MEDIUM RARE 

Irreconcilable facts.

We are – were? – an agricultural country. Once upon a time our IRRI (International Rice Research Institute) attracted farmers from all over Asia, including Vietnam, to learn the best techniques in planting, etc.

Today we are the world’s leading importer of rice and we’re buying rice from Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the average Filipino farmer is a senior citizen, and his children don’t want to follow in Tatay’s footsteps. They’d rather work abroad. As that elementary-school ditty goes, “Magtanim ay ‘di biro” – planting rice is no fun. And as Cook bewails, “Why are farmers in Japan and China rich while our farmers are not?”

A few days ago, the news was that there’s an expected surge in rice consumption, “primarily attributed to reduced tariffs.” The US Department of Agriculture did not mention population size or growth in the Philippines as having anything to do with the surge.

Don’t look at me, I eat less than half a cup of steamed rice at lunch and at dinner, primarily because rice, which is starch, fills me up very easily. And yes, it’s true, lots of people put lots of rice on their plates when they dine, buffet style, in restaurants. There was a time when unstarred restaurants proudly declared “unli rice” to attract customers.

Today, as more eaters learn to do with less rice as part of their diet, we await data from the Philippine Statistics Authority on our rice consumption habits. At the same time, our consciences should prick us when we notice how much food is left on plates – 30 to 40 percent, according to waiters I’ve talked to – as we are reminded how millions of children are not eating well, not eating enough. The image of a mother of 14 children living in Baseco Compound in Tondo comes to mind: What does she feed her kids three times a day? She’s 44 but she looks older than her age. I think of her as a miracle worker: providing 14 meals three times a day, 42 meals every 24 hours.

When we were kids, Grandmother Small Feet taught us: “Leave nothing on your plate. Millions are hungry in XX and XXX,” referring to two countries that have since overcome hunger despite their huge populations.