication, Media, Folklore, History -- the language of food; food metaphors; navigating the internet: food porn, emojis, and social media; literature on food, food documentaries and histories
• Non-food Food -- food for the soul, forgetting hunger, pantawid gutom, metaphorical food

Proposals that do not fall under any of the identified topics above will be given consideration.

CONFERENCE CONVENORS

Cynthia N. Zayas (University of the Philippines, Diliman)

Jessie G. Varquez, Jr. (De La Salle University - Manila)

Guiraldo C. Fernandez, Jr. (Visayas State University) 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Submissions must use the prescribed Submission Form (http://bit.ly/2Go1AZ7) which includes an abstract (250 words) written in a style that is accessible to non-academic audiences.
• Proposals for panels must include a panel abstract as well as paper abstracts (see second page of the Submission Form).
• Proposals written in Waray, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Filipino are accepted. 
• Kindly email the completely filled-out Submission Form (in pdf) to ugat.conference@gmail.com

Deadline:  15 August 2019

Notice of acceptance of proposals will be issued by email by September 2019.

For further information, please contact the head of the conference secretariat Ms Annabelle Bonje (+63 915 547 7877) or at ugat.conference@gmail.com

To learn more about our conference venue, you can check the webpage of Visayas State University at https://www.vsu.edu.ph

Please like our UGAT page on FB for updates https://www.facebook.com/ugat1978/

UGAT 41st Annual Conference Call for Papers

CALL FOR PAPERS

UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)

Anthropological Association of the Philippines

and

Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

41st Annual Conference

FOOD (IN)SECURITY:

An International Conference on Anthropology of Food and Eating

07-09 November 2019

Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

Food is an essential means of sustaining human life. Yet despite massive efforts on technological and scientific innovations in intensifying and improving food production and distribution on a global scale, food-related issues such as hunger and famine still beset ‘local’ communities. This precarity is further exacerbated by interlocking issues such as environmental degradation (e.g., massive biodiversity loss), disasters caused by climate change (e.g., prolonged droughts and strong typhoons), weak political institutions (e.g., food aid failures), unsound economic policies (e.g., food prices impact on family hunger), and social inequality, among others. As a consequence, the emergence of counterculture mass movements due to food (in)security, such as slow food movement, locavorism, vegetarianism and veganism, among others, is becoming popular and powerful, irrespective of national boundaries and identities. 

There is thus a need to reexamine and rethink how food is produced, circulated, and consumed. Food and eating has to be interrogated and unpacked in the context of local understandings vis-à-vis global processes in various human conditions and temporalities. While global processes shape and inform foodways and eating habits, anthropology pays attention to myriad and contested ways on how specific contexts understand, interpret and articulate the meanings of food and the practices of eating.

This year’s UGAT Annual Conference organizers are accepting papers, panels, and short film/video proposals that consider ‘security’, or lack thereof, as the key frame in understanding themes and issues concerning food and eating. The UGAT conference aims to provide an arena for reflexive and critical discussions on food-related issues, and to foster meaningful and engaged discussions among practitioners of anthropology – whether in academe, development and cultural work, media, art, advocacy, policy and governance, community work, or other forms of social action.

Proposals are welcome to address any of the following topics:

• Global Issues -- authenticity (food identities, heritage, heirloom veggies, agricultural tourism, tourism and gastronomy; security and hunger (insecurity and internal displacement, food sovereignty, impact of climate on food and nutrition, sustainability)
• Ethnographies -- Production (bayanihan farming, innabuyog, fishing, hunting, farming, subsistence vs surplus, seasonality, material culture in preparation, distribution and consumption); Processing (boiling, gata, sugab, kilaw, seasoning (Japanese dashi), kakanin); Distribution (tabu, tiangge, palengke, supermarket, hypermarket, food sharing, gift-giving); Consumption (sociality, manners, food etiquette, structure of the meal, feasting, fasting and famine)
• Economy and Environment -- food trade, trade wars, multinational corporations, plantation economy and agribusiness, food and agriculture, farming systems, livestock, food and the sea; environmental decline, biodiversity loss; more-than-human anthropology (human-animal, human-plant relationships), producing non-food cash crops, over-harvesting, genetically-engineered food and transgenics
• Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems and Practices -- ethnobiology, ethnoscience, endemic food; recipe studies (historical, contemporary, cross-cultural, regional, importance of place)
• Health, Medicine, Nutrition, Food Safety -- diets and fads, child overweight and adult obesity, food as medicine, hidden hunger and malnutrition; hygiene, food science, food education, fake food
• Eating Ideologies and Practices -- organics, vegetarianism, veganism, locavorism, culinary triangle (raw, cooked, rotten), fast food vs slow food, food fallacies, food rituals, food taboos; food and gender: body image, gender roles, gender stratification through food and eating
• Archaeology of Food - ancient diet, reconstructing diet from human remains, material culture, hunger and famine in archaeological contexts, food cultures in prehistoric societies
• Aesthetics and Sensibilities -- food as art, culinary art; food tourism and gastronomy; prestige food and pride of place, food memories
• Food Rights -- geopolitics, governance and regulation, development goals, land grabbing, displacement, land conversion, dispossession, access to food, household intake and urban poor, food policies
• Communication, Media, Folklore, History -- the language of food; food metaphors; navigating the internet: food porn, emojis, and social media; literature on food, food documentaries and histories
• Non-food Food -- food for the soul, forgetting hunger, pantawid gutom, metaphorical food 

Proposals that do not fall under any of the identified topics above will be given consideration.

CONFERENCE CONVENORS

Cynthia N. Zayas (University of the Philippines, Diliman)

Jessie G. Varquez, Jr. (De La Salle University - Manila)

Guiraldo C. Fernandez, Jr. (Visayas State University)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Submissions must use the prescribed Submission Form (http://bit.ly/2Go1AZ7) which includes an abstract (250 words) written in a style that is accessible to non-academic audiences.
• Proposals for panels must include a panel abstract as well as paper abstracts (see second page of the Submission Form).
• Proposals written in Waray, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Filipino are accepted. 
• Kindly email the completely filled-out Submission Form (in pdf) to ugat.conference@gmail.com

Deadline:  01 July 2019

Notice of acceptance of proposals will be issued by email by August 2019.

For further information, please contact the head of the conference secretariat Ms Annabelle Bonje (+63 915 547 7877) or at ugat.conference@gmail.com

To learn more about our conference venue, you can check the webpage of Visayas State University at https://www.vsu.edu.ph

Please like our UGAT page on FB for updates: https://www.facebook.com/ugat1978/