Facts
Rice is the staple food for more than
half of the world's population.
There are possible tens of thousands of
varieties of rice grown on every continent of the world except
Antarctica.
91% of the world's rice is grown in an
Asian country, and about 55% accounted for by China, Taiwan and India
alone.
In many places around the world rice can
be the difference between life and death.
An average person eats about 300 to 400
pounds (130-180kg) of rice per year.
The average person in Asia eats rice 2
to 3 times a day.
The average person in Myanmar eats 195
kg of rice each year.
The average person in Lao PDR and
Cambodia eats about 160 kg of rice each year.
The average European eats 3 kg per year
and the average American eats 7 kg.
Only 5% of the world's rice is exported,
therefore 95% is consumed in the country where it is grown.
It takes 5000 litres of water to produce
1kg of rice.
In the USA, the average person only
consumes about 25 pounds (11.25kg) of rice per year, of which about 4
pounds is used for brewing beer. However Americans now eat about twice
as much rice as they did 10 years ago.
Three of the world’s four most populous
nations are rice-based societies—China, India, and Indonesia. Together,
they have nearly 2.5 billion people.
Science now reveals that rice may have
been cultivated as far back as 7000 years ago.
World rice production:
East Asia 45%
South Asia 24%
Southeast Asia 22%
Latin America 4%
Africa 2%
Rest of the world 3%
Rice in China:
The word for Rice is the same word
for food.
Young girls are warned that every
grain of rice they leave in their bowls represents a pock mark on the
face of their future husband.
Instead of saying "How are you?", a
typical greeting is "Have you had your rice today?"
Rice in Thailand:
When you call your family to a meal
you say "eat rice".
Rice in Japan:
The word for cooked rice is the same
as the word for meal.
It is believed by the Japanese that
soaking rice before cooking releases life energy and gives the consumer
a more peaceful soul.
Grains of rice are referred to as
"little Buddhas" to encourage small children to eat.
Rice in Indonesia:
The goddess of life and fertility,
Dewi Sri, is well know as "the rice mother" and is the most loved and
worshipped deity in Bali. Offerings to "the rice mother" include,
putting pinches of rice along the edges of fields to keep evil spirits
and animals at bay, and grand temple celebrations with elaborate
offerings of dyed rice paste.
Rice in India:
Rice is the first food a new bride
offers her husband.
Rice is the first food offered to a
newborn baby.
It is said that rice should be like
two brothers, close, but not stuck together.
