New marketing strategy needed? Cabbage farmers in Benguet reel from low prices

Cabbage has many health benefits and has been touted as a potential cure for COVID-19 – yet it seems to be slowly killing Benguet farmers. 

A glut in cabbage supply has brought down the price to almost P3 a kilo. 

Angelie Pamela Carino, who is among those behind the community kitchen know as Bayanihan Cordillera, said that she received a call from farmers early Friday, August 21, about 7 tons of cabbage selling at P3 a kilo. 

The Benguet farmers said they were selling at that very low price just for “diesel” or for the transportation cost. 

After posting on social media, she said her phone got overworked from all the calls she received. At the end of the day, Carino was able to sell all 7 tons. 

Five more tons were sold and set to be delivered to Manila. Three tons were bought for Bayanihan Cordillera’s community kitchen. 

But the problem is far from over. 

Department of Agriculture-Cordillera (DA-CAR) Director Cameron Odsey said that cabbage prices fluctuated from a low of P10.50 in January to a high of P53.33 in June. 

But overproduction and comparatively good weather caused a glut in August. This month, the price had swung from P10 to P3. 

To stop this price plunge, Odsey said that the DA increased the distribution of its Kadiwa Express for up to 20 metric tons of cabbage per week to Divisoria in Manila, and other major vegetable posts in Luzon.

He said that the DA, with 5 farmer organizations, will heighten its cabbage run until September. 

DA’s Kadiwa on Wheels and Kadiwa Retail Stores had also been selling 4.2 tons of cabbage per week in Manila.

Marketing as ‘superfood’?

Maybe the DA could change its tack and market cabbage by highlighting its health benefits amid personal safety concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July, European researchers made it to the headlines by comparing the coronavirus death rates and vegetable consumption preferences of European countries. 

The study, published on medRxiv, focused on vegetables from the brassica family, which includes salad vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, because of their antioxidant properties. Other salad vegetables like lettuce, cucumber, tomato, spinach, and zucchini were also studied.

The findings of the study are still subject to peer review and further validation.

According to the study, cabbage and cucumber “reached statistical significance with the COVID-19 death rate per country.” The European nations with the most alarming COVID-19 mortality levels have a low consumption of these two vegetables, based on the study, which is not yet peer-reviewed.

The study showed Cyprus and Latvia were among the biggest eaters of cabbage and cucumbers among the 22 countries in the study.  They have the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates among these countries – Latvia at 16 deaths from COVID per million and Cyprus at 21 per million. 

In Belgium, which is the worst affected country in Europe in COVID-19 mortality at 855 deaths per million, people consume less than 4 grams of cucumber a day. In France, which has a mortality rate of 450 per million, people eat only a gram of cabbage a day. 

“For each g/day increase in consumption of head cabbage, the mortality risk for COVID-19 decreases by 13.6%. For each g/day increase in consumption of cucumber, the mortality risk decreases by 15.7%,” it added.

Cabbage is known to be rich in Vitamin C, fiber, folate, potassium, magnesium, vitamins A and K. It also has antioxidants that help reduce inflammation.

Benguet farmers have been reeling from low vegetable prices since January. The situation was worsened by lockdowns imposed amid the pandemic, giving rise to various initiatives to help the farmers. – Rappler.com