How to deal with rising food prices
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Rally in Davao
When I was in Davao City with Ambo, Malen, Beng and her kids, we hired a taxi going to the wharf to catch the boat that would take us to the Pearl Farm Beach Resort. That was May 11, 2008. That day, there was a strike in the city. They were demanding for lower gas prices. So the taxi driver was frantically calling his home base to see where the rallyists were to avoid them. I suggested to our driver to tell the rallyists that we are family. It didn’t work. As soon as we hit the red light, there was this old lady lambasting the driver in Bisaya to join the rally. She said our driver was a traitor considering that he and his family will be affected by the rising prices and that he was totally being inconsiderate to their cause. I ranted inside the taxi about why prices will not come down that Malen was nearly gonna smack me! Hahaha!
I was ready to lecture the woman in defense of our poor taxi driver. I will blatantly say that she was wrong. Dead wrong that they will be able to bring the prices neither down nor even convince the government to bring them down. I’m not pro or anti-government on this issue, but there are just things that some rallyists need to understand. Hear me out.
WHY PRICES WILL NOT COME DOWN
I am aware of how rising costs affect families. I should know. I work overseas and send money back to the Philippines quite regularly. My condo payments alone has now almost doubled in the last five years with the very strong performance of the peso or should I say, given the very lousy economy in the United States – the US economy being one of the biggest drivers of the world economy. Here are my reasons why prices will not come down.
Oil Price
The movement of the price of oil always follow the movement of food prices. I’m sure everyone knows this one. Easy, right? As the price of oil goes up, expect the price of commodities to go up. Why? Because oil is the major component to produce and manufacture goods. Of course you need oil to run your machineries and transport them to the market. Given that oil prices is dictated by global supply and demand, can we as Filipinos – locally, be able to force it to come down? Convince me. No matter how much you cry, ain’t gonna work.
Weather and import/export restrictions
This one is easy. Bad weather equals bad harvest. Bad harvest equals very little production or produce in the market. What does that mean? High prices. It’s a very easy supply and demand. The less supply of food products in the market, the higher the prices will become because of the huge demand. When you have a situation where there is very little supply, chances are that the government will impose trade restrictions. Exporting food products will be curtailed. Imagine if we could no longer import additional supplies? What would happen? Prices go up!
Diminishing agricultural lands
In my Barrio Siete alone, what used to be hectares and hectares of rice plantation were now gone. You now see a lot of subdivisions and squatters. You don’t need to go to Barrio Siete. Just drive north to Bulacan and beyond. Or drive south from Laguna and beyond. You tell me what you see! It’s the same phenomenon that is happening in the United States. It’s the wanton commercialization of agricultural lands. The effect is easy to understand. Less farm products means higher prices. But why do these people prefer to commercialize these agricultural lands? Easy people. There are big bucks if you go towards commercialization rather than farming.
Farming is a very unattractive work
This is the main reason why we have diminishing agricultural lands. Farming is not very gucci. Especially in the Philippines where farming is never seen as equal to the medical profession or the teaching profession or the IT profession. It’s a social misconception that’s imbedded in the minds of the Filipino people that if you’re a farmer you are low class. Agree? And why? Because there’s very little money that could be earned from being a farmer unless you belong to a corporate agribusiness industry. I even read in some blogs a good number of Ifugao farmers who are now working as OFW’s!
Diversion of crops
In Barrio Siete near my grandparents land, there were these hectares and hectares of coconut plantation which were turned into a sugarcane plantation. I really did not understand the strategy. They must be a big company. But rumors have it in our Barrio that the sugarcane plantation did not do very well. Let’s set that aside for now because the direct effect of diverting crops at the expense of other crops creates less supply. Less supply of food products means higher prices!
China and India
We can’t blame them but let’s face it! They gobble everything on earth. Their demand for almost everything is insatiable. So when you are faced with an economy with a huge demand, chances are they will pay more for the product. If you are going to market a product, will you market the product in the Philippines for a lower price or China and India for a higher price? Easy decision, isn’t it?
