The Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is ramping up its advocacy efforts for the National Rice Awareness Month (NRAM) to enhance public awareness about “BeRICEponsible.”
The online activities, which is a part of the NRAM celebration held every November, will kick off through the RCEF PalayAralan TV on Facebook on Oct. 27, 3 p.m.
Established under Proclamation No. 524 in 2014, this year’s NRAM focuses on the theme “BeRICEponsible” launched in 2022. The campaign promotes the practice of ABKD where A stands for “Adlay, mais, saba, atbp. ay ihalo sa kanin,” B for “Brown rice ay kainin,” K for “Kanin ay huwag sayangin,” and D for “Dapat bigas ng Pilipinas ang bilhin.”
Dr. Hazel V. Antonio, proponent of the BeRICEponsible campaign, encouraged rice consumers to join the “Pinasarap na kanin” cooking contest, an inventive competition challenging participants to demonstrate their culinary skills.
In this contest, rice must be infused with an assortment of carbohydrates such as adlay, corn, plantains, sweet potatoes, taro, and cassava. Participants will submit 5-minute videos emphasizing the health benefits derived from the main ingredients.
The Brown Rice Challenge will also capture the gains from brown rice consumers through selfies uploaded on their personal Facebook account.
Furthermore, the “Iwas aksaya” 3-minute video contest will feature advocates sharing tips on reducing rice wastage. Participants can use their preferred language and editing style to enhance creativity.
The video is relevant, especially in light of a 2018 data from Food and Nutrition Research Institute, which show that approximately 10g, equivalent to about 2tbsp of rice, were wasted per consumer per day. When this wastage is aggregated, it could feed over 2 million Filipinos for a year.
In addition, the “Be Riceponsible” Buyer Challenge urges the public to purchase rice with the Philippine Rice logo from November 1 to 27, upload selfies and share on their personal Facebook profiles with the hashtags #2023beRICEponsible and #buylocal.
“We’re conducting these activities online to engage diverse participants and reach every individual to contribute to the rice sector while also experiencing the benefits of being “RICEponsible,” Antonio said.
Contest mechanics, criteria, and prizes ranging from P1,000 to P15,000, will be posted on the Be RICEponsible and DA-PhilRice Facebook page.
