Community Pantries Vs. Food trucks- Philippines Vs. Bahrain response to COV 19

 

My Facebook has been bombarded with pictures of Community Pantries across the Philippines in response to COV 19 and Chester suggested I write a blog on this growing Phenomenon. ( he likes big words!)

The long line of Food trucks at Bussatein, closed in the morning due to Ramadan

Then I thought do we have anything like this in Bahrain , and on one of my beach walks at Bussatein a thought occurred to me- Bahrain is being taken over by Food Trucks in response to COV 19!

                Bananas donated by the wonderful Mayor Amy Roa Alvarez

There is of course a subtle difference between the Community Pantries of the Philippines and the Food Trucks of Bahrain! The food in the Community Pantries is donated by kind citizens, they are staffed by volunteers and the food is distributed to the poor. In Palawan , where I will one day live, many families lost their income when COV 19 forced the Philippines to close it's borders to foreign nationals with a devastating effect on Tourism and the Hospitality industry there. The hotels , restaurants and beaches are empty and the people have no food.. hence the rise of Community Pantries. 

Here in Bahrain as the restaurants were forced to stop indoor dining ( and this ban will be reintroduced at Eid for those who have not been vaccinated) the food trucks proliferated. There was a food festival at Zallaq at the FLY residences, a Food Truck District at the National Stadium Car park in Riffa , Various Malls had food trucks in their car parks during Ramadan, there was a Food Promenade at Mall of Dilmunia and food trucks lined the roads at Seef, Saar, Bussatein etc. However the trucks were there to make a profit and the wealthy expats and Bahrainis queued up and paid for their food and posted their pictures on the social media. Nothing was done for the poor people like Max , stuck in a hotel room in quarantine with no wages and only unheated basic food boxes delivered daily ( If you haven't read the amazing Blogs by Max about his life in Quarantine with COV 19 in Bahrain please click here Max first blog and here My Cov 19 Quarantine goes on and on and I am starting to go crazy- by guest blogger Max (thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com) )

One of the Community pantries in Palawan run by TPSK ( Tabang Para Sa Kabataan) which means Help For Youth. 

So how did the Community Pantries start- our man in Marinka , Chester, tells the story:

"Here in Manila, everything was rather slow and everyone was in survival mode. Then we saw the rise of community pantries. These are small tables arranged outdoors by private citizens with some goodies (food, toiletries, etc) and the setup is like this :

"Take what you need. Give whatever you can." 

This is a sustainable system that is dependent on people not hoarding  and if people keep donating. No paperwork, no traces. It was very timely especially now that everyone is hungry because of the economic impacts of the lockdowns."

The first Community Pantry in Maginhawa picked up my the Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Palawan Star also covered this on 28 April saying:

""We are inspired by #MaginhawaCommunityPantry our team started this initiative to our small community in bgy. Sto Niño San Vicente and it's amazing how our neighbors, family and friends contributed MAGKAISA, MAGTULUNGAN, AT MAGMAHALAN TAYO NGAYONG MAY PANDEMYA. Gusto din po namin ma inspire yung ibang kabataan sa Palawan they can also do the community pantry to their community Kasi sa panahon ngayong May pandemya kailangan natin magkaisa Thank you and god bless everyone " -dagdag pa ni Francisco

via Liza Dueñas"

The many youth groups in the St Vicente area set up regular pantries and soon the queues formed as those in need came forward to get help, and those who had more than they needed donated. I saw so many photos that bought tears to my eyes and I want to share a few with you to salute the work of Mayor Alvarez , TPSK and all the other youth groups so worked so hard for free . They ensured that people wore masks, that Social distancing was maintained and displayed the produce in a way that Mark at Alosra would be proud of!

There has been a long running joke in the Philippines after an over zealous official stopped a Grab driver from delivering Lugaw ( Pinoy favourite food) in Bulacan during the COV 19 Crisis saying it was a Non essential food. The hashtag #Lugawisessential took off and a clarification was issued:

"“Lugaw, or any food item for that matter, is considered an essential good. Delivery of food items must remain unhampered 24/7. ... Under IATF rules, food deliveries are allowed in areas under enhanced community quarantine, such as Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal."

Source : https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/3/31/malacanang-lugaw-essential-good.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CLugaw%2C%20or%20any%20food%20item,must%20remain%20unhampered%2024%2F7.&text=Under%20IATF%20rules%2C%20food%20deliveries,%2C%20Cavite%2C%20Laguna%20and%20Rizal. ( accessed 3.5.2021)

So on the last day of ECQ and the last day also of the TPSK Community Kitchen the matalino ( smart) volunteers decided to serve hot and delicious Lugaw for around 300 people at Bgy. San Manuel and San Jose.

They also distributed more than 50 food packs to deserving households in the area. They asked me to thank an anonymous Engineer for all the food packs and to Councilor Jimmy Carbonell for referring!

I think they deserve a huge round of support and I would urge anyone who wishes to donate cash, food, Lugaw or anything that would benefit those who are starving in Palawan as a result of the Pandemic to get in touch with TPSK.

Meanwhile back in Bahrain its Ramadan and as the sun has risen the food trucks remain closed!

Let us hope that as one of the five pillars of Islam is Alms (zakat) and as Ramadan is a time of giving to the less fortunate , maybe some generous people here in Bahrain will take food gifts to those in Quarantine in Andulas Plaza and other hotels. Do not forget also the many Thai massage guys who have had no work or income for over a year as all the Massage parlours in Bahrain remain closed. 

In my humble opinion it would be more beneficial than giving your money to the food truck operators who have proliferated the Kingdom to make a fast buck!

                  Food trucks at the Al Najma Club Food Truck District

Special thanks to Chester and the guys at TPSK for the photos and material for the blog! As soon as I get my Philippines Visa and move to Palawan I will be there to support you in person.

Until that happy day this is the British Kabayan with a heart of gold signing off and wishing all my Kabayan Ingat Palagi and Kita Kits....