What is Nutribun? (nutri-ban)
Nutribun was introduced in the early 70's to public elementary school students to fill up the malnutrition and crisis during those years. This is similar to Monay bread. Each class was given the exact number of Nutriban for a very affordable price. The Nutribun costs only few cents, only about five centavos. It was compulsary, but cheap :)
For my everyday baon; by which I remember was only 15 centavos, the cost of nutriban for recess was more than enough to survive the day. The bread is solid without air inside and not fluffy like the ordinary Pandesal. I would share my baon together with other classmates so we could buy a soft drink or samalameg to go with this bread during recess. We would share in one bottle of RC Cola or samalameg to save money from our allowance. Once we consume the whole bun, we'd feel heavy and full because it was solid and it tasted good even without fillings (or palaman) Sometimes, it has "Bukbok" (bread bugs) inside but it did not stop us to eat; we would just take them out of our Nutribun before we proceeded to eat. In my early age; I never thought about how freshly baked it was or if the ingredients were still fresh or whether the bread could be donated for a cause and about to expire. What I only thought about it, we're lucky enough to have something to eat; to have an affordable nutritional bun for recess.
It became a comon tag line among us kids; "Mura na, me free bukbok pa." I am not kidding here. It was vivid in my memories. My eldest son is aware about my story of Nutribun. I tell him whenever I got the chance about those happy days of my nutribun years. If this program be revived today; more students in public schools will benefit -- hopefully this time around; minus the bukbok :)
image from : Definitely Filipino Blog
