Eating Salads Manila

[frommelbourne]

Hi all

Hope this is the right place for this post. I'll be in Manila for a number of weeks as a trainer. I love eating salads. The travel advisories say to avoid uncooked food (vegetables etc ) as they may have been rinsed in local water which may be contaminated. I would imagine in the malls like Greenbelt etc precautions are taken and it is perfectly ok to eat salads. Am I right ?

[JJReyes]

I would imagine in the malls like Greenbelt etc precautions are taken and it is perfectly ok to eat salads. Am I right ?

The correct answer is "Yes" and "No" on salads. Restaurants in Greenbelt and similar locations will more likely thoroughly wash the vegetables before serving. The difficulty is the contamination may start at the growing fields and in transit. Washing may not be sufficient to assure that the vegetables are clean. Especially in the North, they use night soil. With the increasing popularity of ecosan (ecological-sanitation) toilets in rural areas, the chances of contamination increases.

There is an increasing movement towards organic vegetables farming. At last count, there are now more than 500 small producers. The most famous is Costales Nature Farm, an industry pioneer and supplier of cucumber and other vegetables, mostly to Japanese and Korean restaurants in Manila. I have a meeting scheduled next month with the owner, Ronald Costales. My plan is to convert a family farm into a Continuing Care Retirement Community serving residents organic fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry. I need a consultant. We found one earlier, but he want US $500 per day for his services.

It would be best to ask the restaurant where they source for their vegetables. Laguna, Batangas and Cavite farms are close to Manila. If it is from Benguet in the Mountain Province, keep in mind the vegetables are transported over a couple of days exposed to the elements. That includes dirt, bugs, trash, etc. from the highway. The central wholesale markets are also unclean.

Before I forget. Drink bottled water only. I don't drink sugared water, but if you do, Coke or Pepsi is the beverage of choice. Actually, the beverage recommended by the World Health Organization, anywhere in the world, is beer from the bottle. As an additional precaution, the bottle should be presented to you unopened.

Edited September 26, 2012 by JJR

[Higg-num]

JJR, I MAY be of service to you or at least hook you up with the right folks and save you some peso's. Might take me a week or so to get back with you on the Organic gigs / educational programs.

[MikeB]

The travel advisories say to avoid uncooked food (vegetables etc ) as they may have been rinsed in local water which may be contaminated. I would imagine in the malls like Greenbelt etc precautions are taken and it is perfectly ok to eat salads. Am I right ?

I would not assume precautions are taken, you can ask the staff but should you believe them? And even if they do kitchen and restaurant sanitation can vary from hour to hour. I have been in very nice restaurants here and seen wait staff moving silverware around by picking up the utensils by the "mouth" end right in front of me. I very rarely eat in restaurants. I would err on the side of caution and buy and wash your own.

[luke]

Hi all

Hope this is the right place for this post. I'll be in Manila for a number of weeks as a trainer. I love eating salads. The travel advisories say to avoid uncooked food (vegetables etc ) as they may have been rinsed in local water which may be contaminated. I would imagine in the malls like Greenbelt etc precautions are taken and it is perfectly ok to eat salads. Am I right ?

Just like you I like salads.

So far I have not experienced problems with salads I consumed in the (upscale) restaurants in greenbelt. Anyway, most local style resto's don't serve raw foods. The salads I buy in SM or Rustan's supermarket are clean to my experience, but I still wash it leaf by leaf when I prepare at home. Of course I check for freshness by looking at the root side of the salad. If it's brown then I leave it. The choice in salad varieties has been greatly improved in the past years.

Enjoy your stay in the Philippines (Makati?)

[JJReyes]

JJR, I MAY be of service to you or at least hook you up with the right folks and save you some peso's. Might take me a week or so to get back with you on the Organic gigs / educational programs.

The concept is to create a Continuing Care Retirement Community whose residents advocate the production and consumption of organic farm produce. My idea is a multi-lingual global community consisting of vegans, vegetarians and organic meat lovers (me). Unfortunately, the residents won't have a background in agronomy. They would have to learn about sustainable agriculture practices from experts and consultants. It is up to individual residents whether or not they would like to actually participate in planting, cultivation and harvest activities. But learning about organic farming is a condition for residency.

After a couple years, domestic and international visitors will be invited to Tropical Fruit Farm to spend part of a day and to sample or purchase tropical fruits. We won't have enough production capacity for the visitors, but there are nearby farms that can supply us with fruits and vegetables through contractual arrangements. The farm's residents will serve as docents for tours.

We might make it a policy that students from public elementary and high schools on excursion will be free admission. I can always charge the private school students double price to make up for it. Tropical Fruit Farm would become an education center and possibly serve as a model for the creation of similar agriculture based retirement communities in the Philippines.

I have studied other options including U-Pick Fruits, Farm Resort Agritourism, Bible Camp and International School. A refuge for global retirees seem to be the best idea so far. The location is not isolated. It is about two hours to Makati depending on traffic and maybe one hour to a shopping mall near the University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus. We can have van service for the residents.

My retirement is next year.

[Jollygoodfellow]

:attention:

Guys

Can we stick to the question and not what might be in the future. A member asked a question about an up coming trip and salads so that's the question that requires answers. There are other sections of the forum to discuss business ideas.

:444:

[frommelbourne]

Thanks for your replies all. This is a great forum. Maybe if I take it from a different angle and ask if there are places that people have gone to frequently and they never had any adverse reactions to cold served food/side salads etc and from all observations everything was clean and hygiene conscious ? And of course the food was good too. Thanks

[JJReyes]

Guys Can we stick to the question and not what might be in the future. A member asked a question about an up coming trip and salads so that's the question that requires answers. There are other sections of the forum to discuss business ideas.

Sorry. It's so easy to get off topic.

By the way frommelbourne, friends in Manila are raving about a vegetarian restaurant in Tagaytay, about one hour from Makati. They grow the vegetables and herbs in their backyard for the restaurant. My friends won't give me the name because I may decide to go on my own. They prefer to take me. Since you enjoy salads, locating a vegetarian restaurant is a good and possibly safe option. The restaurant owner would be more careful in selecting the suppliers.

Edited September 27, 2012 by JJR

[Matthew23]

THERES A SUBWAY IN MAKATI!!! >_< I'm going to become a regular there. Finding a salad in philippines was a mission! :angry: