PARADOXICAL

What Food Means to Me

I never realized I have been dealing with the topic of food from so many angles until Alya Honasan of Philippine Daily Inquirer popped the question in an online interview, "What does food mean to you?"

Reading the question on email, I suddenly felt pity for beauty pageant contestants. You know, being asked a profound question while in skimpy wear on live telecast. (We might recall here Venus Raj's response when asked about the biggest mistake she had made in her life and how she had made it right, and how her answer was roundly criticized for its, of all things, un-American syntax.)

In other words, I was stumped at the question, and I think I even blanked out -- but not because I couldn't answer, but because I had so many answers that I didn't know where to begin. I had to literally sleep over the question to sort my thoughts out.

When you have been writing about food from the perspective of a freelance writer, travel and tourism magazine editor, and now public information officer for so long, you know that food is not just food. It is about so many other things. You find yourself at the intersection of so many fields you never expected to converge in your mind, and I believe this is what happens whenever I touch the subject without being conscious about it. Why? Because food is indeed a lot of different things all at the same time.

1. At its most basic form, food is sustenance, so the topic easily turns to proper nutrition and health, Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), essential vitamins and minerals, and the diseases you end up getting when you lack a basic nutrient.

1.1. At the extreme end of the spectrum, in the wellness circle, food may even be seen outright as medicine. As an old sage said, "Let food be your medicine," as in preventive maintenance medicine -- because there are food that double as medicine.

2. Food often means cooking, and what is cooking but basically chemistry, and I am not exactly referring yet to fads like molecular gastronomy and methods like sous vide, and the like, but that's a part of it, too.

3. It doesn't take long before you see that food means the edible flora and fauna (biogeography or terroir) of a given place, and these can be endemic, exotic (imported), nativized/naturalized, cultivated, etc.

4. Food is also all about economics and agriculture: the modes of production involved (starting from backyard gardening), the workers behind it, its place in the market, the pricing, and how it is distributed and marketed through a supply chain.

5. If you dig deeper, discussing food means discussing it anthropologically because it is also associated with some significant rules or practices (culinary arts) and the underlying belief system. So this means that food is all about the culture in general, associated traditions and history, about being human, something that Doreen Gamboa Fernandez was so good at. There's even a subset of 'foodways' called ritual food, a very interesting topic that is hardy being written about.

6. And because many food items and dishes are unique to a given place, food also becomes a source of ethnic pride and cultural identity. As they say, "You are what you eat," not just in terms of health but also in terms of your own sense of identity.

6.1. Food inevitably then becomes tourist attraction as tourism inescapably includes food-related interest points.

7. Of course, from the perspective of sybarites and epicures (current term: foodies), eating may be discussed purely by its gustatory aspects, flavor profiles (from sweet to umami), and this may be extended to how it is presented (plating).

8. Then there's the matter of food as preferences (likes, dislikes), in particular, which are a matter of family background, a matter of nostalgia, giving food a significant psychological dimension. Food suddenly becomes a mental health issue (food addiction, bulimia, anorexia).

9. I could be missing some other things. (Political? Legal? We can talk about the Milk Code and Europe's legislation on food origin to protect authenticity and intellectual property.)

So for me, considering all of the above, eating food is not just a physical and physiological act, but also a social, economic, cultural-historical, psychological, and aesthetic act.

This may sound strange, but the very act of eating is, for me, a spiritual act as well. And that is why I routinely say my prayer before meals. (Some people even say a prayer after meals.) I am not just thankful to God for the provision, I guess; in the very desire to eat, I am expressing my continuous desire to live, my continuous appreciation for life. If we study the Bible closely, we can notice a hidden theology behind eating and eating together.

When I was struck with covid sometime in 2021, I experienced a most alarming loss of appetite for the first time, and I forced myself to take at least three mouthfuls every meal because I guess I still wanted to live despite the fact that I was very weak and depressed, so food to me at the time literally meant my very survival.

