Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Sira-sira store: ‘Margatlog’
Friday, June 14, 2013
AFTER what seemed like an eternity, school break is finally over. No one can actually give a sigh of relief because another stretch of eternity is waiting up ahead. The new school year carries with it new experiences and new challenges.
Rushing to school, saluting to the Philippine flag at the campus quadrangle, opening books and notebooks, passing assignments “from left to right, class”—all these things will be the routine for all students in the next couple of months.
Maybe there are schools that do away with paper and pencil, and instead use electronic means. But the general face of Philippine education is still very much “please get your paper and pencil, class.” This is not to downgrade or degrade Philippine education. It is the reality that most parents and students have to deal with.
Student life can be tiring. No wonder students automatically elect recess time as their favorite “subject.”
The bell that signals recess time is not known to create conditioning in people (i.e. a reaction to stimuli). Or at least I have not read about a study being made on the effect of school bells on students. Maybe there is no research yet on whether ringing bells get to be associated with food. Or whether school children who daily are exposed to recess time bells turn out to be good citizens who quickly respond to emergencies (a kind of ringing bell), or who display generosity when facing someone in need (another kind of ringing bell).
Food being the focus of recess, I thought that I would give parents tips on how to make nutritious snacks for their children. Nutritionists have been drumming it in our ears that children should have healthy snacks.
This is fine if the family has money to spare, but what about the laborer’s capacity to allocate money just for snacks? If the washerwoman or brick-layer sets aside money for nutritious snacks, would an equal and opposite reaction happen to the other parts of the family’s needs—like food for the evening?
So how can my sari-sari store help people who often do without lunch, short of donating all the income from this tiny business of mine?
I thought that I would teach parents the art of brown-bagging. For example, the nanay or tatay can make margatlog sandwich (margarine and itlog or egg sandwich). Scramble one egg and thinly spread in a skillet to make an omelet, then slice it into pieces to share with the children. Save three strips to use as filling for a piece of bread spread with a thin layer of Star margarine. Place in a plastic bag along with one banana and homemade lemonsito juice.
I know of a nanay who makes turon for a living—deep-fried plantain in lumpia wrapper—that she sometimes tweaks by slipping slivers of jackfruit just before she wraps the bananas. She packs two pieces for her daughter. It is simple, filling and nutritious.
Just get the drift of these tips and invent your own. I feel so much better now that I have contributed to society. Maybe I was a child exposed to recess time bells, so now I am responding to this nutrition emergency.

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