By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
July is our Nutrition Month and this year’s theme is “Sa PPAN: Sama-sama sa Nutrisyong Sapat
Para Sa Lahat! Nutrisyon at Kalikasan, ating pangalagaan!”. PPAN stands for Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition. For our topic this week, let us focus on nutrition and the environment. How does our eating habits affect the environment?
The most obvious equation is the pollution of the environment when we eat junkfood, canned goods, and other processed foods that come in plastic, can or bottle. We also pollute the environment when we drink soft drinks and all those sweetened drinks that come in tetrapack or plastic or cans. Baka sabihin ninyo na hindi kayo nagkakalat kasi linagay naman ninyo sa garbage bin ang inyong basura. But where does the contents of the garbage bin go? To the dump truck which brings it to the dumpsite and burns it. Burning mixed waste (meaning kitchen waste, plastic packaging, rubber, cans, etc.) produces toxic waste – toxic smoke and toxic ash. This toxic smoke goes into the air we breathe. Remember the whole world shares one atmosphere and the air circulates around so di mo masasabi na porque nasa probinsiya ka e ligtas ka sa pollution. Besides, many in the provinces are also burning their mixed garbage in their backyard. They think that because those waste plastics go out of sight that it is okay. Wrong. And the scary thing is that the damage done by breathing in this toxic smoke does not manifest immediately, unless it triggers an asthmatic attack. And worse, it’s not only the toxic smoke that is produced when mixed garbage is burned.
The ash from burning mixed garbage is also toxic. I don’t have to mention the poisonous chemicals that are produced from burning plastics. Just know that there are already many researches that have identified these poisonous chemicals. This toxic ash then goes to the soil and seeps down to our drinking water even. Hopefully, this toxic ash does not end up in vegetable gardens. So please don’t put the “dapo” in your garden if it came from burned plastics.
Producing our food naturally also protects our environment. We all know that artificial agricultural inputs like fertilizers and pesticides destroy the environment – the soil and the air and water. So kung puede talaga, we produce our own vegetables so that we know that we didn’t put poison in them. But if you cannot produce your own vegetables, just buy naturally-grown vegetables. Choose locally-grown vegetables and in season. Eating them aligns your body with the season, meaning you are in harmony with the environment and this produces health and wellness. And when you buy, bring your own bay-ong or container. Buying fresh and local eliminates waste.
Choosing to eat plants instead of animals is also good for the environment. Animals need a lot of land to grow. Anybody who has raised chickens, pigs, goats or cows knows this. We have raised organic chickens and we needed a lot of space for their cage. Because if we let them roam, then they will eat all our plants, even sayote. And yet, we can only have eggs once in a while and chicken meat siguro once in two months (there were about twenty of them of different ages.) Which is okay, though, kasi we should eat meat and eggs sparingly. If we planted that space to vegetables, then we could have a variety of plants to feed us everyday. Animal manure also produces methane, the gas that contributes a lot to global warming.
So there, eating locally-produced plants, naturally-grown, fresh and in season equals a healthy, happy person. Happy kasi you save money because you don’t buy the expensive imported and out-of-season foods. Eating locally-produced plants, naturally-grown, fresh and in season equals a healthy environment that will continue to sustain the human race in the centuries to come. Simple equation.***
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“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15
