Sugar rush
Published Sep 8, 2022 12:02 am
'TOL VIEWS
Senator Francis N. Tolentino
Humans have long yearned for a sweet taste in their food for over centuries. Personally, I have imagined the palate of our ancestors in the Neolithic period to be bland. Imagine to my surprise the existence of ancient cave paintings at Arana in Spain where a stone age man is taking honey from a wild bee’s nest.
Apparently, scientists explained that human preference for sweets has its origins on survival instinct at a time when food was scarce. Finding sweet food, which are high in calories, gave our ancestors more energy.
In the international community, we Filipinos are very well known for our sweet tooth. From our desserts like leche flan, halo-halo, and kakanin to our ulam like tocino, adobo, pork barbeque, and patatim to name a few. We also like creating our own sweetened version of certain meals like our own sweet spaghetti.
Our sweet tooth, this love for sugar rush, has its origins in the 16th century when sugar cane production became rampant in Visayas. According to historian John Larkin, sugar manufacturers promoted sugar by “exciting the Filipino’s taste” for it through ad campaigns and handing out free packets of sugar. It was priced cheap as well, making it very affordable and a meal staple. This, thus, explained the sweet tooth of the Filipinos.
At the onset of the 19th Congress, the importation of sugar in the country and whether there is shortage or surplus of supply is a hot topic in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee – a committee in which I am currently sitting as its chairman.
In the three hearings we have done in the course of less than a month, we investigated and questioned the people involved – all for the protection of the sugar industry in the country and consequently, the Filipino’s love for sugar. As I have earlier announced last Tuesday, the partial committee report is scheduled to come up today, Sept. 8, 2022. I am confident that the preferential attention that this committee and this country has given to the rising prices of sugar would greatly help the sugar industry and our sugar cane farmers. Rest assured, the love for sugar will continue with pride as one of our national identity as Filipinos.
Senator Francis N. Tolentino
Humans have long yearned for a sweet taste in their food for over centuries. Personally, I have imagined the palate of our ancestors in the Neolithic period to be bland. Imagine to my surprise the existence of ancient cave paintings at Arana in Spain where a stone age man is taking honey from a wild bee’s nest.
Apparently, scientists explained that human preference for sweets has its origins on survival instinct at a time when food was scarce. Finding sweet food, which are high in calories, gave our ancestors more energy.
In the international community, we Filipinos are very well known for our sweet tooth. From our desserts like leche flan, halo-halo, and kakanin to our ulam like tocino, adobo, pork barbeque, and patatim to name a few. We also like creating our own sweetened version of certain meals like our own sweet spaghetti.
Our sweet tooth, this love for sugar rush, has its origins in the 16th century when sugar cane production became rampant in Visayas. According to historian John Larkin, sugar manufacturers promoted sugar by “exciting the Filipino’s taste” for it through ad campaigns and handing out free packets of sugar. It was priced cheap as well, making it very affordable and a meal staple. This, thus, explained the sweet tooth of the Filipinos.
At the onset of the 19th Congress, the importation of sugar in the country and whether there is shortage or surplus of supply is a hot topic in the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee – a committee in which I am currently sitting as its chairman.
In the three hearings we have done in the course of less than a month, we investigated and questioned the people involved – all for the protection of the sugar industry in the country and consequently, the Filipino’s love for sugar. As I have earlier announced last Tuesday, the partial committee report is scheduled to come up today, Sept. 8, 2022. I am confident that the preferential attention that this committee and this country has given to the rising prices of sugar would greatly help the sugar industry and our sugar cane farmers. Rest assured, the love for sugar will continue with pride as one of our national identity as Filipinos.