Here’s an article on the store, which stands for “Environment and Community Hope Organization.”

I love how the focus is on sustainable trade: bags and mats made from rags, woven envelopes made out of magazines…

Thanks, Lola Conching!

I don’t go to Seafood City as much as I used to (I’m always at Whole Foods), but I went the other day because I was craving some coconut juice. The juice I get from Whole Foods is priced at close to $2 for 17.5 fl. oz. of beverage. I bought several cans of 10.5 fl. oz. Pamana coconut juice at Seafood City for about 69 cents each.

Amy & Brian coconut juice ingredients: young coconut juice

Pamana coconut juice ingredients: coconut juice, sugar, coconut pulp water, sodium metabisulfite 30 ppm

Apologies to Pamana, but your juice is gross compared to the Amy & Brian brand. Pamana’s coconut juice is taste too sweet compared to Amy & Brian’s naturally sweetened juice.

I thought I was getting a great deal – 69 cents for coconut juice! And really, what else do you have to add to coconut juice for it to be, well, coconut juice? Obviously spending 3x the amount is worth it to me, health-wise and taste-wise.

I also decided to go on a hunt for organic products in the market. I searched through the produce, through the frozen foods, through the canned goods and found nothing. I even looked at the shelves of certain products because I knew organic products existed for that particular brand (Kikkoman), but Seafood City doesn’t stock them.

WHY NOT? Is it a price thing? Or does Seafood City not care about giving healthy options to its patrons? What’s the deal?

As I checked out, I asked the man behind the counter if the store carried ANY organic brands. He scanned my ube ice cream and thought for a second. “Yeah, didn’t you see? Mangos, bananas… There are a lot over there.” I think he thought “organic” meant “fresh fruit” and I didn’t want to be rude by defining the word, so I nodded my head and told him I would have to check it out next time.

Here’s another question: What’s the deal with Filipinos not understanding what “organic” means? This is the second time it has happened. I don’t think it’s a generational thing because the guy behind the counter couldn’t have been more than 35 years old.

The girl behind the Filipino Desserts counter knew. “No, we don’t use [Safeway/Vons' brand] Organics here.” We talked about how expensive it was to buy organic brands and how they weren’t used to make the puto and hopia at her shop.

Here’s what I think. I don’t think enough Filipinos know what “organic” means to actually care about it. They’re also used to going to specific markets to buy their ingredients, and these markets aren’t carrying organic products. But now the question is, are there ANY Filipino organic brands out there? If they do exist, why aren’t Filipino markets stocking these items? If they don’t exist, why don’t they? Why hasn’t someone in the marketing departments of Pamana thought, Hey, this is a really hot topic right now. Why don’t we have an organic line of our coconut juice! Do they not think Filipinos will buy a more expensive drink, even though it’s healthier (and tastes better)? Maybe. Maybe they’ve already thought about it. I’d like to think that they have.

What it really makes me think is that, although many Filipinos care about their health, they don’t care enough to start eating organic foods. It’s not worth it to them because they can get the same thing for 3x less. They may switch their eating habits because their doctor told them to, but although eating healthier (less fried foods, more steamed vegetables) is good, it doesn’t necessarily mean the food you’re eating is chemical free, which, in the end, still means it’s unhealthy. Why would you want to eat a tomato that carries residual traces of pesticides?

Time to educate the nanays and tatays, right?

Here’s the sad thing:

Wednesday, August 27. 4:30 pm. Telephone ringing. Filipino lady answers.

“Valerio’s City Bakery.”

“Hi, do you have any organic products in your store?”

Long pause. “What do you mean organic ?”

“Natural foods, do you have any natural, organic foods or brands? Do you use organic ingredients?”

Lady mumbles. “No, we do not.”

“Thank you.”

Are you kidding me? Valerio’s doesn’t even know what “organic” is.

It’s something we all want the best of, but despite knowing how important it is to eat good food, we still buy fast food and we still shop for processed products.

We take our health for granted.

Why does this persist? Convenience? Tradition? Cost?

I asked my mom if she knew of any organic Filipino food items. She said no. She said that in the Philippines, any food that they grew was done so without any pesticides, but as far as Filipino store-bought products, she knew of no organic brands.

Filipinos are known for their delicious fried and salty food. Prito. Fried fish, fried rice, fried lumpia. Patis, MSG, pork.

Yes, there’s vegetable lumpia, but isn’t the more popular edible the fried version? Or the lechón?

A couple of men in my family have died from heart-related illnesses. I’ve also spoken to other friends whose fathers and mothers suffer from hypertension. According to this article, high blood pressure is a big problem for Filipinas. This Men’s Health article states that heart disease is the number one killer of both Filipino men and women – 70,000 deaths a year.

Despite all of this, the aunties and uncles continue to tsismis about the latest person with diabetes or high cholesterol.

Is anyone doing anything about this? Are we Filipinos doomed to die early deaths because of a love of traditional, unnatural, processed and fried foods?

I know that anyone can go to a Whole Foods market and buy the basics to whip up an adobo dish, but I know that costs and traveling distance are a problem. Not everyone can afford $7 organic soy sauce, so the visit to Seafood City to buy the $2 bottle makes sense.

My question to you is this: Is your life worth the difference in price between an organic brand and a brand that probably contains a bunch of preservatives that will eventually make you sick? Maybe you don’t care now, but will you care when you have to be hospitalized because of chest pain? Don’t you care about your family and how concerned they would be if you got sick? What if they got sick? Is it worth the difference?

I have a friend – a very close female friend – who once got on my case about me being so into organics. “C’mon, Apes. You’ve spent your whole life eating things that weren’t organic. You’re not going to die from it. You’re still here.” But that’s the thing. I’m 29. I see people in their 30s and 40s getting sick because they spent their whole lives eating things that weren’t organic. I don’t want my lack of early knowledge to make me sick.

I’m not the sort of person who denies food at a restaurant if it’s not natural. But I make a big effort to buy foods that contain no pesticides, no chemicals, and I try to purchase locally-grown foods. The extra money is worth it to me because it’s my health.

So where are the organic mangos?