There is a proposal from government to make half orders of rice available as an option in restaurants and eateries, supposedly as a means to address the problem of rice wastage, as studies and statistics indicate that Filipinos waste at least 300,000 metric tons of rice each year.
The proposed bills to promote half cup services of rice has been backed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel who says the bills play a role in promoting responsible rice consumption and reducing wastage in a country that is among the world’s biggest importers of the staple.
The Philippine Rice Research Institute has found that the country has already saved at least P3.6 billion worth of uncooked rice due to reduced wastage nationwide, which went down 3 grams per person from 2009 to 2024. However, we still waste an average of 1 tablespoon, or 6 grams per person of wasted rice in 2024. That amount of wasted rice could otherwise sustain 2.79 million people for a year, which highlights the need for stronger advocacy on responsible rice consumption.
Making half cup orders of rice available as an option could be one way of helping us reduce wastage, especially with more Filipinos consciously eating less rice these days. The way we do it when my wife and I dine out is that we usually split the one rice anyway, so having the option of half a cup would be great.
If we don’t want to waste rice, or food in general, another habit that we need to teach our kids is to finish what is on their plate. This is one thing I remember being trained for when I was growing up, so it is something I have also passed on to my kids. If they should only put what they can finish on their plates, having the option of ordering a half rice will help them achieve that, not because there are other children who are starving in Africa (as the 80s kids remember being told), but because it is generally uncool to leave food on your plate.
Another area that we have to look into if we want to reduce food waste is our meal planning. If there are going to be half orders of rice, then home kitchens should be able to make finer adjustments when cooking rice, because the cup method that we currently use also gives the same problem of making either too little or too much rice. We cook rice in terms of cups, or maybe half cups, but going smaller than half is usually not worth the risk of coming up with a bad pot of rice because you can’t get the rice/water ratio right. The advantage of being Filipino is that we store extra rice for either reheating or making fried rice, but if we can the quantity right from the start, along with cooking it properly so we end up wasting less, our collective contribution to reducing rice/food waste could be quite significant.
If it’s any consolation, our attitudes towards food waste have already changed a lot. I remember back when I was in high school, so around 30 years ago, my father would have a fit if there was not “enough” food on the table, which meant that there had to be food waste. Now that I’m the dad, one of my sources of happiness is seeing the dinner table wiped out, and everyone is satisfied, but not stuffed. Because that means we don’t have to deal with leftovers. This means that sometimes you don’t feel as full as you think you should feel, or there are other times when we force each other to finish that last ‘pedazo de verguenza’, but that’s what a family meal should be, right?
Whether we deal with rice or viand, the point of the half rice movement is that we are trying to be more mindful of our food waste because it is one way we can contribute to the well-being of society and our planet. Wastage is just uncool, and making/eating just enough means that we don’t stress our planet and environment with unnecessary waste, along with the unnecessary emissions that went into the production of that food that ended up being improperly used. The less we waste, the less we need to produce, which means we generate less emissions all along the supply chain: from production, storage, and transport.
We have come to a point in human history that we need to be more mindful of the waste we generate in all aspects of life. If we can start with just rice, it should already be a win for everyone involved, our future grandkids included.
Although hopefully, we have what it takes to take it further than just half servings of rice.*
