Losing the race for milk production

IREMEMBER t hat about 40 years ago, we still had a dairy industry. Today, i t appears t hat t he Philippines is importing most of its milk requirements, amounting to almost a hundred million dollars per year.

The bulk of our milk imports come from New Zealand, followed by Australia, Germany and France. Believe it or not, we are even importing from Bangladesh.

It goes without saying that we are also importing most of our cheese requirements, because cheese comes f rom milk, and we do not have enough milk production. Either that, or we could be producing cheese made from milk powders and other imported ingredients.

Today, consumer preferences are changing, and there is now lesser demand for products derived from animals, including cow milk of course.

Even in my own family, we are now drinking “milk” made from almonds or soybeans. Could we possibly compete in these new industries?

WHO’S ON TOP OF NEW FOOD PRODUCTS DEV’T?

Believe it or not, “cheese” is now made f rom cashew nuts, and “bacon” is now made from mushrooms.

Not only that, there are now many “meats” made from vegetable i ngredients, sometimes called “meatless”, and one is even branded as “Unmeat”. Most of these would fall under the category of “plant based” foods.

The world is changing so fast, and so is food production. Each day that passes could be a day of lost opportunities for our country if we are unable to understand the consumer trends around the world, and be able to act and react aggressively in response to global market demands.

Common sense tells us that when it comes to anything that is about food, it should be the Department of Agriculture ( DA) that should take the lead.

But if the DA is already busy with the growing of conventional crops, who should we depend on when it comes to the development of new food products? Should it be the Department of Science and Technology( DO ST ?) And who should guide the DOST about what to do, and which direction to go to? Should it not be the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)?

Does anyone know whether DA, DOST and DTI officials are talking to coordinate the development of new food products?

And why not include the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials in the coordination, considering that they are the ones who are exposed to the world markets?

Perhaps we could even make new cheeses from pili nuts? At least, we are already making burger patties from mushrooms!/