Simpler and healthier life at Bohol Coco Farm

Last May, a Balik Bukid event was held at Sta. Rosa, Laguna.  It was a call for city dwellers to go back to the countryside and experience a simple but healthier way of life.

To jazz up the event, the organizers lined up about 40 merchants selling locally made products. These small to medium entrepreneurs, to preserve the exclusivity of their merchandise, sell their products mainly among friends or online so as to avoid mass production . Clothes, cosmetics, trinkets, and housewares were some of the items sold.

There were organic soaps made from virgin coconut oil scented with eucalyptus, cinnamon, rosemary, and peppermint. An all natural body scrub was available as well that supposedly pampers the skin without the use of harmful chemicals.

Moreover, there were products for the kids such as toys crafted with paper and wood.  Eco-friendly balms, sanitizers and sprays for children were equally represented, including cotton clothing in various local prints and designs.

And of course, for gastronomic delight, there was an array of food choices -- from  dirty ice cream to bibingka and panara, as well as freshly-picked organic and bio-dynamic farm-cultivated lowland vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs. And to top it all off, there was  “the healthier choice” Hecky’s organic Cebu-style lechon, oven baked and less fattening.

All press and blogger reports indicated a great time was had by all at this one day Balik Bukid Event!

Here in Bohol, a similar experience is available on a year round basis; that is, at Bohol Coco Farm, a sustainable green resort and organic working farm.

At one of their breakfast buffets, I feasted on naturally-grown sauteed ampalaya, steamed pechay and pink rice.  For dessert, there was the belly-filling kamoteng kahoy in sweetened coconut milk. Health drinks like kamote top splash were also available.

The entire meal was not only savory and exemplary, but incredibly healing to the system, I'm sure!

Sauteed Ampalaya

Steamed Pechay

Pink Rice

Kamoteng Kahoy in sweetened coconut milk

Want to live longer? Plant vegetables.  That is the recommendation of the Department of Health (DOH).

To mark Nutrition Month this July, the DOH urges all Filipino households and communities to plant vegetable gardens in their backyards and to alleviate malnutrition among children and prevent continued high incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.

NCDs or lifestyle-related diseases are the top leading causes of death in the Philippines. These diseases are linked to four “most common but preventable” risk factors: An unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, smoking and alcohol use.

Assistant Secretary Maria Bernardita Flores, executive director of the DOH’s National Nutrition Council (NNC), urged Filipinos to plant vegetables “in all possible places.”  She said vegetables can grow even in urban areas using the latest technologies like container gardening or hydroponics, where plants are grown in water.

She also cited food consumption surveys conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) that showed Filipinos were eating only two servings of vegetables, or about 35 grams short of the intake recorded in 1978.  The surveys also indicate that only 67.7 percent of Filipino households have vegetable gardens or fruit trees in their backyards.

“The data is alarming considering that low fruit and vegetable intake is among the top 10 risk factors for global mortality based on a World Health Organization report,” said Ms. Flores.  The WHO report attributed 1.7 million deaths globally per year to low fruit and vegetable intake.

According to health experts, one serving should be equivalent to a cup of raw leafy vegetables or half a cup of raw or cooked non-leafy vegetables.

Ms. Flores also urges all Filipinos, especially children, should eat more green leafy vegetables because they contain vitamins and minerals that fight non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

“We encourage everyone to consume three or more servings of vegetables each day. Let us also eat our indigenous vegetables such as malunggay, saluyot, kangkong, kamote tops and ampalaya,” said Ms. Flores.  All vegetables mentioned are available at Bohol Coco Farm.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

Some of the natural products at Coco Farm's Souvenir Shop

Related link: Palwa Restaurant

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