Sa kabila na masasarap na pagkain na nakakain natin, may mga taong hirap humanap ng kanilang makakain. Ang mga tira nating pagkain na tinatapon lang sa basura, nagsisilbing pagkain nila sa araw-araw. Saksihan natin ang buhay ni Ate Helen na may limang anak at walong taon ng nabubuhay sa pagpag o pagkaing napupulot sa basura.
“Kahit ganito lang ang buhay namin basta wala kaming inaabalang tao. Araw-araw hahanap at hahanap parin kami ng makakain sa basura.”
Pagpag is the Tagalog term for leftover food from restaurants (usually from fast food restaurants) scavenged from garbage sites and dumps.[1][2] 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.[3] The word in the Tagalog language literally means "to shake off the dust or dirt", and refers to the act of shaking the dirt off of the edible portion of the leftovers. Pagpag can be either eaten immediately after it was found in the trash or cooked in variety of ways after collecting it.
The act of eating pagpag arose from the challenges of hunger that resulted from extreme poverty in the Philippines.[4] Selling pagpag was a profitable business in areas where poor people live.[5] Pagpag is also called batchoy,[6] which is derived from the Filipino dish with the same name. Technically, batchoy is soup-based though the term batchoy that is used to refer to leftover food from trash may be a meal cooked differently like fried pagpag batchoy.[7] People who scavenge leftover food from garbage are called mambabatchoy.