Eating for the Hungry by Prospero E. Pulma Jr.

Eating for the Hungry by Prospero E. Pulma Jr.

Rice in short supply! Food shortage coming! Looming famine!

Sounds familiar? Well, these were the headlines that have been splashed across broadsheets and proclaimed by hysterical news anchors recently. Since news should always be taken not only with a grain but a bucketful of salt, prudence dictated one not to jump into the hoarding bandwagon, lest he fall into the trap set by unscrupulous individuals. But a quick browse in the World Wide Web revealed that India, Vietnam, and Thailand have the problem, and it is not unique to this sad republic of ours, so there must be some truth to it.

So aside from buying the increasingly popular half-cup rice from some fastfood joints, maybe it would be wiser to eat that last morsel of food on your plate. Forget about etiquette that forbids one to empty his platter lest he is tagged as “patay gutom.” Forget about using the crisis as an excuse to go on a diet because if it becomes chronic, you will not be the only lithe person on the street. And forget about lining up the guilty on the guillotine because they are beyond redemption. For your next meal, get appropriate servings, not too much and not too little. Next time, eat for two, one for you and saving the other for that famished child foraging for food in garbage bins.