When science and culture meet

I had a most interesting lunch with some Ivatans from Batanes at the UP Tearoom and learned more about their culture, especially after my short trip to the island province just last March. I am sure they were surprised to know that I memorized the names of some trees, leaves and vegetables we encountered at a Sunday market in Mahatao, after which we took home leaves and onions we found rare and hard to find.

We exchanged stories about how cattle is slaughtered and how the meat of Batanes is so tough, visitors often have a tough time (pun intended) chewing the meat in dishes prepared in the tourist areas. It turns out that culture demands that as soon as an animal is slaughtered, it is used right away because that is their idea of “freshness.” Contrary to what science dictates that rigor mortis sets in as soon as an animal is slaughtered and this has to “rest” or hang to let the muscles relax before cutting it further or cooking it.

This simple act of resting meat can actually make it more tender. But go challenge the norm and see if the locals will follow. It so happens the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) conducts trainings on meat processing in faraway Masbate, which is another island province, just like Batanes. And taking along farmers and the local government, together with Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) official Meryll Hortiz, Batanes came to Masbate to share best practices as both are secluded and challenged, being island provinces. They share challenges in logistics, food production and most specially cattle raising and meat processing.

Another cattle tale is that the Ivatans, generally speaking, take 3-5 years to raise a cow before selling it. Some industry experts believe 2-3 years can already give you a good profit if you sell your cow. But practice and culture dictate more time and thus the conversion to money takes longer. Add inflation to that and the farmer will not benefit from raising cattle. But with the training of BAI, they now know they can raise cows as a thriving business, rather than treating a cow as a “bank” – to be sold only after many years before one enjoys a windfall profit.

Thirdly, cows are sold live to enterprising migrants who visit the island province. The farmers never compute the live weight scientifically, rather they just depend on market forces to dictate the current market price. Once they learned from BAI how to compute live weight properly and according to industry standards, each cattle raiser learned they undersold their cows for a whopping P55,000 loss per head. What a waste! If the over 3,500 heads of cattle are sold this way – undersold to unscrupulous traders – the loss to the farmers would amount to almost P194 million.

Knowledge is power when science meets culture. Imagine all these resources that went to a few wise traders, leaving the cattle raiser uninformed, shortchanged and suffering an opportunity loss. It is just a consolation that the farmer did not have to buy food for the cow, but simply made it graze in the rich rolling hills of Batanes to eat good grass. However, he has his risks in the five years it takes to convert cow to money.

But not anymore. The Batanes or Ivatan farmer knows better now, thanks to DTI and to BAI. The local government of Batanes is much involved, as I spoke with Tourism officer Jerome Cabugao. And Jerome with his passion for preserving Ivatan tradition and culture is to be admired. He has noticed the declining populations of native flora and fauna, and the disappearance of old food traditions.

Besides going with the farmers for BAI training, he also is interested in preserving other food recipes made from meat such as luñis and kasasu, and other recipes like uved. And this is why we talked about Slow Food and how they can form a community to preserve good, clean and fair food and in the process preserve their culture.

While Slow Food principles preserve the food culture, science will take over in making things better, such as in cattle raising, meat processing and the like. Jerome says they have 16 varieties of root crops, for example. I noticed the Department of Agriculture (DA) had established a Root Crops Processing Center in Batanes when I visited. I took home camote chips called Wakay chips but Jerome says there are a lot more varieties of root crops to discover, to preserve them and process them all year round.

Root crops are also a survival food as Batanes residents can experience harsh weather when the rains come. Thus, developing these gifts from Nature not only is economically-wise but a survival food security measure as well.

Jerome has a whole deck of photos of mushrooms, vegetables, root crops that Batanes grows and hopes to preserve. They have root crops that are better planted in August, for example, so it turns out sweeter fruits. Seasonality and the plant varieties will soon be documented so farmers and consumers alike can be informed with scientific data on moisture content of root crops and how to preserve the original varieties found in this isolated island. Different moisture content of root crops demands different processing techniques. So science truly has a role in helping farmers sustain these agricultural products.

While culture dictates how to slaughter a cow and when to plant a root crop, science has a role to play to ensure the viability of agriculture in a beautiful island like Batanes.

The province has its challenges in logistics as it has to import almost 90 percent of food by air (from regions close by) or by boat from Manila ports. But rather than inundate them with imports, people like Jerome would like to preserve what their culture has given them as locally-available food, with science now thrown in for good measure.

Truly, at some point, science must meet culture.