MEDIUM RARE

What a sight to behold! A highway slicing through the provinces of Central Luzon, on each side of NLEX where nature’s gift of green is decorated by an endless spool of white ribbon -- talahib or cogon? – as their feathery heads sway with the breeze. As far as the eye can see, but maybe something more than grass and weeds should be growing on it?

In China, where farmers’ produce must feed 1.2 billion people, cultivated farms and fields grow all the way to the very edge of the highway. That way, not an inch of soil is wasted. Maybe that’s why they have a “rice king”; maybe that’s why China exports rice while we import from China, Vietnam, India...

We used to export rice. At IRRI (International Rice Research Institute), we used to teach farmers from other countries how to grow rice. Now, besides being a staple, rice has become a balancing act. Not only diabetics and people on a diet calculate how much they may eat but likewise the socially conscious must decide if they ought to cut back on their consumption or contribute to the off-and-on shortages. What’s not on-and-off is the reality that millions of families do not have enough to eat three times a day, and more babies are being born smaller, lighter.

Should all of us and each of us eat less rice, what would be the impact on our farmers? When we were children, we were scolded for leaving enough grains on our plates to “feed the millions of hungry people in China” or to give an excuse to the bad fairy to plant acne on our faces.

The good news is that owners of restaurants catering to macho consumers like taxi and jeepney drivers no longer offer “unli” or unlimited rice, due to the prevailing higher prices or it doesn’t sound like a come-on anymore.    

In the same way, it’s now the rule for waiters to ask their customers at the end of the meal, with or without rice, “Take home?” In some restaurants, they don’t ask, they just wrap it up for you. Score one!

Myself, I enjoy listening to ladies exchanging recipes of their favorite salads – always a delicious conversation starter!