My personal advice
I feel for those rallyists in Davao. I am not angry at them. I feel the shock of our taxi driver, too. I will not tell the government what they need to do. I’m sure they know. I’d rather focus on the common tao. The masa. People, I am telling you the reality. Food prices are not going to come down anytime soon. As food prices rise, the best thing that we could hope is that our personal income, which is mostly salaries, goes up. You’ll be stuck if your salary continues to be stagnant. What would be your next move? I don’t know about you but I think, the best strategy to face rising food prices is this:
a.) Save and budget your expenses smartly
b.) Find some extra money making venture
c.) Be my boylet! Hahaha! Charing!
May 20th, 2008 at 12:35 am
Kelan ang balik ng Mahal na Reyna?
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reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 20, 2008:
This weekend Jake, y?
reynz’s last blog post..How to deal with rising food prices
May 20th, 2008 at 2:45 am
great explanation. dapat kang mag-lecture ng economics 101 dito sa ‘pinas! he he. i had no econ subject ever, pero gets ko yan. kaya magtipid at magtipid dahil hindi tataas ng matino ang sueldo dito. ang mga tao dapat curtail luxurious lifestyle kahit may PFW na nagpapadala sa inyo. he he he. AT…most importantly, magtanim ng gulay kahit sa paso para di na bibili noh.
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reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 20, 2008:
hehehe pag ako naging professor sa isang school here in the Philippines, ibabagsak ko lahat nang guapo para they’re always in my class. maligaya ang mga gurls, lahat sila pasado, day 1 pa lang. pa-aalisin ko na sila. hahahaha
reynz’s last blog post..How to deal with rising food prices
May 20th, 2008 at 3:01 am
looks like we have a new NEDA secretary wahahahahaha
chuvaness’s last blog post..Do not underestimate the importance of satellite communication
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reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 20, 2008:
ow? sige nga i-rekomendeyt nyo nga ako! hehehe! baka sakaling me mga kontrata ring dumaan sa palad ko! hahaha
reynz’s last blog post..How to deal with rising food prices
May 20th, 2008 at 4:26 am
well said. talagang hindi bababa ang presyo pati kuryente. kasi marami pa rin tayong power plant sa oil-fired so affected sila ng rising oil proces.
nina’s last blog post..Keyk
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reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
naku thank you, i also don’t know much kung ano sila sa Cebu kasi yong VECO is coal powered. imported coal pa yung iba. am sure mas mahal sa Cebu.
nina (256 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
Actually, coal is cheaper but the downside is the environmental impact - kaya nga nagpro-protest ang Green Peace. Coal generates particulate matter plus high concentration of Sulfur Oxides (SOx as they call it), if the coal contains high amounts of Sulfur. Of course particulate matter can cause respiratory diseases and SOx can cause acid rain. When the power plant is coal fired kailangan maganda ang environmental controls para ma-mitigate ang environemntal impacts.
nina’s last blog post..Damit
May 20th, 2008 at 9:18 am
dito ko lang na experience na talagang bumaba ang presyo as promised by the govt. pero balik tayo sa isyu mo, alam mo, meron akong nameet dito na aleman na may jowang pinay. uwing uwi na itong si aleman sa pinas, dun na daw sya titira kasi daw mas gusto nya ang buhay dun lalo pa at asa baryo siete din sila kasi promdi yung girl, mas gusto na lang daw ni lalaki na maging farmer sa pinas dahil yearly daw ang ani, hindi katulad dito na antay ka dapat ng spring at summer, tapos pahinga na ulit. nagtataka rin si lalaki kung bakit hindi daw mag take advantage ang mga pinoy dun sa ganda ng weather para mag tanim para nga naman daw hindi na sila mamili sa tindahan; edi may i getching na lang sila sa bakuran nila di ba?
yan din ang sabi ni kengkoy, kasi kami may garden sa bakuran, ngayong spring at summer, hindi na naman kailan mag buy ng veggies at fruits kasi meron na kami . pitas pitas na lang ang drama. actually, nung asa pasay din ako, may hardin din kami sa likuran, kangkong, kamote, patatas, saging, kaimito, bayabas, santol, mangga at kung ano pang gulay — super tipid namin. pero sempre ngayon wala na kasi naging apartment buildings na rin, hayyy
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reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
mahirap maging farmer. kahit dun sa barrio namen. ang mahal nang fertilizers. mas mahal ang makinarya. worst, baku baku ang roads from farm to market. i know inaayos nila tong mga farm to market kaso hangga ngyon indi inaabot nang kidlat ang barrio namen.
