As ubiquitous as the neighborhood karinderya is the pinakbet, a mainstay on the menu of these public eateries, the predecessor of the modern and airconditioned fastfood restaurants. The Pinoy dish derives its appeal from flavor, affordability and nutritiousness.

Vegetables will always be healthy food and as the pinakbet’s ingredients, the pambansang ulam is obviously rich in nutrients. The dish is basically eggplant, bitter melon (ampalaya), okra, string beans (sitaw), tomatoes, and often squash (kalabasa) or sweet potatoes sauted with bagoong alamang (shrimp paste) or stewed with fermented bagoong isda (fish sauce) in the original Ilocano style of cooking. Other ingredients are garlic and onion, with versions that include pork.

Being eaten almost anywhere daily, pinakbet or pakbet is one of the drivers of the domestic vegetable economy. Stalls and vendors in public markets and supermarkets are never without ampalaya, kalabasa, kamatis, okra, sitaw and talong. Thus, cultivating and trading such vegetables is the livelihood of many lowland farmers.

For the Villar Farm School (VFS) in Bacoor, Cavite, vegetable farming is among the free courses given to trainers and a vegetable farm maintained by its employees serves as hands-on site.

It makes sense to grow pinakbet vegetables because each plant can be stand-alone dish, too, according to former Senator Cynthia Villar, executive director of Villar Foundation, which runs the 10-year-old agricultural training school.

“Eggplant can be cooked as tortang talong. String beans can be ginisang sitaw and okra can be steamed,” Villar tells DAILY TRIBUNE during a tour of the farm.

More importantly, for Villar, pinakbet farming is good business for helping cover part of the operating cost of the school.

“Our vegetable farm earns P150,000 monthly. The amount covers the salary of 15 workers of the farm school,” says Villar.

The pinakbet vegetables grown at the VFS are sold at AllDay supermarkets, part of the Villar

Group of Companies. The grocery has branches all over Las Piñas City.

Villar says she established the VFS to make farming lucrative to Filipinos. The school’s profitable vegetable farm already meets that goal.