What if, by just taking a pill, you’ll never go hungry again for the next few days?
This question was raised by a lawmaker in the Philippines during the confirmation hearing of the Department of Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr.
When I first heard it, I found the idea attractive because it seemed like it would benefit the poorest of the poor. But the more I think about it, the more I start to question how it would affect how we live as a people.
For one, we primarily build relationships during gatherings where we share food. We even strengthen the connection in our households by eating together. And if this ritual is removed from a poor family, where all they need is to swallow a pill to get by, would it affect how they come together?
How would a poor family acquire this “food pill?” And if the government were the sole provider of this pill, how would they assess the poor to decide whether they qualify to receive it? Would this new pill become regulated? Would it be peddled like drugs among the poorest of the poor?
And wouldn’t it be much cheaper to give the poor real food than food pills?
Suppose the government regularly gives out food pills to the poor to solve hunger. Would the poor become grateful to become the recipient of this food pill? Would they be open to adopting this innovative solution to hunger? Would this group of people become contented with just getting by through a pill?
What problem does a food pill really solve?
jessa 