
Occasion after occasion, Cebu Technological University (CTU) Tuburan takes pride of the Pasalubong Center and it isn’t really the building but it was what was in it that embeds memoirs of the campus in a frequenter’s heart. For instance, the arrival of students from Belgium and Japan had them tucked more than just food but memories of a humble home. This is something not only foreigners enjoy during the anniversary of the university, everyone enjoyed the delights of CTU Tuburan.
The University officials heed the call of the United Nations for an establishment of innovative food and non-food manufacturing site, the campus sparked linkages with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) along with the LAMAC Multipurpose Cooperative as they donated a land meanwhile tapping the women of Brgy. San Jose in the making of coconut products and other food products from fish and squash.
The gourd family, for example, did not only create a fruit but a vineyard of cultivated vegetables. The vegetable is high in vitamins A, B6, and C, folate, magnesium, fiber, riboflavin, phosphorus, and potassium. “Squash” comes from the Narragansett Native American word askutasquash, which means “eaten raw or uncooked” and as a verb it means crushing or pressing to make it soft, which is more likely the better way to eat squash that grows in a country like the Philippines. The vegetable has gone through different evolutions as part of any cuisine but in a tropical country with a different kind of squash growing in this particular type of land, the distribution of butter squash crackers in the market paved the way for more ideas of how a squash cracker should be served in a feast of flavors like barbecue, cheese and garlic.
One cannot also simply miss a savory dip for a savory snack. One of the coconut products and also a product of the campus’ former Campus Director, Dr. Pedrito C. Pontillas, is Doc Dritz Suka. A vinegar made from a virgin coconut oil and goes through the process of fermentation. This is one of the famous products of CTU Tuburan that guests from different campuses, universities, even countries look for to pair it with the squash crackers.
These are just two of the products that CTU Tuburan takes pride in apart from virgin coconut oil, coco coir, fish boro, dishwashing liquid, and more. There are still more products and projects to brew in the extension of programs regarding sustainable livelihood to the community and not just inside the campus.