FOR AT LEAST three years now, the message of P20 billion worth of rice being wasted by Filipinos happens not in Pinoy households, but in restaurants and fast food chains offering ‘unli-rice’ gimmick to boost sales.
Because Pinoys love to eat, esp. viands that bring them the comforts of home, they go in large groups at these food chains that offer buffets with unli-rice options. Most buffets even spread long tables of various styles of rice (fried, steamed and other Asian cuisine that cook rice differently) which make families/groups salivate over a different style of cooked rice.
In short the appeal to conserve rice and put only what can be finished in one’s plate can never succeed for as long as the Department of Agriculture and its attached agency, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, would continue giving its message to the individual Filipino households, rather than those fast food chains and restaurants/diners that offer unli-rice option and buffets. Filipinos are typically ‘takaw tingin’ (they feast on the looks rather than taste of) the food they are putting on their plates and the frequency of putting rice servings on their plates.
It is not surprising that DA’s message again is the food wastage of P20 billion– nothing has changed actually, not even the specter of obesity, diabetes and other avoidable health complications, would deter Pinoys from filling their plates to the brim.
The DA is again asking the people to avoid rice wastage to help in the country’s food security efforts (an aspiration, I may say, until this time).
The PhilRice estimated way back 2023 that every Filipino throws away about two tablespoons of cooked rice daily, equivalent to 10.85 million sacks of rice worth P24.4 billion/year.
The DA’s statement said: “That wasted rice could feed about 5.17 million Filipinos for an entire year if we put less rice in the trash.” The DA estimates annual rice waste at 542,000 metric tons. ( Personally, I see no sense why food becomes trash when there are so many beggars and stray animals on the streets that food chains could feed if they so wish).
PhilRice launched the BeRICEponsible campaign in 2014, urging Filipinos to avoid rice wastage, support local farmers, and choose healthier rice options.
The DA encouraged households to practice responsible rice consumption (like I said it is not households that waste but food chains that throw uneaten food on tables being cleaned).
“Increasing production and reducing postharvest losses are critical to strengthening our rice supply, but these efforts will not be enough if we continue to waste what we already have on our plates,” said DA Undersecretary for Rice Christopher Morales.
“Disciplined consumption is just as important. Every grain saved from waste effectively adds to the food available to our people without requiring additional land, water, inputs, or production costs,” he added.
Aside from supporting locally produced rice, the DA is also encouraging the public to consider other healthier alternatives such as brown, pigmented, low-glycemic index, and high-zinc rice, along with rice mixes using corn, saba, camote, and adlai. For these new variants to succeed, the DA must push it to fast food joints and food chains.
The DA said it would revive the half-cup rice ordinance in select areas, so that restaurants are encouraged to offer small servings of rice to avoid wastage.
The DA’s campaign against rice wastage is an on-and-off measure, which is why people do not heed the message. Besides, the message must be more for the institutional establishments, rather than individual households (which because of the sudden spikes in rice prices would be very frugal to even lose a grain for the family).
The DA said it is not keen on banning rice imports now as the country prepares for the globally-feared El Niño later this year. Hence our rice imports surpassed 3 million metric tons as of the first half and that it would not allow palay farmgate prices of local farmers to plunge due to higher volume of rice imports, reported GMA News.