reynz’s last blog post..Burning love
kengkay (133 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
manay alam mo yun, yung kahit na hindi sila maging big time farmer pero yung meron silang pipitasin kapag oras na ng pagkain? kahit na pang pamilya at pang kapuso lamang ba kasi pampatawid puson na rin yon di ba?
kengkay’s last blog post..Hot Air Balloons
nina (256 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
kengkay, agree ako. Sa province kung may backyard ka, pwede ka talaga magtanim kahit makukuhanan lang ng talbos, puno ng kamias pang-sigang, kamatis. Pag wala kang ulam - talbos sawsaw sa bagoong masarap na. Pero alam mo ang mga Pinoy kasi ayaw ng ganong buhay. Akala nila pag nag-oopisina glamorous. Gusto nila guminhawa kuno. Kala nila pag may OFW sa pamilya biglang yaman na sila. Tngnan mo yong ibang kamag-anak ng OFW - nakaupo lang naghihintay ng remittance.
nina’s last blog post..Damit
nina (256 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
Reynz, Agree din ako pag walang farm to market road mahirap dalhin sa market ang products mo. Regarding profitability or high-cost of fertilizer - may mga tinatawag na high-value crops. Kung may farm ka, plant high value crops para kumita ka. Tapos, ngayon uso na ang organic farming - you don’t need to buy expensive fertilizers. You can use organic fertilizers na pwede mo ring i-produce sa farm mo. Organic products are considered premium products and can be sold at higher prices and you’ll have high profit margin kasi cheaper ang organic fertilizer.
Farming is a science and requires entrepreneural skills also - it’s not just tanim dito tanim dyan. You need to know how to choose your crop, how to take care of them, how to have good profit, how to market them. Tingnan mo mga bata ngayon - may gusto bang mag-aral ng farming? Wala kasi kala nila farming magbubukid lang. HIndi nila alam na kung mag-aaral ka, pwede ka umunlad sa farming.
May pinalabas sa GMA dati. Doon sa Magpakailanman ni Mel Tiangco. Ano cya nag-aral sya ng farming kasi naging scholar siya pero di siya nakatapos. Tapos may comapny na kumuha pa rin sa kanya to train farmers so yon nag work nya. Parang taga-bicol din ata sya.
nina’s last blog post..Damit
reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
Yong organic farming was something na pinur-sue nung friend kong OFW na tiga-Saudi. Nag-tayo sila nang cooperative in Saudi and invested in the Philippines. Di ko lang alam kung nasaan yong organic farm nila pero the last time i heard maganda ang investment nila.
Farm to market roads talaga at yun ang wala dun sa barrio namen kaya mahirap talaga maging farmer dun, unlike sa west na talagang uunahin nang gobyerno yan para nga easy sa farmers. Di ko knowing yung program na sinabi mo. Pero sa bicol, daming opportunities kaso nga alam mo na, infested pa nang mga you know what kaya ayun
May 20th, 2008 at 10:40 am
sa panahon kasi ngayon. lahat ng tao ayaw na magsaka kasi di na nila feel, masisira lang ang kuko nila at iitim pa sila. sayang lang daw ang ginagamit nila na likas papaya.
parang wala nang paag-asa bumaba ang mga presyo ng bilihin.
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reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
trulili, it’s not very gucci. konti lang ang epekto ata nang mga assistance dyan otherwise, majority nang mga tao dyan will go farming.
reynz’s last blog post..Burning love
May 21st, 2008 at 11:13 am
ako alam ko na DIET! bwahahaha
pagpatawad, di ko pa napopost yung pics..habol na lang ha!
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reynz (4094 comments.) reply on May 21, 2008:
oo nga! hangga ngayon wala pa yung pink apple martini kaya sa US ko na tapusin yong PART 2 at dun mo na makikita pics ninyo noh? hahaha! send mo na pleaaassee! HAHAHA