The lowdown on nutribun and its muddled Marcos ties

Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="This composite image shows a nutribun photo and presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Contributed photo/Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/17/20220517-nutribun.jpg"/><figcaption>This composite image shows a nutribun photo and presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. <em>Contributed photo/Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News </em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Days after Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. claimed victory in the May 9 presidential race, nutribun trended on social media, with many users associating the bread to the dictatorship of his late father and namesake. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/11/22/bongbong-marcos-visits-fathers-grave-after-elections">Bongbong Marcos visits FM&#x27;s grave after #Halalan2022</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/05/10/22/from-pariah-to-president-marcos-jr-returns-family-to-philippines-supremacy">From pariah to president: Marcos Jr returns family to Philippines supremacy</a></li></ul><p>But how did nutribun become a household name and why is it associated with Ferdinand Marcos Sr&#x27;s regime?</p><div><strong>Where nutribun came from</strong></div><p>The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) introduced nutribun as a supplement in feeding programs to combat malnutrition among Philippine elementary school students. </p><p>In a <a href="https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnaag927.pdf" target="_blank">paper</a>, the USAID said it formulated the nutribun as a &quot;ready-to-eat complete meal,&quot; while the Food For Peace program and humanitarian organization Cooperation for American Relief Everywhere (CARE) donated ingredients. Local commercial bakeries produced and delivered the finished product to schools.  </p><p>The nutribun aimed to meet one-fourth to one-third the average daily nutrient requirements of elementary school children. It had about 500 calories and 17 grams of protein, which was one-third the amount a child needed daily. It also gave children significant amounts of vitamin B complex, vitamin A, calcium, and iron. </p><p>Children paid P0.05-P0.10 per nutribun, which covered the costs of local ingredients, baking, and delivery.</p><p>During the school year 1970-1971, approximately 200,000 elementary school pupils received the nutribun in a test program as a snack while attending school. The following school year, students who received nutribuns increased to around 1.3 million. </p><div><strong>Alleged credit grabbing</strong></div><p>During a flood disaster in Central Luzon in the summer of 1972, some 8 million nutribuns were airdropped to the most severely affected areas. Bakeries also shifted to disaster feeding from delivering the snack to schools. </p><p>The USAID noted that nutribun was an ideal emergency food item because it gets moldy in 2 to 3 days and could not be hoarded. <br/> <br/>It was during this time that the buns came to be associated with the Marcoses. </p><p>A 2017 report by news website Philstar’s Newslab quoted a portion of the memoir of Nancy Dammann, a longtime media advisor for USAID. In it, she said, &quot;the nutribun bags were being stamped with the slogan &#x27;Courtesy of Imelda Marcos — Tulungan project.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>A Vera Files report also cited an Aug. 4, 1972 column by American journalist Lee Lascaze, in which he wrote that “Plastic bags stamped with her (Imelda&#x27;s) name were being widely used at one time for relief grain distributed in central Luzon’s most-damaged villages.”</p><p>The Tulungan project, the USAID noted, was an initiative of the former first lady that started in the 1970s—which means it coincided with the distribution of the Nutribun. </p><p>The project, a cooperation between the USAID and the Department of Social Welfare, was the first major effort to provide nutrition, basic health, and family planning services in Manila.</p><div><strong>Nutribun today</strong></div><p>Bongbong&#x27;s sister Sen. Imee Marcos has been pushing for the revival of the nutribun since 2019.</p><p>“Apparently, we’ve been left to our own devices for too long, so one solution is to revive the Nutribun soon. We’re coming up with a better version of what was given to schoolchildren in the 70s when dad was the President,” she said in a Facebook post where she called on the education department to address malnutrition to improve school performance. </p><p>The nutribun project was later revived in some parts of the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>San Miguel Corp. in October 2021 said it had distributed more than 2 million pieces of the bread, which it started producing at the start of the pandemic for areas that struggled with food due to the lockdowns.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/19/20/nutribun-revived-for-san-miguels-covid-19-relief-drive-ramon-ang">Nutribun revived for San Miguel&#x27;s COVID-19 relief drive: Ramon Ang</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/10/22/21/san-miguel-gave-out-over-2-million-nutribuns-during-pandemic-ang">Ang says San Miguel has distributed over 2 million nutribuns during pandemic</a></li></ul><p>In July 2020, the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) released an enhanced nutribun, which has more iron and vitamin A. It was softer, had squash for better taste, and packed 504 calories and 17.8 grams protein. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/22/20/govt-to-launch-enhanced-nutribun">Gov&#x27;t to launch &#x27;enhanced&#x27; nutribun</a></li></ul><p>The agency later came up with other nutribun variants with carrots and kamote or sweet potato. </p><p>Last December, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said the local government would install vending machines that will dispense nutribuns to students in the city’s public schools. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/29/21/free-nutribun-vending-machines-installed-in-manila-public-schools">Free nutribun vending machines installed in Manila public schools</a></li></ul><div><br/><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2032383" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

How did nutribun become a household name and why is it associated with Ferdinand Marcos Sr's regime?

The lowdown on nutribun and its muddled Marcos ties | ABS-CBN

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The lowdown on nutribun and its muddled Marcos ties

The lowdown on nutribun and its muddled Marcos ties

Benise Balaoing,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 17, 2022 10:59 PM PHT

Read More:

nutribun

Ferdinand Marcos Sr

Ferdinand Marcos

Bongbong Marcos

Imee Marcos

USAID

Tulungan project

history

food

US Agency for International Development

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