San Miguel provides flour for bread made with carabao milk

SAN MIGUEL Foundation donated 133 bags of flour for the MilkyBun production of two cooperatives assisted by the Philippine Carabao Center in efforts to help farmers affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The center said the donation is in response to its initiative of working with the private sector to keep food supply available and to provide livelihood opportunities in the carabao industry.

The two cooperatives that received the donation were Catalanacan Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Nueva Ecija, with 67 bags, and Bohol Dairy Cooperative, with 66 bags. The flour will cut the cost of MilkyBun production and will boost the income of farmers, the center said.

In May, the foundation bought carabao milk from farmer-cooperatives that it donated to poor communities and food banks in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

The center’s research and development division developed the MilkyBun, a bread made with fresh carabao’s milk. It said the bread, which has proteins and carbohydrates from the milk, will boost the immune system of the population’s vulnerable sector such as the elderly and children.

“The amount of nutrients in one glass of milk is equivalent to one MilkyBun,” it said.

The MilkyBun production is in line with Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and the “Plant, Plant, Plant” stimulus program of the Department of Agriculture.

Arnel N. del Barrio, the center’s executive director, said the program’s MilkyBun production center is set to formally launch by September. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave