Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Good Food Project and Brown Rice


This blog is dedicated to any campaigns inducing sound health and making some sense in the ever growing mis-educated society.  So when an invite shows up in my email about spreading the news about supporting OXFAM'S Grow Campaign I never gave it a second thought.

Even as a child my lola's would tell us that the rice they would bring us from their own farm from Bohol is much healthier than the glossy, steamy white rice we religiously have three times a day.  Those were the times that I would rather eat the viand I like the least (Sauteed Momgo Beans) than have a few spoons of these tanned loose rice.

Fast-track, thirty years from then, I am now trying to switch our white rice fanaticism with brown or even black rice.  Even before I attended the talk made by Dakila-Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, I knew how important it is to know facts about eating brown rice and how it would be more beneficial to my juvenile diabetic daughter and the whole family as well.
 Zooming in on this, just how healthful is brown rice to our diet.  It is considered a super-food which doesn't just fill up your tummy but will surely charge your body unknowingly.  Brown rice actually is a great source of fiber and complex carbs to fuel the body with glucose, thus protect against heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.  “It’s also an excellent source of magnesium, which works with calcium to build bones and teeth and to help the muscles contract,” says Elisa Zied, R.D., a registered dietician in New York City

The difference between brown and white rice is that brown rice is a whole grain  and white rice is not. Wild rice is also a whole grain and a good choice. Whole grains include the entire grain, while the more processed grains like white rice have some nutrient-rich parts of the grain (most of the germ and bran) removed. Whole grain foods have more fiber, vitamins, and minerals than the more processed grains.

Now, here is one good thing about consuming brown rice rather than the polished ones, which I learned from the event.  Brown rice is better for the environment.  How?

Rice goes through a variety of processes before it’s ready for cooking. After harvesting, the seeds are run through a rice huller/husker for milling to remove the outer grain husks. After this process, you’re left with brown rice.  To create white rice, there are added steps. The germ and the inner husk (bran) is removed, the grain is then polished, usually using glucose or talc.

The less processing of a food, the less energy required.  On being friendly to the environment, it cut's down more milling processes  thus less fuel burned which sums up to less carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

Brown rice is also organically produced, wherein pesticides and insecticides are not used.  This make the farm and its environment  far more safe for the farmers and the ecosystem.

Lastly, by buying brown rice as against white rice we help more farmers economically.  Aside from, saving from less processes and less costs from using less fuel, cheaper seedlings, they don't need to buy pesticides and insecticides.  With the less processes, they can do other things to earn more like doing handicrafts and inculcating vermiculture.

So, think about it!

Of course, I don't want to end this post without thanking the event partner-Sev's Cafe.  With the generosity and passion in helping our environment and fellow advocates, the husband and wife tandem, Howie Severino and Ipat Luna joined us throughout the night and have opened their cafe, served good food and good information on why the shift to brown rice.

Let me share you what Ipat Luna and the staff prepared for our dinner, of course high-lighting the humble brown rice and other organic ingredients such as Kitayama Wagyu Beef, organic eggs and duck meats, among others.




Pardon me for not giving the details on what was on our plate.  But let me end with this -extra sumptuously healthy!
Ms. Ipat Luna
Aia de Leon (former Imago band member) singing some songs 


No, you're not having  blurry visions, but yes, that's Howie Severino in the middle


The Good Food Project is a campaign initiated by Dakila and Oxfam International, seeks to revolutionize the eating habits of Filipinos with the major efforts in bringing back brwon rice as a staple food  while promoting sustainable agriculture and climate relief.

Let us all join in and support this cause.  Log in to their Facebook pages:

OXFAM SA PILIPINAS

BROWN RICE

to know more and get our acts together!

3 comments:

  1. I really wanted to go to this event. Sayang, we would have met na!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This reminds me of hanging out with friends, singing till your throat burst while eating really delicious foods like the ones in the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. sir, I want to talk with you about my self. my what's app 01737663595.

    ReplyDelete

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