The binge

After the long holiday break, there is a frantic struggle to look well, lose weight and to feel healthy. This happens when the individual takes an objective look at the mirror, weighing scale, tries to fit into good clothes. One becomes aware probably after a visit to the ER or the doctor for shortness of breath and hypertension.
The nonstop celebrations all revolved around buffet feasts. People indulged relentlessly in the binge of food and drink — at every occasion from Halloween to Christmas, New Year and The Feast of the Three Kings.
Family and friends came to town and there is always an excuse to eat nonstop with brief respites. Exercise schedules went topsy-turvy as many gyms closed. Sports enthusiasts continue with their favorite games in a more sedate way. It is slow motion for runners, swimmers, weight moves more slowly.
It’s rare to find a person who did not gain a few pounds and inches of avoirdupois.
The obsession with food is traced back to thousands of years ago when the original cavemen hunted for food to survive and feed the family. They were carnivorous, and agriculture was not yet developed. Cereal was not yet part of the diet. The extinct dinosaurs were herbivores and omnivores — that ate plants or animals.
Ages later, we have many variations and profiles of food lovers and foodies.
People eat to live; love to eat; live to eat. We need to satisfy energy requirements and psychological cravings.
Filipinos of all ages enjoy food. The exception would be the nervous anorexic. Social, business, religious and family events such as contract signings, inaugurations, trade exhibits happen with breakfast, lunch, cocktails or dinner.
Visiting corporate heads from the regional and international head offices are entertained by genuine and sometimes lavish hospitality. The reasons are endless: baptisms, reunions, weddings, wakes, funerals, corporate or personal breakups.
The amusing part of doing an informal the food profile is observing the generational nuances and quirks.
Among the urban set, the pattern is discernible. One can classify them according to age, food choices (epicurean taste) and diet.
The generation of our parents and grandparents (WWII and Liberation) have been fondly labeled the Spam gang. The tag comes from the PX tin can goods of processed food meat and the US military mess. They became accustomed to the diet with high sodium and preservatives. They liked canned milk and chocolate bars, chewing gum and soda that came from the bases.
They were like Boy Scouts who were conditioned to survive on no-fuss instant food in shiny tin cans and instant soup noodles.
The dietary habits of the next generation have an eclectic flavor coming from the best and the worst on nutrition. It would be a dietician’s nightmare.
As kids, many were force-fed oatmeal, carrots and other tasteless veggies, unpalatable bitter ampalaya, beans. Then we were treated to sinful rewards like cake, ice cream, cookies.
Breakfast had cholesterol rich eggs, fried eggs, pancakes and French toast, refined and many canned foods with white bread. Desserts were fruit cocktail and peaches with syrup. We had canned powdered milk in the absence of tasty fresh milk. Dietary deficiencies were offset by multi-colored vitamin pills and capsules the size of marbles.
There are times that we crave for certain dishes. This is due to the programming we have had since childhood to swing from one extreme to the other in the food chart.
The food pyramid chart and food gurus to guide our hungry palate was a more recent innovations. The Michelin star restaurants have been around for a long time, but the celebrity chefs and TV celebrity food show hosts are now more prominent in the culinary firmament. Thus, more people are aware and have become more obsessed with food. It’s the “In” thing.
Although we consider ourselves enlightened, we still tread the food tightrope of pleasure and pain. We still manifest races of the old mentality peculiar to the older generations — the occasional hankering for unhealthy foods that wreak havoc on the body.
On a lighter vein, have you ever peeped into the balikbayan boxes at the airport carousel? There are the usual appliances and cosmetics plus the canned goods for emergencies.
They are probably gifts for some grizzly characters (such as war veterans and jungle survivors) who crave for a sodium nitrate fix on rainy days. (As they say, old soldiers and old habits never die.)
Observers say that food tastes are evolving to healthy levels. Canned sardines, processed food and bacon strips have been replaced by tasteless but fibrous muesli, bran and fruit. Organic food and fiber are in. Preservatives and sprayed vegetables are out — except for embalmers and unscrupulous farmers.
The world is getting smaller. Travelers are exposed to global trends and are acquiring diverse culinary preferences from different cultures. Developing a worldly epicurean range is an adventure for foodies of all ages and shapes. The exploration on a culinary level has become the link that connects and diffuses generational differences.
Eating well is good. But one should remember to savor the nuances and qualities — good taste in small portions.
Whatever the occasion and the season, one should think healthy, avoid “inflation” and win the battle of the bulge. Stop the binge!
 
Maria Victoria Rufino is an artist, writer and businesswoman. She is president and executive producer of Maverick Productions.
mavrufino@gmail.com