Pagpag

Pagpagis theTagalogterm forleftoverfood from restaurants (usually fromfast foodrestaurants) scavenged fromgarbagesites anddumps.Preparing and eatingpagpagis practiced in theslumsofMetro Manila, particularly inTondo.It arose from the challenges of hunger that resulted from extremepovertyamong theurban poor.
Pagpag food can also be expired frozen meat, fish, or vegetables discarded by supermarkets and scavenged in garbage trucks where this expired food is collected.The word in the Tagalog language literally means "to shake off the dust or dirt". Pagpag can be eaten immediately after it is found, or can be cooked in a variety of ways.
Pagpag is also calledbatchoy,aeuphemisticterm derived from theFilipino dish with the same name. Technically, batchoy is soup-based, though the term batchoy referring to leftover food from the trash may be a meal cooked differently, like friedpagpagbatchoy.
After dirt and inedible substances are removed thenpagpagcan be eaten on site where it is found. It can also be processed further, most commonly byfryingit in hot oil depending on the kind of food.Filipino actor and formerManilaMayorIsko Morenoused to scavenge leftover food and calling itpagpagbatsoyafter frying it.Smallcottage industrieshave arisen aroundpagpagwithimpoverished peoplemaking a living scavenging, collecting, processing, and selling the processedpagpagto other financially challenged people.A cook in a restaurant inTondo,Manilapreparespagpagin traditionalFilipino cooking, such aspagpagà lakalderetaoradobo, with the mixture of the leftover chicken fromJollibeeandKFCas the main ingredient.
Health risks include ingestion of poisons, toxins, and food-born illnesses. TheNational Anti-Poverty Commissionwarnsagainst eatingpagpagbecause of the threat of malnutrition and diseases such asHepatitis A,typhoid,diarrhea, andcholera.
Hunger has been linked to the spread ofpagpagfood and the food crisis in 2008 was said to be the cause in the rise of poverty in the Philippines.TheNational Statistical Coordination Boardrecommended the administration ofPhilippine PresidentBenigno Aquino IIIto reduce poverty.Department of Social Welfare and DevelopmentSecretaryDinky Solimansaid that the government has been addressing the issue and helping the poor through feeding programs and conditional cash transfers.In 2014, a survey conducted by theSocial Weather Stationsrevealed that incidence of hunger in the Philippines was reduced but theTrade Union Congress of the Philippines-Nagkaisa attributed the decrease of hunger to the rapid spreading ofpagpag.
Zero wastemanagement is seen as a viable solution in stopping the proliferation ofpagpagfood.
Extreme hunger among the Metro Manilaurban poorin the Philippines that featurespagpaghas been covered in various television documentaries. In 2003, the episode entitled "Basurero" (garbage collector) of the documentary showI-WitnessofGMA Networktells a story of poor people collecting leftovers from the trash of fast food restaurants.In the said episode, those people who scavenged for food in trash are calledmagbabatchoy, which was derived from the wordbatchoy, a popular Filipino dish. As shown inABS-CBNin 2006,Probe, another documentary show, featurespagpagand mentions health risks of eatingpagpag.
AfterCNNreported aboutpagpagin 2012,the reality about problems of hunger in the Philippines was brought to the world's attention.TheSan Diego Tribunealso featured an article about residents ofPayataspreparingpagpagin celebration ofPope Francis's visit to the Philippines.In February 2018,BBC Newspublished a 3-minute long mini-documentary showing howpagpagis made, whereby the team followed a bag of meat from the rubbish dump to the dinner table.
Frequentsensationalistmedia coverage ofpagpag, andTondopoverty in general, has been criticized as an example ofpoverty porn.
In common use,pagpagmeans the act of shaking off dust or dirt.Pagpagis also a Filipino term for a superstition saying one can never go directly to one's home after attending a funeral unless they have done thepagpag.This practice is observed to avoid the following of the dead's soul to the home of the visitor of thewake.