Opening lecture as part of launch of the "Flavors of the Archipelago: A Photographic Exploration of Philippine Foodways" Exhibit

Wednesday, October 29, 2025
5:00 PM (Pacific Time)
Deutsch Room
Fowler Museum at UCLA
308 Charles E Young Dr N
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Batanes is closely linked with strong typhoons. These islands are often struck by the center winds of storms, which flatten vegetation and cause major food shortages. This situation results in maychapteng (famine). Because of isolation, rugged terrain, and limited resources, the Ivatan people learn to make use of food sources usually ignored in times of abundance. Whatever survives the typhoon is gathered, processed, and eaten. Root crops (wakay, Ipomoea batata; dukay, Dioscorea esculenta; uvi, Dioscorea alata) are the most dependable foods because, even after typhoons destroy surface plants, the underground roots remain intact. This is one of the main reasons rice is not the staple food of the Ivatan.

Today, things are different. Fewer strong typhoons reach Batanes each year. Commercial ships regularly bring supplies from the mainland, especially rice, which now replaces root crops as the staple. Airplane flights are also common, carrying both supplies and tourists. These changes bring rapid acculturation. Food habits shift quickly.

This lecture traces and explains how some foods once linked to famine become prestige foods. It examines the social and cultural pressures that shape values and perceptions, and it explores how ethnoarchaeology helps us understand the pathways these foods follow to their present status.

Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, The Philippine Consulate General of Los Angeles, Office of Senator Loren Legarda (Senate of the Philippines), UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies, UCLA Southeast Asian Archaeology Lab