I’d Rather Go Home and Eat Camote!

Go home and plant camote!

This local remark, humorous but with a tinge of rudeness, is often addressed to students who do poorly in school, failing to meet scholastic expectations. Born and raised in the city, I grew up with the idea that a farmer’s work is reserved for those who doesn’t have the means to get themselves a decent education and later on, find a job which doesn’t involve plowing the fields and getting yourself toasted for hours under the sweltering heat.

But boy was I wrong. If you’d ask me now, I’d rather live in the countryside and have my own piece of land where I can plant camote the whole year round. Now that I’m in my twenties, our local farmers are now my heroes. I envy those who have the luxury ( it is indeed a luxury!) to actually plant their own food and cook them come harvest time.

An Underrated Local Produce I don’t have the statistics to back me up on this claim but I think camote is one of those underrated local produce we have in the Philippines. People in the city, I observed, tend to bypass stalls displaying the local camote in all its glory,  in wet markets and groceries alike. If only the camotes could talk. They’d probably scream at you and say, “Hey you! Come eat me! I swear you’ll lose some extra pounds if you can just spare me a minute to explain.”

Scratching Out the “Lowly” Image
The association of camote to being a poor man’s food or something that should be left alone for the mangbubukids to eat is probably one of the reasons why camote doesn’t get the attention it truly deserves. Being able to afford and buy rice (and maybe some whole wheat bread or whatever your choice of carbs) is akin to being a status symbol amongst our countrymen. So, for most of us, why the hell should we buy camotes when we can afford to buy rice which our taste buds are more used to? Why should we bother taking some boiled camotes to work for snacks when we can simply head off for the nearest 7-11?  

You might be surprised to find out that Manny Pacquiao regularly includes camote in his diet. To further convince you that camote, from now on, should be a regular on your to-buy list, this WholeFoods.Org nutritional profile on sweet potatoes will surely win you over!

There are probably a hundred more online sources out there which talk about the nutritional benefits of camote which comes in different colors and varieties. Also, if you would just creatively exercise those culinary muscles, you can do lots of things with your sweet potato -- fry, boil, bake!  I like to have mine boiled until they’re soft enough be eaten. I could either have them plain or topped with peanut butter. Add in brewed coffee to the mix and I can tackle whatever the day throws at me, taming kangaroos for example.

Now, shall we go home and plant camote then? Count me in!

Photo lifted from here.