IMO view: Staple food is not irreplaceable

Recently I met with my best friend, Ocik. We talked about staple food and she told me that she was now cutting back on her rice consumption based on her health perspective. Rice can be a true killer, she said. I can’t agree more with her. Other than rice’s nutritional aspect, I added some economic perspectives of rice.

Nowadays, we can buy rice for Rp 10,000 (some US$1.1) per kilo on average. That is not cheap, while wages in most work fields are not likely increasing due to regional and global economy. Yes, our country is currently still producing rice.

But due to the higher demand than supply, it forces the government to import rice also. Basically, if we do the math, the supply would not likely meet the demand.

What to do then? Cut the demand? Yes! But it isn’t so simple. Since there is no provision for any alternative for a rice substitute.

I’d prefer to go back to the definition of staple food first. What is a staple food?

Staple is a principal raw material or commodity grown or produced in a region. What is it that grows mostly in our region? Of course, the answer is rice. If we as a country need to import rice, it indicates that we are not growing enough rice for everyone.

It is our responsibility (and not just our government’s) to educate ourselves about other commodities grown in our region and incorporate that produce into our lives as secondary staple food. For example, cassava, sago, or corn, depending on the region.

Also, aside from its availability, we need to learn more about the nutritional aspect of those staple foods. What can we get from each product? How much should our bodies consume?

On average, adults need around 2,000 calories. Did you know that in 100 grams of rice there’s 365 calories? Assuming we have three meals in a day, all including rice, and per meal we consume 300g of rice, that’s already 1,095 calories three times over.

We are not yet counting other things like proteins and greens. We need to forget about deserts at this point. We all need to learn this well in order to be healthy, not only from our body’s perspective but also for society.

Other staple foods such as cassava or corn have less calories, which might be better for our health in terms of secondary consumption.

Once we know what staple food is all about and of course what we need, I am sure that cutting back rice is not that hard to do since by educating ourselves, the problem of alternative staple foods is resolved.

Aisanya
Jakarta