MANILA, Philippines—After making you endure long queues for cheap rice, they hope you’ll come back for the cheap viand.
A food company endorsed by the Department of Agriculture Monday launched the “P10 Budget Ulam,” a menu of low-priced dishes to be sold using the same system that distributes government-subsidized rice.
Under the project, AgriNurture Inc. (ANI) will cook, pack and sell P10 viands through the Bagsakan (drop-off centers) and rolling stores operated by the National Food Authority (NFA).
A menu presented by the firm Monday seemed to be a vegetarian’s dream. It includes adobong sitaw (string beans), squash, sayote, togue (bean sprouts), eggplant omelette, “Bicol Express,” tokwa (bean curd), and veggie lumpia (spring rolls), among others.
Low-end restaurants or sidewalk eateries usually offer such everyday dishes at P25 per serving at the cheapest.
The project was in line with an initiative by Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to make nutritious food available and affordable to the masses, according to ANI president Antonio Tiu.
“The truth is, people can turn to agriculture to cope with the economic crunch. We are not supposed to be going hungry if we can make use of the fertile land,” Tiu said in a statement.
“We want to prove that it is still possible to come up with a P10 meal that is healthy, veggie-safe and veggie-delicious. A concerted effort between the private sector and government is a good combination to solve the problem of hunger and other problems as well,” Tiu added.
Canned goods may also be cheap, the businessman said, but they have “little nutritional value and are not environmentally friendly.”
Fresh vegetables, on the other hand, can provide the body with essential vitamins, fibers, and antioxidants, while improving cholesterol levels, he said.
The budget ulam will initially be available in Metro Manila. Tiu said the company is targeting an initial volume of 20,000 meals per day, with plans to increase this volume to as much as 200,000 meals per day.
The NFA currently has 1,533 rolling stores, 31 Bagsakan centers, and 113 barangay (village) Bagsakan retail stores nationwide.
AgriNurture is a diversified agro-commercial corporation engaged in the trading and commercial distribution of agricultural products. It is considered as the country’s top exporter of Philippine carabao mangoes and tamarind in terms of volume and market coverage.
Its fully owned subsidiary, First Class Agriculture, serves at least 100 tons of high-grade fruits and vegetables daily through its brand Fresh Choice Always (FCA) to Luzon residents through the SM Supermarket and SM Hypermart chains, the Makro chains, the agriculture department’s Bagsakan, and selected wet markets.
