Letter to the Editor – Hungry ants in a sugar bowl

The Philippines is called the Pearl of the Orient Sea. God has endowed our country with all the natural resources for prosperity. It is a rich and beautiful country for human beings to live in. The mountains are covered with different useful trees and the murmuring brooks are gently flowing on its side. The fertile plains are very suitable for agriculture. The sea is inhabited by varieties of fish found abundant almost everywhere. The, climate by the grace of God, is favorable to any human endeavor.

But what a pity! What a shame indeed! The poor Filipinos are now suffering from food crisis and could hardly eat three meals a day. They are so hungry. Why could we not produce enough food to eat? In my humble observation, we, Filipinos in general, shy away from agriculture. Our attitude seems to dislike cultivating the soil for planting food crops.

The Department of Education is no longer emphasizing the teaching of Elementary Agriculture. This could be simply proven by just having a sweeping look at our school gardens now. For sure, we could not see anymore a good vegetable garden like before. Very few of our youth are taking agriculture. Most of them are enrolled in courses in preparation for white-collar jobs.

Our government officials are not focusing on agriculture. As long as we could not change our attitude toward agriculture, we will be hungry ants on a sugar bowl.

Luis J. Almacen

Municipal gardener coordinator

Medellin, Cebu