Fight vs Malnutrition

I find it apalling that the incidence of malnutrition in this country should be so high. We have several local plants containing numerous nutrients that it should be easy to gain access to them.

Take the malunggay. This plant grows well in the country, tolerating most local soil and weather conditions. It propagates quickly. It packs a lot of vitamins and minerals in its leaves and fruits. A whole tree can grow from one branch. Cut branches quickly regenerate. We had a few trees in our garden and we tried to incorporate it into our diet. Despite the frequent cuttings, the tree still grew too fast. Eventually we had to cut them down to size or the top branches would be too high to reach. Within a few days, new shoots emerged from the cut trunk.




If people just grew a tree near the house it would reduce the need for nutritional suppliments. Strangely, many people know the value of the tree. Information disemination is not the problem. I can't say it's growing skill either. I've grown two trees by sticking branches into the ground. Perhaps the closest real reason is that the poorest people don't have the soil for growing it. Malunggay has a large tap root and doesn't grow in pots. But for people who do have a small bit of space, growing malunggay at home is easy and helthful.

Maybe local governments should look into growing them in public spaces and letting people harvest them. That should be less expensive than decorating baranggay halls with fancy plants which need more fertilizer. It will definitely be better than buying nutritional supplements to give to the needy. It's definitely less expensive than growing ill.