From farmers to importers: How Filipino rice growing went wrong

[Mike J]

5 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

I recall that ground corn is popular in Cebu and eaten as a replacement for rice.  Haven't read anything explaining why.

My wife still seems to prefer corn over rice.  I suspect it is a comfort food for here, much like mashed potatoes for me.  We do have rice quite often and it is mostly brown, red, or black, sometimes mixed with white.   About the only time we have all white rice is when guests are present for the meal.  My asawa is diligent in trying to serve relatively healthy foods.  We have two malunggay trees growing in the garden.

[JJReyes]

8 minutes ago, scott h said:

I would be interested to know Mike since your wife's family did not grow up eating rice everyday if they are plagued with "high blood" like the majority of Filipinos

There was a time when both Hawaii and California were hosting 50 or more young Japanese doctors a year who were training to become heart specialists.  The reason was the "McDonalds" syndrome.  With prosperity, the Japanese population increased their consumption of meat.  The government anticipated heart disease would follow.  Prior diet was fish, other seafoods, pickled vegetables and rice.  Add to that soy sauce.  The prevailing illness was stomach cancer and related ailments.  The shift to a meat diet increased height in the younger population.  Younger Japanese men and women are nearly one foot taller than their grandparents.  Same thing in the Philippine is observable, at least among the urban population.

I personally think that the high blood situation was the result of the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos producing hybrid rice to increase production.  You can grow and harvest two crops a year, provided an excessive amount of chemical fertilizer is used.  The GMO rice varieties might be the culprit.  Heart disease and high blood pressure was relatively unknown in the early 60's.  

[Mike J]

16 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

Younger Japanese men and women are nearly one foot taller than their grandparents.  Same thing in the Philippine is observable, at least among the urban population.

True, getting common to see Filipino who are quite tall.  However, many of the youth we work with would be described as food stunted as there is still a lot of poverty surrounding Moalboal.  For some reason it seems that girls are more likely than boys to be too short for their age.  Almost all the high school age girls who have topped out are even shorter than my wife who would be described as being short.

From google

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Food stunting is a condition where a child is too short for their age due to poor nutrition, repeated infections, or inadequate psychosocial stimulation. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a child as stunted if their height is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median

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Stunting, or being too short for a child's age, is very common in the Philippines, affecting about one in three children under the age of five: 
 
Prevalence
The Philippines has one of the highest rates of stunting in the world, ranking fifth in the East Asia and Pacific region. 
 
Regional variation
Stunting rates vary by region, with some areas exceeding 40%. For example, in 2021, 45% of children under five in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were stunted. 
 
Socioeconomic disparity
Stunting is more prevalent among the poorest children, even in urban areas. 
 
Height difference
By age five, Filipino children are already about 7 cm shorter than the WHO's healthy reference. 
 

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