My great-grandson Theo Wolfe begins school this month. He’s only four years old yet already has very strong likes and dislikes, especially about food. For example, he loves bread but prefers plain bread without elaborate spreads and fillings. The same goes for pasta, which he prefers simply tossed with butter and cheese; no heavy sauce and meatballs.

Since he will only be in school for a couple of hours, packing snacks for him is not yet a big challenge: a bottle of juice, a piece of bread, some fruit, and he’s happy. Things were not so simple when I was growing up. I went to school every day with bugong, a packed meal of rice and fish or whatever leftover there was from the night before.

Every morning, my mother lightly heated a square of banana leaf over fire to wilt and make it pliant. The heat also brought out the aroma of grilled banana leaf that would be absorbed by the rice and viands it would be in contact with. Coarse sea salt was sprinkled on the shiny side of the grilled leaf, and cooked rice was spooned over, with the viand carefully arranged atop the rice. The best part comes last: oil from fried longganisa, tapa, adobo, bistek and other viands is drizzled over the rice, and the leaf is tightly folded and wrapped in newspaper.

The teachers in our public school brought meals in multi-layered tin fiambrera, which they all shared in the principal’s office. When one of the better-off students celebrated a birthday or class honors, pancit and dirty ice cream were shared by all.

Plastic bags, reusable tubs and aluminum foil were not yet in vogue. Neither were Tupperware, original or fake. Styrofoam had yet to rear its ugly head. The school grounds were littered with leaves shed by fruit trees planted in the schoolyard. Vendors used homemade bags made from old telephone directories, with cornstarch for glue.

Outside the school, old ladies sold green mango with bagoong, boiled corn on the cob, boiled kamote and saging na saba. Once in a while there was binatog, boiled corn kernels covered with grated coconut and sprinkled with salt or sugar. Seasonally, there were fresh fruit: caimito, siniguelas, kamatsile, duhat and the sour fruit of rattan.

Neighbors sometimes were allowed to sell merienda, but strangers were not, for security reasons. When I was in elementary school, a bowl of macaroni soup, ginatan, sotanghon or a plate of pancit cost 10 centavos, the same as a bottle of Coke.

The neighborhood panaderia could be a household’s best friend. I always serve bakeshop offerings for breakfast and snacks, and pack them for school lunching. It is always a delightful surprise to find how inexpensive and tasty their products are: empanada, kababayan, egg pie, inipit, pan de regla, cinnamon roll and pianono.

Buying baked goods is always more practical than making them yourself. You also help the local community while at the same time get assured of freshly baked products.

The easiest and most convenient snack or viand is egg, hard-boiled or salted. Eggs are a cheap and convenient source of protein for young and old alike. It is important to wrap them individually to keep from breaking. Salted eggs go well with either rice or bread.

Packed food has evolved through the ages. But what has remained constant is the love that comes with each morsel wrapped with tender loving care.