Filipinos urged to stop wasting rice

By: Jeannette I. Andrade - 10 years ago

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Armin Luistro urged schools nationwide to actively participate in the observance of National Rice Awareness Month in November, saying the amount of rice Filipinos waste every day could feed 2.5 million people a year and adds up to more than P7 billion annually.

The month-long activities, according to a memorandum issued by Luistro, are aimed at teaching students the value of the staple and the hard work put in by farmers to produce the grain.

He cited a finding by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) which said that the nine grams or two to three spoons of rice wasted by Filipinos daily can actually feed 2.5 million people for a year. Rice is generally wasted when too much is cooked and left uneaten.

Luistro said the activities are aimed at promoting the “rice-ponsibility” of every Filipino, which includes: stop wasting rice; switch to the brown variety; mix rice with other forms of staple for better health; and to think of the farmers’ hard work in producing the staple.

Luistro encouraged all DepEd officials, employees, teachers and students in both public and private schools nationwide to launch information campaigns for the celebration and to recite the “Panatang Makapalay (Rice Pledge),” at the end of every flag-raising ceremony in November.

The Panatang Makapalay includes a pledge to stop wasting rice; to consume brown or unpolished rice and other alternatives, such as banana, root crops, or corn; and to eat rice responsibly because “every grain saves a life.”

Luistro also advised all public and private schools nationwide to serve in their cafeterias only brown rice on November 14 and a rice-corn mix on November 21.

Brown or unpolished rice is considered healthier because it has rice bran, which contains vitamins B1, B3, B6, B9, dietary fiber, antioxidants, protein, manganese, phosphorus and iron which can reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, and high blood pressure.

According to PhilRice each Filipino wasted 9 grams or 2 to 3 spoons of rice daily in 2008 which would have sufficed to feed 2.5 million persons. The total cost of the wastage, the agency said, was 12 percent of rice imported for that year and cost approximately P7.3 billion.