Rice has be a staple food throughout millennia. It may
date back 12,000 plus years, and has traveled through what we call today as
Thailand, Japan, China, Greece, Spain and then to the Americas. Rice, as a
cherished crop, has been portrayed as a gift from the gods in folklores and
mythologies through time.
A semi-aquatic annual grass plant under most growing conditions, rice
traditionally has been grown in flooded fields. This method of rice seedling
transplantation is one of intense manual labour and more than a billion human
beings have a job in growing rice.
As technology advances, more mechanisms are involved in the cultivation,
harvesting and processing of rice. In the United States for instance, most rice
growing is mechanized, and rice goes through a milling and polishing process to
yield a shiny white rice that has been greatly reduced in nutrient value. There
are many varieties of rice as well, and some varieties such as Jasmine and
Basmati rice are premium types. There have been proposals for Jasmine rice to be
genetically modified to increase “quality and productivity”.
Rice is one crop that has been with human beings throughout many ages in
history. Many of our plants and the nutrients derived thereof can be affected by
actions, big or small. Today, we see more of this with the changes in our food
via changes in agriculture with the uses of modern technology and science.
The value of a tiny grain may not be in the profit it can yield, but the true
quality we can appreciate in its longevity as a source of sustenance. And as
experience teaches us, quality often derives from methods which, though
requiring great efforts, produce great results, and not always from those
methods which promise ease and convenience, but leave us with an empty harvest.
