LET’S HAVE MORE STAPLE FOODS OTHER THAN RICE

LET’S HAVE MORE STAPLE FOODS OTHER THAN RICE

For decades, Filipinos have treated rice almost like a sacred part of every meal. Many of us even joke that if there is no rice on the table, then we have not really eaten yet. However, behind that cultural attachment lies a dangerous reality that we should already be discussing seriously as a nation.

I do not want to sound like a broken record, but it is simply not right for an agricultural country like the Philippines to remain heavily dependent on imported rice. In fact, if we were truly maximizing our agricultural potential, we should be exporting rice instead of importing millions of metric tons every year.

Current estimates show that the Philippines imports roughly 20 to 30 percent of its rice supply. That means about one-fourth of our staple food depends on foreign countries. To me, that is already a warning sign of food insecurity.

What happens if exporting countries suddenly limit their exports because of climate disasters, wars, or global shortages? What happens if prices skyrocket again? Are we prepared for that possibility?

Other countries are not waiting for a crisis before acting. China has already elevated potatoes into a national staple because potatoes require far less water than rice and can grow in mountainous areas. Indonesia launched programs encouraging people to eat cassava, sago, and corn-based staples. Several African countries are promoting sweet potatoes, sorghum, and millet because these crops survive droughts better than rice.

Why can’t we do the same?

The truth is that the Philippines is blessed with many alternative staple foods that our own ancestors survived on long before imported rice became part of our national obsession. We have kamote, cassava, gabi, ube, corn, sorghum, adlai, saba bananas, and even breadfruit or rimas.

These are not “poor man’s foods.” They are climate-resilient foods.

Rice farming requires massive amounts of water. As climate change worsens and water becomes scarcer, relying almost entirely on rice becomes increasingly risky. Root crops, on the other hand, grow underground and survive typhoons and droughts better. Some, like cassava and breadfruit, grow even in marginal lands where rice cannot thrive.

What is interesting is that modern food technology now allows many of these crops to be processed into rice-like grains. Breadfruit flour, cassava flour, sweet potato flour, and even banana flour can be extruded into granules that resemble rice. In other words, we do not necessarily have to abandon our rice-eating habits overnight. We can gradually blend alternative staples into our meals.

Imagine government feeding programs using rice mixed with adlai or corn. Imagine military camps, hospitals, and schools serving root crop blends as regular staples. Imagine local cooperatives producing breadfruit rice or cassava rice instead of importing more foreign grains.

That would create jobs for farmers while strengthening food security.

I also believe that this conversation is connected to the need for a “Brown Revolution,” meaning the restoration of soil health through organic farming and reduced dependence on chemical fertilizers. Let us not forget that chemical fertilizers are heavily tied to petroleum products. As oil prices rise, fertilizer prices also rise. That affects rice production costs directly.

Diversifying our staple foods is not merely an agricultural issue. It is a national security issue, a health issue, and an economic issue.

The government should start treating alternative staples as strategic crops and not as secondary commodities. We should invest in processing facilities, research, farmer training, and public education campaigns. We should remove the stigma that root crops are inferior to rice.

If we continue relying too heavily on imported rice while ignoring our indigenous crops, we might one day find ourselves blaming each other when shortages happen. By then, however, it could already be too late.

The time to diversify our staple foods is now, not during a crisis.

RAMON IKE V. SENERES

www.facebook.com/ike.seneres  iseneres@yahoo.com  senseneres.blogspot.com  09088877282/06-23-2027

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