by: Denny JA
Okinawa is an island in Japan. There are many residents over 100 years old. The percentage of those over 100 years old in Okinawa is the highest and largest in the entire world.
There, the main food of the population is not rice, instead of cooking rice. Much more often they eat sweet potatoes or purple potatoes. The population in Okinawa is different from most Japanese people whose main food is rice.
Okinawa is a case to show that not eating rice or eating less rice can actually make life healthier.
This is our response to reading the hot news these days, related to the increase in rice prices which is said in the media: “rising at crazy prices.”
Even the Minister of Home Affairs himself said, it’s time for us not to focus on just eating rice, just cooking rice. It was also said that the Minister of Home Affairs provided information regarding the limitation on purchasing rice of 10 kg per day.
This is not government policy, but the supply of rice on the market is indeed very reduced compared to before.
Why is it limited? This is because rice prices have broken records many times. In early October 2023, the price will reach 13,300 rupiah.
According to media reports, this is the highest increase in rice prices in the last 5 years.
Why is a drastic increase in the price of basic commodities dangerous? Let’s look at the data.
This is the result of a study (IMF Working Papers), showing that rising food prices (staple foods) can cause political upheaval. This case occurs in many countries.
Now in Indonesia there is data from BPS September 2023. There has been a significant increase in rice prices in 178 districts. The price rose between 12.35% and 17.64%. It is clear that this increase is quite high, especially for small people.
The lowest increase in rice prices was in Java, the highest was in Papua.
The solution, for the short or long term, is to shift our main food to no longer just rice but also to popularize other foods.
There are three main things why the campaign to reduce eating rice needs to be supported. First, increase food security. This is so that we can be more resilient to the situation where rice prices can rise uncontrollably.
People are trained to get used to rice substitutes. The less we depend on just one staple food choice, the better it is for food security.
Rising food prices contributed to political upheaval in Indonesia in 1998, in Ecuador in 2019, and in Morocco in 2012.
Second, this is also part of long-term food diversification. Indonesia is very rich in various local foods besides rice. There are sweet potatoes there, there is cassava. There are taro and so on.
Third, health reasons. Rice has a fairly high carbohydrate content.
I myself have vowed to only eat rice once a day since a month ago. I just eat rice at noon.
But this is more due to the doctor’s advice for health reasons. Namely to reduce sugar levels and also reduce weight.
The call to reduce eating rice is worthy of a national campaign.
anangfadhilah