So going back to the question, I eventually answered all of the above complex web of points and concluded: "Food, for me, means life."

What does food mean to you?

(random food photo: Andrew Casipit)

posted by Resty Odon  # 8:16 PM 0 Comments

To all members of the Odon and Junio clans in Bayambang: May I inform you that our beloved Uncle Berns (Venancio Junio Odon) has gone ahead of us at 88 years old. I think he is the last Odon of his generation. We will miss him badly because he was such a kind, loving, God-fearing, generous, talented (he was a good singer dancer, guitar player), and naturally funny guy. Join us in praying for his eternal repose.

***

Eulogy for My Uncle Berns

I guess we who grew up having a normal family life -- that is, having a mother and a father by our side -- never really outgrow the thought of being our parents' children. We live through the marching years, decades, clinging to this illusion that our parents will always be by our side, forever living, mentoring us through life's ups and downs, occupied with our concerns, from our diet to our posture and anything that comes from our mouth. They may irritate us sometimes, or often, but we never entertain the thought that someday soon they could be gone.

This illusion is broken, and rudely so, when they get suddenly ill, or worse.

Yet even at the throes of death, our natural reaction is to deny, hoping against hope down to the last millisecond that a miracle would occur and our beloved parent would rise up once again, back to health, if only for a small window of opportunity to live again and delay the inevitable.

I have many memories of my Uncle Berning (a.k.a. Venancio Junio Odon), so I don’t know where to start. I will just mention a few, in the spirit of celebrating his 88 years of life.

Everything came back together once again when I learned about his quick passing due to pneumonia at age 88. Some memories are quite bad and not worth recalling, but most memories are good ones and worth retaining and writing about.

When he was still living in the Philippines, my family lived two houses away from Uncle’s house, so we were neighbors for a very long time. That’s from 1978 up to the time they moved to the US in the '90s. Life was so simple back then. Our houses did not have concrete fences, unlike today. So my uncle would barge into our house any time of the day or night, and he usually asked for leftover rice or anything he wanted from the kitchen.

That was how things used to be in our family. We could freely ask for any fruit or vegetable growing in our yard, and we often exchanged our dishes of the day, so we could taste each other household’s cooking. Of course, we never matched my Aunt Susay's (Zosima) cooking, which was always perfect.

Sometimes, my Uncle would ask for a lighter and then he would sneak in a cigarette, which he said was prohibited in their house.

Apart from being good-looking (he had movie-star mestizo features and was quite fussy with grooming and fastidious with his get-ups), my Uncle had many other traits that endeared himself to us and to everyone. Whenever he was around, you can be sure it would be a riot because he was a natural comedian, because he was such a jolly person. He had a perfect pitch and proper timing when he was joking.

Growing up, I knew he was a loving father as well, and this character of his extended to us, his nephews and nieces. Even though he was not rich, he was a giving person, generous with the little that he had, perhaps even generous to a fault. He was that kind of person, that is why everyone loved him.

He was also very talented. He was good at singing and dancing. I can’t forget how, one night during a power outage, he sang a lively Spanish song while playing the ukelele. I have never heard that song again.

Another thing I can’t forget about him is when he joined the Marriage Encounter program in the church, because he was suddenly a changed man. He became an even better person after he gave up his favorite vices, and instead spent time serving God through various church activities together with his wife.

I think my Uncle is the last Odon of his generation, so that means he is our last connection to that generation. Sadly they are all gone now, and they brought with them memories of the past that they were not able to share or document.

But we will never forget Uncle’s legacy of love and caring, of self-sacrifice, faith in God and devotion to family – you can see the proof in his four children, his high sense of humor, his contagious joy for life and gratitude for being alive.

I am sure he and his good qualities will live on in all of us whom his life has touched, especially his children, my four cousins Lynn, Rey, Dennis, and Lea, and his grandchildren.

