How rice made my friend smile

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

According to Wikipedia, rice is the staple food of over half of the world’s population. It is also the predominant dietary energy source for 17 countries in Asia and the Pacific. 

But I daresay that Filipinos love rice the most. If there is anything that identifies Filipinos here in the US, it is their love of rice and my long lost friend loves rice.

I visited a schoolmate named Marietta Rivera at St. Mary’s High School of Tagoloan town in Orlando Florida two years ago and rice was the topic. Why? Because rice made her stay in the US until now, her husband Bruce Bailey said.

This is just a short story of the importance of rice in the lives of Filipinos. Many thought that without rice they would die.

Bruce was so in love with Mayette that after the marriage he brought her to the US.  It was a chilly Massachusetts air welcoming Mayette since they arrived in winter. 

Permanent feature
The snow and chilly air aggravated her loneliness. She was crying most of the time and wasn't eating. Her husband was worried and he was finding ways to make her comfortable. 

(Mayette /Rivera (left in white sweater and jeans) and me pose beside the pool in her home. 

He gave her an electric blanket and provided her with all the “hot comforts” to make Mayette happy. But even then she was lonely. The food was palatable but she doesn't want it. She seldom talks, he said.

Because Bruce loves her so much and wants Mayette to stay with him, he searched for Filipinos around and asked them what he should do. A Filipino who lived a few blocks away from their house told him the ‘secret’ to make his wife happy. 

He was so excited to know what makes Filipinos to be happy. The Filipino told him that the secret to a Filipino's appetite is “rice”. He was told where it was sold and one day he surprised Mayette with rice. 

And Bruce saw Mayette give him her biggest smile yet. From then on rice was a permanent feature on the table. But she was eating jasmine rice.

Thrice a day
Like Mayette, I looked for rice in the US. In North Carolina, jasmine rice (actually Thai rice) is sold along with Busmante rice and brown rice in stores especially  Asian markets. 

The grains in Jasmine rice are big and stickier like our native malagkit, the one we use for “biko” or rice cake. But hard as I looked, there was no Filipino rice. Americans wonder why we eat rice thrice a day and why we don't consider a meal complete without rice. 

The Philippines does produce rice and it buys rice from Vietnam, India and Thailand because it's incapable of satisfying Filipino consumer demand for rice. 

Ironic since these countries sent their scientists in the Philippines to study how to plant and harvest rice 50 years ago.

In region 10 alone based on the data of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in 2010, the daily rice consumption requirement is 27,360 kilos. I used to cover NFA and learned that much of the rice sold in Region 10 or northern Mindanao is bought from Vietnam and Thailand whichever is cheaper. 

Planted
In Cagayan de Oro some rice lands are converted to subdivisions through legislation by the City Council. Barangay Iponan alone was converted from an  agricultural area to a residential site. 

More subdivisions are planted, I mean created, instead of maintaining or adding hectares of agricultural land. 

Misamis Oriental province is basically agricultural and it raised rice production to double digits due to sufficient water in irrigated areas but more rice can be produced in the province especially when including Gingoog City and Claveria town.

The local and national government must provide Filipino farmers the support they need to increase their yields. The support system would consist of fertilizers, post-harvest facilities, training, irrigation, loans and security of land tenure. 

The Department of Agriculture (DA), National Food Authority (NFA) and the National Irrigation Administration (NRA) must be shielded from political influences since their services are essential to ensuring the nutrition of all Filipinos.  

I long for the day when I can find “Philippine rice” in the Asian market. Until then Mayette and I would have to satisfy ourselves with the rice available in the US stores.