Assumption College of Davao

It was in the mid 1980s when, as part of the school’s heightened health consciousness, it began to explore possibilities of removing all multinational products, more commonly known as junk food, inside the campus. The idea slowly permeated into the consciousness of the stakeholders and became the subject of animated, sometimes even heated, deliberations among members of the school community.

The debates, fueled by subjective opinion and scientific data, continued throughout the decade. And by 1993, the total pullout of all multi-national products was implemented. The move was part of the school’s campaign against all foods high in sugar, salt and fat content and low in nutritional value. Soft drinks like Coca-cola and Pepsi products started getting barred from entering the gates of the campus and so were food products like potato chips, juice in tetra packs and the like.

Yet despite the implementation, healthy discussion continued. The matter of identifying which foods are actually considered junk was a constant bone of contention even among nutritionists themselves.

The school, persevering in its anti-junk food stance, made further studies. It decided that its main disagreement with junk food rested on the following grounds: One, the nutritional value of its alternative; two, the political and economic implications of patronizing foreign products; and three, the ecological hazards of synthetic packaging. These subsequently formed the basis of identifying which food products were to be avoided.

The school’s anti-junk food stance solidified amid public protests against multinational companies’ (MNCs) aggressive encroachment across Mindanao’s impoverished communities.

Today, the Assumption College of Davao continues its campaign against junk food. It is likely the only campus in Mindanao—it is certainly the only one in Davao and maybe one of a very few in the entire country— that is junk food-free.