I am thankful that God gave us an Uncle like him. My family will definitely miss him.

posted by Resty Odon  # 4:32 AM 0 Comments

How About Monetizing Culture and Arts?

(How culture and arts fuel products, brands, careers, professions, livelihoods, entire industries)

Innovation -- and the economic progress it brings -- are often credited to science and technology. S&T research, in particular -- and by extension, its application in engineering and other allied applied science fields -- are often cited as catalysts of progress, and rightly so. And yet the field of culture and arts is often forgotten, even dismissed, as a harbinger of good things in this regard. This omission is misguided and unfortunate.

Without a vibrant artistic and cultural scene, a community is as good as dead in terms of creativity and innovation, not to mention bereft of their unsung socioeconomic benefits.

Let us get down to brass tacks then and ask: How does a work of art -- whether it is a painting, poem, essay, dance, story, novel, sculpture, or even a concept, or any of the intangible cultural traditions and practices such as culinary creations -- bring food on the table, money in the bank, improve socio-psychological wellbeing, or stimulate economic growth? How do we even quantify the effect of something that expands visions, opens minds, gives pleasure, touches hearts, and edifies and uplifts spirits? How can we even put a price tag on such essential intangibles as beauty, artistry, skill, craftsmanship, excellence, passion, the thousands of hours put it, wholeness and healing, collective pride, and cultural identity? The very idea! It's ridiculous because impossible. But anyway, let us attempt to connect the dots; after all, in the real word, money talks and we can't eat art -- not directly anyway.

The easiest answer is probably through tourism. If something is truly excellent or unique or intriguing, travelers from all over will come and see it or have a piece of it. Hundreds, thousands, will flock to it, fork over their life's fortune, as tourists do to the Sistine Chapel to see Michaelangelo's ceiling frescoes and 'La Pieta,' to the Louvre to see Da Vinci's ‘Mona Lisa,’ down to lowly Buscalan town in faraway Kalinga to have Apo Whang-od tattoo three black dots on their arm.

Entire towns and cities, even countries, become synonymous to their food products: Parma ham, Kobe beef, Rimini ice cream, Ethiopian coffee, and at home, Malagos chocolate, Bonuan bangus, etc. Just recently in terms of local history, when somebody invented pigar-pigar in Dagupan City, and it clicked, what do you think happened? The same story happened to, say, sisig or the lowly isaw when it was popularized by Aling Lucing of Angeles City, Pampanga, or a random isawan in Diliman. The same is true for certain regional dishes that used to be totally unknown to most, from bachoy to chicken inasal.

How many families got wealthy as a direct result of an heirloom recipe? TV magazine shows routinely feature how generations of people got by and made good in life on account of a secret hopia, longanisa, barbecue, banana cue, or bread recipe that is either unique or well-executed. Many of these initial home enterprises even end up being full-blown stores and restos.

Behind the roaring success of "Harry Potter," "Lord of the Rings," "Star Wars," etc. are writers who dared to write down an engrossing story with fascinating characters and otherworldly settings while most likely all alone and bored to death in their corner of the world.

Antoni Gaudi's peculiar architectural style and love for his hometown resulted in a unique skyline for the whole city of Barcelona. And when Art Deco and Art Nouveau became the in thing in architecture in the 1920s, the new aesthetic concepts created ripples of change in cities around the world, and the new sensibility spilled over to the fields of interior design, fashion, and manufacturing industry.

Japanese concepts such as kaizen, 5S, wabi-sabi, and more recently Marie Kondo's idea of eliminating "anything that no longer spark joy" have profoundly affected how people and organizations behave and look at how they do things. Steve Jobs' obsession with Japanese ceramics heavily influenced Apple's design aesthetic.

Every major art movement, in fact, has moved global aesthetics to another direction, from arts and crafts to industrial applications, spicing up the realm of culture and arts, engaging people in endless debates that provoke thought, shaking things up often in many unforeseen positive ways.

