Considering The Deadly ASF Of PH Swine, William Dar’s Lovely Basket Of Options


Title and icons (basket[1], rabbit[2], chicken[3], people making choices[4] & bleeding heart[5]): What’s the message?

Load up your basket and take heart with the options you have.

I told you, PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie is himself a Wizard Of Os! (See my “Creative Partnership For PH Agriculture Inclusive Development – And Creative Journalism[6].”) How is that? From his 15-year tenure as Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India, and with me as international consulting writer of ICRISAT, I saw Manong Willie was first and last into partnerships public and private, rich and poor. I said in that essay, “You work out the partnerships and you transform Obstacles into much-desired Opportunities, Options, Outputs and Outcomes good for the whole country!”

With the continuing ASF devastation, today I imagine Manong Willie’s first option: “There are lives after pork.”

In fact, Eireene Jairee Gomez writes in The Manila Times, 13 February 2020: “Rabbit Meat Eyed As Pork Alternative Amid ASF[7].” Ms Eireene says the DA “is considering rabbit as an alternative to pork among backyard raisers, citing the shorter growth cycle of the (species) than that of pigs.” She reports from the sidelines of the International Farmers Summit Philippines 2020 in Pasay City, where Manong Willie says, “While the DA was looking at poultry as the major alternative to hogs, the agency was also studying the production of (rabbits), given that many hog farmers have expressed discouragement (in) raising pigs due to ASF.”

Manong Willie: “We are serious. All options are on the table.
It’s part of a basket of options.”

Chicken and rabbit are two options. Manong Willie said rabbit meat is high in protein, just like chicken. Hearing that from him, I see that he has done his homework. In fact, the USDA has very reassuring words about rabbit meat[8]:

Fresh or frozen, rabbit meat is sold all year round. It can be used in most of the ways in which chicken is used. Like other lean meat, poultry, and fish, rabbit meat is a good source of (high-quality) protein. The meat is (fine-grained and mild-flavored).

Ms Eireene says:

Typically associated with chicken, rabbit meat was listed by the (USDA as) among the healthiest meats available… It has a high percentage of easily digestible protein, provides a wide range of minerals, and contains the least amount of fat among all the other available meats.

However, Ms Eireene says, “Studies showed that prolonged consumption of only rabbit meat risks starvation or protein poisoning or toxicity, thus, consuming it with moderation is highly suggested.”

Meanwhile, not resting, Manong Willie is leading the search for other options. Ms Eireene says Eugenio Mende, President of the Philippine Veterinary Drug Association, “admitted that the government was clearly ‘looking at other alternatives.’”

Duh! That is exactly why my title says, “William Dar’s Lovely Basket Of Options” – as a leader, you don’t stop looking at alternatives!@517





[1] https://www.iconninja.com/bag-basket-buy-shopping-ecommerce-icon-12906
[2] http://redrabbitco.com/contact.html
[3] https://www.iconsdb.com/green-icons/chicken-icon.html
[4] https://optionsforall.org/
[5] https://pixabay.com/illustrations/love-heart-icons-love-heart-1127725/
[6] https://ithewizardofos.blogspot.com/2020/02/creative-partnership-for-ph-agriculture.html
[7] https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/02/13/business/business-top/rabbit-meat-eyed-as-pork-alternative-amid-asf/685613/?fbclid=IwAR1TGQN-y80GKHy_iaVDjzm4Bg_grDltoCzlaw6Ov_FMYAzQUv-efeB7Kxs
[8] https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/bcb4cfe5-4af2-4406-8ab9-4a1c8273dff5/Rabbit_from_Farm_to_Table.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

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