The City Agriculturist Office (CAgrO) urged Dabawenyos to be RICEponsible and support local farmers to reduce rice waste, achieve rice self-sufficiency, and combat poverty and malnutrition.
Pablita Almador, the City Agriculturist Office’s (CAgrO) focal person for rice production said one of the Rice Awareness Month celebration’s goals is to inspire people to try new rice varieties, prevent rice waste, and help local rice farmers.
“Isa sa gina [encourage] nato karon, especially karon nga rice awareness month, para matubag nato ang kakulangan pod sa bugas nga humay is katong mubalik ta sa rice blend, kato’ng rice mix (One of the things we are encouraging now, especially the rice awareness month, so that we can address the shortage of rice is going back to the rice blend or mix),” she said.
She said part of the be RICEponsible pledge during the Rice Awareness Month is to follow the A-B-A-K-D, which stands for A for Adlay, mais, saba, at iba pa ay ihalo sa kanin (Job’s tears, corn, and saba bananas should be mixed with rice);B for Brown rice ay kainin (eat brown rice); K for Kanin ay huwag sayangin (don’t waste rice); and D for Dapat bigas ng Pilipinas ang bilhin (buy rice from the Philippines).
“Kana atoang ginaduso karon isip mga Pilipino, mga consumers, nga i-support nato ang atoang mga local farmers (That is what we are pushing now as Filipinos, to the consumers, that we need to support our local farmers) Let’s buy local, support local and eat local,” she said.
“So kita mag take part pod ta isip mga consumer, [ug] mga Pilipino. Naa ta’y dako nga ikatampo isip mga consumer, nga maging RICEponsible ta (So let’s take part as consumers, and as Filipinos. We have a great contribution as consumers, to be RICEponsible),” she said.
She said they also have the 4H club, an organization that helps young people develop skills in agriculture, community service, and personal development, and encourages them to delve into farming.
She also encourages restaurants to follow the half-rice ordinance, which requires all business establishments to serve food including half-cup rice in their menu with its price also set half at the one-cup order.
“So naa na siya’y half cup dapat, para naa’y option, kay naa man gyu’y uban nga half lang dili kahurot og one cup. So masayang ra pod to siya (So they should have a half cup so that customers have a choice because others only have a half cup. So the leftover rice will be wasted),” she said.
She said the national government even had a contest to challenge Filipinos to eat half a cup of rice.
“Picturan lang nimo ang imohang plato, tapos i-post nimo sa Facebook. Hashtag lang, #BeRICEponsible #Fullheart (Just take a picture of your plate, then post it on Facebook. Just a hashtag, #BeRICEponsible #Fullheart),” she said.
The contest offers a grand prize of P40,000. CIO