We haven't even mentioned how visual arts, music, theater, fashion, literature, and culinary arts enrich lives because these fields produce diverse professions: Visual arts lead to careers in graphic design, curation, and restoration. Music generates jobs for performers, producers, and sound engineers. Theater engages actors, directors, and stage technicians, creating a vibrant ecosystem. Fashion drives employment in raw material production, design, marketing, and retail. Literature supports writers, editors, and publishers. The whole showbiz and entertainment industry, as well as media, publishing, and advertising industries, are powered by artists of all kinds. Culinary arts spawn chefs, restaurateurs, and food critics, showcasing how these fields intertwine to form robust creative industries. Wherever there are skillful craftsmen and -women and artisans, there are home-based and cottage industries, or even better, when the products are manufactured for the export market. This year, the local design industry alone is reported to have contributed at least 7.1%-7.2% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The creative (entertainment) industry is reported to have contributed a staggering P1.60 trillion to the country’s GDP, a 12.1% percent increase from 2023.

I hope we Filipinos learn from how the Koreans took things seriously and 'monetized' their own culture and arts (even though it's limited to pop culture), thus offering something novel to a world hungry for novelty. I hope we learn to how to treat our extremely varied and rich artistic and cultural resources as capital for strategic large-scale tourism projects and non-tourism projects for economic purposes. I wish we could discern well which among our unique artifacts, practices, literature, music, and other such interest points to highlight from obscurity in such a way that would bring over hordes willing to part with their hard cash. I am glad that there are lawmakers out there who see this, such as Pangasinan Congressman Christopher de Venecia who has authored a version of Republic Act No. 11904 or the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, and Senator Loren Legarda's push for Republic Act (RA) 11961, or the Cultural Mapping Act, as part of an amendment to RA 10066, or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.

Seen as raw materials and capital instead of being dismissed as fluff or non-essential, culture and the arts can fuel job creation and product creation across various sectors, ultimately transforming communities and economies. By investing in culture and arts, societies ultimately cultivate innovation, enhance tourism, and stimulate local economies, making the arts an essential pillar of sustainable growth while strengthening the community's sense of pride and cultural identity.

posted by Resty Odon  # 8:12 PM 0 Comments

"...[L]ook at the UNBREAKABLES. Adversity only makes them stronger. Ted W. Engstrom says: Cripple him and you have a Sir Walter Scott. Lock him in a prison cell and you have a John Bunyan. Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge and you have a George Washington. Raise him in abject poverty and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Strike him down in infantile paralysis and he becomes Franklin Roosevelt. Deafen him and you have a Ludwig van Beethoven. Have them born black in a society filled with racial discrimination and you have a Booker T. Washington, a Marian Anderson, a George Washington Carver. Call him a slow learner, “retarded,” and write him off as an uneducable and you have an Albert Einstein." - Francis Kong

posted by Resty Odon  # 9:44 PM 0 Comments

Villegas's Theology of Sickness

"My cancer (sarcoma) was caused by stress," Dr. Willie Ong recently said in one of his latest viral videos.

Not to demean his work or person or anything (I watch his videos now and then, and of course I join everyone in praying for his healing -- and candidacy), but the remark was so controversial, to me and many others, that I had to sit back and think through what I believe about sickness (and human suffering in general).

It is controversial because Dr. Ong practically concludes that mental stress causes cancer. If that is true, then all of the constantly stressed people we know, and there are so many of them, should also have cancer by now. It also comes from the presumption that disease -- literally the absence of ease -- is always (emphasis on always) the result of something bad that you did or others did to you.

Fortunately, other medical doctors quickly debunked the claim, though we can say stress may indeed be a contributory factor or may worsen it.

Anyway, the remark made me think once again about what causes sickness apart from the medical perspective. And in this regard, we may turn to the theology of sickness by one esteemed authority on the subject, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who has already done the difficult task -- thank you -- of explaining it in a way that I happen to subscribe to. All I have to do is be quote-happy using YouTube videos of his homilies on the subject. I just hope I am not in any way putting words into his mouth.

