Poor Filipinos are ‘addicted’ to rice

MANILA, Philippines - During lunch break, 28-year-old "Amy" becomes the center of attention. Her officemates call her "tirador," as in "tirador ng kanin." She devours two to three cups of rice at P6.00 per serving, and a P25-viand, the cheapest sold in a Quezon City canteen near the office where she works as a writer. Amy does not only love to eat rice. Eating more of the staple and less of the viand is also her way of making both ends meet. "Maliit ang suweldo, kailangang magtipid, kaya bumabawi sa kanin (My income is small, I have to save, so I satisfy hunger through eating more rice)." At the University of the Philippines in Diliman, thirty-something "Liza" recalls her "addiction" to rice. During her college days in the late 80s, Liza's meal consisted of three to four cups of rice, which cost P2 per serving, and five pieces of sweet potato-filled "lumpiang shanghai" of P3 each. Like Amy, Liza overeats rice, not just because she likes it. "I ate more rice because I had to save to buy books, and photocopy a lot of reading materials for my literature class." Amy and Liza are among millions of poor Filipinos who subsist on rice. In the world, there are about 3 billion people, or about half of the total 6.6 billion population, who rely on rice as their major source of food. In 2025, the world's rice eaters are expected to hit 3.9 million. In the Philippines, rice consumption has continuously increased, which according to analysts is an indication that most Filipinos remain poor as they lack the means to expand their choice of food. A report by the National Statistical Coordination Board showed that in 2006 there were 12.23 million "food poor" Filipinos. About 4.77 million of them were in Mindanao. Another 4.20 million were in Luzon, and 3.26 million were in the Visayas. Data from the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, meanwhile showed that annual per-capita rice consumption in the Philippines grew by 28 percent to 118.7 kilograms per year in 1990 from 92.53 kg in 2006. On a monthly basis, this means that consumption of rice grew from 7.7 kg to 9.8 kg per person. Rice consumption in the Philippines is higher than in other more affluent neighboring countries in Asia. The Philippines, which ironically has 14 million hectares of agricultural lands, is now the world's biggest importer of rice. In Japan, annual per capita consumption was only 61 kg or 5.08 kg monthly in 2006. Taiwan's annual average consumption per person was only 48 kg or 4 kg monthly in the same year. South Korea's per capita consumption of 78.8 kg per year or 6.6 kg monthly in 2006, further dropped to 76.9 kg per year or 6.4 kg per month in 2007, as its citizens' purchasing power strengthened, and gave them options to eat more meat and vegetables. - AR Sabangan, GMANews.TV