The weekends saw me hearing the news on TV and radio (err.. Teleradyo) of the Secretary of Agriculture Arthur Yap calling on restaurants to serve half-rice instead of the usual fare. Heck, he even said that the State can use its police powers to enforce the half-rice directive, in case restaurants are recalcitrant.

For the first time, I am in support of a government initiative.

Yap’s idea is good. It is about time, actually. I am troubled by the increasing number of obese people nowadays, and I think serving half-rice will help in reducing obesity. We keep on hearing diatribes from dietricians and nutritionists calling on people to watch their diet, but only to see more obese people nowadays. So a government intervention might be part of the solution to the obesity problem. To be effective, not only should the serving of rice be halved, the price should be increased, too. Make it prohibitive, so that only those who can afford it can get it. This minimized the number of people who can get obese.

Second, it is about time to wean the Filipino people away from dependency on rice. We are a fast-industrializing country on the verge of attaining a first world status in 2010, and a dependency on rice is incoherent with that vision. It is about time we learn to eat Western-style. Let an overflow of imported food stuff flood the country. Seeing Toblerone, Taster’s Choice, and Frito Lays on sari-sari stores is a sign of a booming economy, a symbol of an industrializing country. Let us forget being an agricultural country; it is time to move on.

Besides, we are a net importer of rice, and it is not a good thing. That means we are dependent on rice imports to satisfy demand. It is a waste of foreign currencies, which can be invested into more important things, like a broadband project lead by a politician, or dole outs to rabid government supporters. Also, being a net importer means we are at the mercy of rice exporters, which is not good. Our mother state up north will not take such very lightly.

And so, I suggest that we establish a Half-Rice Club. The purpose of the club is two-fold: the short term goal is to reduce obesity to 10% of total population, to the upper A of the society. The medium term goal is to push forward to first world status by 2020 through veering away from being agricultural-based economy to a highly-industrialized one.

Anyone who wants to be a member, just raise their left foot. Naysayers shall be labeled as destabilizers.