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[START OF QUOTE] "THERE are sicknesses that get healed...at once. There are sicknesses that get healed but take time to heal. Then there are sicknesses that don't ever get healed (or sicknesses that have no cure).

'Why is God like that?

'Why do we get sick?'

Indeed, why are there people who are good but get sick? Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? 'If God loves me, why this?'

I don't know the answer. I don't have an answer. Sickness is essentially a mystery. ...Just like life is a mystery. ...Love, death is a mystery.

But even though we don't know the answer, I will stand by my belief that God will be with us in our suffering. God walks with us in the valley of darkness.

The poor, the sick, the handicapped... they represent the hardship of Jesus. They are, therefore, our Lord(s). An encounter with the sick (and oppressed) is an encounter with Jesus, the God who suffers.

Why is there sickness? I can only hazard a guess:

First of all, we should accept that physical sickness is not a punishment from God. You don't get sick because you committed a sin.

I would rather believe that sickness is a teacher, a lesson. There are lessons in life that only sickness, or death, or loneliness will be able to reveal to us, not success, not wealth, not fame, nor physical strength.

God allows sickness, not because He is uncaring, but because He wants us to teach a lesson. Sickness is a very good teacher.

***

Second: Sickness is a reminder that we are not superheroes. Everybody gets sick. Again, you don't get sick because you are bad or being punished for what you did.

Sickness is a reminder that you are not God; you are human. And because you are human, you have a weakness.

Sickness is part of being human. It is a part of life. It is a reminder that all of us will get sick and will die.

***

Third: Sickness is not only a reminder that we will all die, but also a reminder that there is life after death. There is a second life after this life, and that life is better than the first one, as it is life without end. No more chemotherapy, injections, vaccines, operations, implants. ...Where life is lived to the full, no more pain, nor hurt, nor hunger, nor lack.

***

Fourth: Another reminder of illness is that you are not alone. When you are ill, you feel like you are alone in your illness and everyone must be mindful of it. But you are not the only one who is ill.

And if you are sick, you can still love. To choose to love even when you are in pain is the mission of all of us.

If it is the nature of the scorpion to sting, then it is our nature as humans to love (no matter the circumstances).

Pain is inevitable, but love is also our mission. That is how pain is part of the road to holiness.

***

When you are sick, you can pray, 'Lord, heal me.'

If you get healed, thank God. If you didn't get healed, it is not because God didn't hear your prayer, but because he is teaching you something that you wouldn't learn if you are healthy.

If you didn't get healed, I hope you have some lessons learned.

In any case, a better life is waiting for you." [END OF QUOTE]

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If I may intrude into his meditation with some little rejoinders....

1. Indeed, what if sickness...heals? What if there is actually 'healing' in sickness, that is, psycho-spiritual healing? As somebody else put it, "We are sometimes so engrossed with being physically healed that we tend to forget that sickness itself can be a way to get healed, spiritually speaking, that is. ... Didn't Jesus himself go through pain and suffering? Didn't he, too, bleed that we might get healed?"

But...did Jesus ever get sick? I don't think so, for he was constantly the deliverer of maladies. But if he was indeed truly human, he would have had come down with a headache or flu at some point.

Anyway, the point is well taken. Jesus at least went through physical pain and discomfort, even of the worst kind: physical-emotional-psychological torture.

2. But certainly, sickness is not ideal. I will never prefer it. Like hell, sickness is not part of God's original plan. After all, it is Adam and Eve's fall from grace (and the rebellious angels, now devils, that tempted them) that brought it upon us, not God. Illness is inherently bad.

3. As for sickness per se, actually, there are sicknesses that are self-inflicted like lifestyle diseases, drug addiction, incidents due to carelessness, etc. And it is probably in this limited area where the wellness movement operates.

posted by Resty Odon  # 12:03 AM 0 Comments