mb.com.ph; January 27, 2011, 1:03am

MANILA, Philippines – On February 11, Sen. Edgardo J. Angara will launch what he believes is a most meaningful advocacy which is the battle against malnutrition and the fight towards a healthy, productive life for Filipino children.

He calls the project “Oh My Gulay!” which would encourage children to eat more vegetables. The senator points out that hidden hunger, or vitamin and mineral deficiency, is the most widespread cause of malnutrition among children. Eating vitamin- and mineral-rich vegetables is the most sound and cost-effective solution to this stealthy, silent killer. But we need to remind people of this often-forgotten fact, he says.

To achieve this, he said, he chose to build a multi-sectoral and tri-media campaign on healthy eating called “Oh My Gulay!” or OMG. It is a simple and powerful call-to-action to solve micronutrient deficiency and promote overall health by eating vegetables.

Oh My Gulay!’s activities center on the belief that every Filipino child should have the chance to live a rich, healthy life. All of its advocacy efforts support this mission. Activities include school feeding programs, vegetable backyard and school gardening projects, distribution of vegetable seeds and seedlings in schools and communities, and the teaching of vegetable cultivation in elementary and high schools.

Angara said the he is much inspired by the immense support expressed by friends in the private sector and the enthusiastic backing by public officials and their respective organizations. The campaign includes print, TV, music and online media, tapping today’s most popular artists to promote and lend names to this cause on a pro-bono basis.

Oh My Gulay! Will be formally launched on February 11 at 7 p.m. at the Manila polo Club in Makati.

One of the supporters of Angara’s advocacy is East-West Seed Company which launched its own “Tanim sa Kinabukasan” program last year by collaborating with elementary and high schools to put up showcases of improved vegetable production technologies. Todate, East-West has collaborated with no less than 33 schools in putting up such techno-demo projects in different parts of the country. The TSK program does not only teach the school kids to grow vegetables but also to encourage them to eat vegetables.

Source: Angara to launch 'Oh My Gulay!'