RESTAURANTS and other food service establishments are offering unlimited rice servings to their customers as a strategy to attract their patronage. This results in unnecessary increases in rice consumption that adds to the shortage of rice inventories. It also adds to unwanted increases in rice imports.
Moreover, unlimited rice encourages over eating that is not good for the health of Filipinos, especially those who need to reduce their sugar intake.
Since this practice could potentially affect our food security, the government should think about issuing some rules that would discourage restaurants and other food service establishments from serving unlimited rice in their menu offerings.
Of course, I do understand that offering unlimited rice is a free market decision among restaurant, and the customers also have the freedom of choice whether to avail of the offer or not. Perhaps the rules as issued could be similar to the “suggested retail prices” (SRPs) as it applies to consumer goods.
In reality, SRPs are simply just “suggestions” and nothing else. In that since, it is really up to the merchants whether to comply or not. And if merchants are arrested for not complying, it would already be a violation of their rights.
Instead of violating the rights of merchants, the government should just go into an information campaign to explain why it is important to conserve our rice supply. For their own sake, and for the good of everyone.
SERVING WATER IN RESTAURANTS
Restaurants and other food service establishments are serving drinking water to their customers even if these customers are not asking for it. This results in wasted water when the customers will not drink it. This would also contribute to the water shortage.
One solution to that problem is to prohibit restaurants and other food service establishments from serving water not unless the customers would ask for it. Encourage customers to ask for drinking water only if they really need it.
I think it is part of human nature not to understand the gravity of a problem not unless they experience it themselves, or they are directly confronted by it. But the fact is, water shortage is already a serious problem in many parts of the Philippines even if it is not yet a nationally recognized issue.
While it might be difficult to come up with a national law that will regulate the serving of water in restaurants, there is nothing that prevents Local Government Units (LGUs) from passing their own local ordinances that would effectively do the same thing.
Perhaps this initiative could start in localities where the availability of fresh drinking water is already a challenge, where there are already clear projections that the water will run out. I think that local actions should be the responsibility of the LGUs rather than the National Government Agencies./PN
