Rice.
It makes Rice Crispies and Rice Crispy Treats, Uncle Ben’s Cream of Rice, Rice flour, rice coffee, rice vinegar, rice bran, rice soap, rice noodles, rice beer and wine, rice milk, rice paper, and rice straw which makes shoes, flip-flops, and straw bags.
In some Asian countries, such as Japan, burning twisted rice straw rope is believed to purify a room or area.
Charcoal made from rice hulls is used in Korean barbeque.
In China, school children buy steamed rice desserts during their lunch break.
Geishas sometimes wear rice panicles as ornaments.
A rice straw “dragon” is used as a habitat for silk worms making cocoons.
Balinese rub rice paste on their feet to alleviate headaches and sore muscles.
Rice straw rope is wrapped around plants to protect them from severe weather. Insects lay their eggs on the straw which is then burned in spring—non-chemical pesticide management.
Mats made of rice straw are sold in Nepal, Kathmandu.
Rice is the popular grain used in most brands of beer.
Puffed rice kernels are snacks in Madras, India.
Cakes made from rice flour are popular in Balinesian markets.
I found this display in the rice museum located at the International Rice and Research Institute (I.R.R.I.) in Los Banos, a town about a one and a half hour drive from Manila. Until my time there, I really had no concept of how rice is such an integral part of Asian life. As an American I grew up eating a lot of wheat, but I’ve never seen wheat honored or used in quite this way—made into purifying sticks used in rituals, into clothing and shoes. And I never understood quite how vital rice is to billions of people. What’s it like to eat the same staple at every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I don’t think many Westerners (without Asian heritage) fully understand that.
I wandered through the rice museum in between interviews. There were displays of all the different tools used to harvest rice—especially ones used in the past, an entire corner of the museum dedicated to insects—both “pests” and beneficial ones as well. There was an Ifugao display, where they had a miniature version of the Native Ifugao hut and a video of an Ifugao ritual that looped continuously. I could hear the drumming and chanting coming from the hut while I wandered through another display—the one that had all the foods, the drinks, and even the clothes that rice was found in. There were many things I didn’t think of, and many items that I consumed a lot myself. Wandering through the display felt like a ritual itself as the Ifugao priests drummed in the background.
I.R.R.I.’s mission and purpose belie the depth of work they do. Essentially, their mission is to “reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure that rice production is environmentally sustainable.”
They work closely with rice-producing and consuming countries to produce rice varieties that get requested by national organizations. For example, if the farmers in a region of the Philippines need a rice variety with certain characteristics, they tell I.R.R.I. and I.R.R.I tries to make it. They also conduct volumes of research and provide training and education for people helping rice farmers. They are a nonprofit organization, funded by sources all over the world.
I came to I.R.R.I. for many reasons. One of them because I knew they had engineered several rice varieties that did poorly in this region, destroyed the soil, and also created a dependency among the farmers for engineered rice. Because they’d destroyed the soil, the farmers couldn’t return to their native varieties with their picky soil needs.
But I.R.R.I. also engineers all the rice that grows in the world—unless it’s a heritage variety that is native to the region, or a variety engineered for profit by a company like Dupont or Monsanto. But they also have something incredible and unique: a seed bank that contains thousands of native rice seeds from around the world. Countries send in their native rice seeds to preserve in case something happens to the species. It’s an incredible service to the world.
My time at the rice museum served as a good precedent for the rest of my time at I.R.R.I. In rice based cultures, rice is sacred. I needed to understand that before I continued my research. I needed to understand that before I could even begin to understand the Ifugao.
This little saying at the Rice Museum helped put it into perspective for me:
Rice is Life.
For people in rice cultures,
Rice means just about everything
That is important:
Birth, Death,
Wealth, Power,
Strength, Fertility,
Virility, Vitality—
Life itself.
It makes Rice Crispies and Rice Crispy Treats, Uncle Ben’s Cream of Rice, Rice flour, rice coffee, rice vinegar, rice bran, rice soap, rice noodles, rice beer and wine, rice milk, rice paper, and rice straw which makes shoes, flip-flops, and straw bags.
In some Asian countries, such as Japan, burning twisted rice straw rope is believed to purify a room or area.
Charcoal made from rice hulls is used in Korean barbeque.
In China, school children buy steamed rice desserts during their lunch break.
Geishas sometimes wear rice panicles as ornaments.
A rice straw “dragon” is used as a habitat for silk worms making cocoons.
Balinese rub rice paste on their feet to alleviate headaches and sore muscles.
Rice straw rope is wrapped around plants to protect them from severe weather. Insects lay their eggs on the straw which is then burned in spring—non-chemical pesticide management.
Mats made of rice straw are sold in Nepal, Kathmandu.
Rice is the popular grain used in most brands of beer.
Puffed rice kernels are snacks in Madras, India.
Cakes made from rice flour are popular in Balinesian markets.
I found this display in the rice museum located at the International Rice and Research Institute (I.R.R.I.) in Los Banos, a town about a one and a half hour drive from Manila. Until my time there, I really had no concept of how rice is such an integral part of Asian life. As an American I grew up eating a lot of wheat, but I’ve never seen wheat honored or used in quite this way—made into purifying sticks used in rituals, into clothing and shoes. And I never understood quite how vital rice is to billions of people. What’s it like to eat the same staple at every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I don’t think many Westerners (without Asian heritage) fully understand that.
I wandered through the rice museum in between interviews. There were displays of all the different tools used to harvest rice—especially ones used in the past, an entire corner of the museum dedicated to insects—both “pests” and beneficial ones as well. There was an Ifugao display, where they had a miniature version of the Native Ifugao hut and a video of an Ifugao ritual that looped continuously. I could hear the drumming and chanting coming from the hut while I wandered through another display—the one that had all the foods, the drinks, and even the clothes that rice was found in. There were many things I didn’t think of, and many items that I consumed a lot myself. Wandering through the display felt like a ritual itself as the Ifugao priests drummed in the background.
I.R.R.I.’s mission and purpose belie the depth of work they do. Essentially, their mission is to “reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure that rice production is environmentally sustainable.”
They work closely with rice-producing and consuming countries to produce rice varieties that get requested by national organizations. For example, if the farmers in a region of the Philippines need a rice variety with certain characteristics, they tell I.R.R.I. and I.R.R.I tries to make it. They also conduct volumes of research and provide training and education for people helping rice farmers. They are a nonprofit organization, funded by sources all over the world.
I came to I.R.R.I. for many reasons. One of them because I knew they had engineered several rice varieties that did poorly in this region, destroyed the soil, and also created a dependency among the farmers for engineered rice. Because they’d destroyed the soil, the farmers couldn’t return to their native varieties with their picky soil needs.
But I.R.R.I. also engineers all the rice that grows in the world—unless it’s a heritage variety that is native to the region, or a variety engineered for profit by a company like Dupont or Monsanto. But they also have something incredible and unique: a seed bank that contains thousands of native rice seeds from around the world. Countries send in their native rice seeds to preserve in case something happens to the species. It’s an incredible service to the world.
My time at the rice museum served as a good precedent for the rest of my time at I.R.R.I. In rice based cultures, rice is sacred. I needed to understand that before I continued my research. I needed to understand that before I could even begin to understand the Ifugao.
This little saying at the Rice Museum helped put it into perspective for me:
Rice is Life.
For people in rice cultures,
Rice means just about everything
That is important:
Birth, Death,
Wealth, Power,
Strength, Fertility,
Virility, Vitality—
Life itself.
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