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strong>Nov. 12, p. 4

Faced with a possible decline in its rice production, more Indonesians should start placing more types of staple foods on the table, experts have said.

By consuming more diversified staple foods, average Indonesians would not only be healthier, but also contribute to improving the welfare of farmers.

Your comments:

If the consumption swings from rice to wheat flour, it won’t do any good in terms of food safety: Wheat is still imported.

In the eyes of public, alternatives to rice such as noodles, bread and potatoes are for lovers of western food. Wheat and potatoes are still mostly imported, anyway.

Perhaps culinary experts such as Bondan Winarno can help invent and promote recipes that use locally grown staple foods. There are not too many recipes using cassava, tapioca flour or sago as their main ingredients.

On improving the plight of farmers, we also need to provide assistance in production, distribution and marketing.

We must ensure that food prices are enough to cover their production cost and leave a little for profit.

Know-how on increasing crop yields is also needed. When local farmers are able to meet demand, we can stop importing.

Rio Rivai