Just as I was getting in the hang of cooking, one of my favorite ingredients became very scarce. These are onions which set the aroma of every dish. It makes sure that the flavors mixed complement one another, on top of the sweet and crisp taste that it offers. They weren't available in the markets and groceries for a time. When they were found, their prices were ridiculously expensive.
They were not only sold at than ?10 more the usual. Its price per kilo even reached up to more than ?600. That's more than three times its original price. Small-scale consumers like me had to step back, business owners that run in the food industry had to go through worse. As an alternative to this situation, I resorted to using dried onion flakes just to make sure I still get that tasty zest in my cooking.
My trips to the grocery these days are happier. I now see onions both red and white on the racks. However, the prices are still unreasonably high. While it has dropped from its all-time high, it has not returned to its normal amount before this issue. Our Department of Agriculture has said that the region is far from reaching the suggested retail price. Suppliers are still selling off the stocks that they have acquired during the height of its prices.
Yet we cast doubt if this is really the situation. We are seeing reports of rotten onions that were hidden for a time now being buried. Imagine if they had been sold when they were still at their prime, a lot of individuals who use this spice for their cooking could have benefitted from them. Further, it makes us question the integrity of our Agriculture department.
Before the new administration took over, the senators launched a probe over agri-smuggling. It was an issue on the table, a deeper investigation into an alleged cartel of our agricultural produce. We are still puzzled about it until today, even if the answers are already laid out in plain sight.
The issue is not only just about onions and the inflation rate that has also affected the prices of basic goods. We are looking into honesty and integrity in our leaders who have promised to uproot us from the ugly life that we have. There was a mantra that we will rise up together, I'm not so sure I'm stable enough to make that stand.
Now that the prices of the onions have started to decline, along with the entry of imported ones, those who are victims in this drama are the farmers who are toiling day and night to give these produce. We will never realize the importance of what our farmers are doing until it affects us in many ways,
I'm just glad I can finally buy onions at the groceries, even if my hundred pesos is only equivalent to four or five small pieces.