• schmorp@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    63
    ·
    3 days ago

    …unless there’s a profit to be made. Hype rice into the next superfood and watch people grow it in the desert.

    • Rooskie91@discuss.online
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      3 days ago

      People (by which I mean extremely large agro-businesses) are growing soybeans and corn in the desert because it’s the highest economic yield per acre grown. Almost nothing competes with it. So it’s not just that a profit has to be made, but also that a larger profit than corn or soybeans has to be made. Which is unlikely, given how much bio-engineering and infrastructure capital has gone into both of those crops.

      • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        3 days ago

        US produces something like 7 million tonnes of rice every year, mostly for internal consumption. It’s not anywhere near China or India, but the US does already eat a shitload of rice.

        • theolodis@feddit.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          10
          ·
          3 days ago

          But for people of Asian heritage. It’s not like European americans eat considerable amounts of rice.

          • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            13
            ·
            3 days ago

            NGL, that’s… pretty racist?

            Food trends in the US are almost entirely regional, not racial, and even if what you’re asserting is true… 45% of the population of my state are from cultures whose cuisine involves large amounts of rice (hispanic and asian). The US as a whole eats a fair amount of rice. It’s not every dish nor nearly as much as in several other countries, but it’s not even a little bit uncommon.

            • theolodis@feddit.org
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              6
              ·
              3 days ago

              You’re saying that what I say is racist, and proceed to tell me that rice consumption is regionally high in the US, for example in your area where you have 45% latino and asian population.

              I mean ok. Could it be that I am going to Walmart, Kroeger, Target and other supermarkets, and the only ones selling rice in conveniently sized containers are asian supermarkets like the local indian store or the H-Mart? No. Must be racist.

              • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                edit-2
                3 days ago

                I said that the presumption that the amount of rice being consumed in the US is dependent on someone’s racial or ethnic subgroup and therefore excludes “European Americans” (which isnt a thing, really) is kinda racist - because it is. The idea that european-descended people don’t eat rice I mean… what on earth.

                Anyways I think you misunderstood: My point with the ethnic makeup of my state, which is not markedly abnormal tho we do trend more brown than some, is to point out that even in the case that you were right (which to be clear you are not) that would still mean an absolutely staggering portion of the US population consumes rice.

                • theolodis@feddit.org
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  arrow-down
                  3
                  ·
                  3 days ago

                  Wait, your point is that it’s racist to say that americans of european descent eat less rice? Brother you need to touch grass asap.

                  Racism is systemic by nature, you can’t be racist towards white people in a majority white country. Also it’s really unclear to me how you can assume that eating less rice is supposedly something bad?

                  • tar@lemmy.zip
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    3
                    ·
                    2 days ago

                    Racism is systemic by nature, you can’t be racist towards white people in a majority white country.

                    a bit of nuisance: you can’t be racist against whites in a white supremacist society.

                  • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    5
                    ·
                    3 days ago

                    Okay so that’s not what I said at all, but ignore that because:

                    you can’t be racist towards white people in a majority white country.

                    There is just no point in continuing this discussion if you seriously think this, yikes.

          • Rooskie91@discuss.online
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            edit-2
            3 days ago

            I already said it earlier, but Rice was a major crop in the pre civil war south. There is even a varietal names after the Carolinas. Assuming only Asians eat rice is kinda racist.

            To be clear, I’m not saying you’re racist, but the assumption is. I don’t know you, and you’re probably a decent person.

            Also, Native Americans have been harvesting wild rice here for a long time.

            I share because rice is a pretty neat crop that has spanned multiple cultures!

    • MrKoyun@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      3 days ago

      “Millions of lifelong rice-eaters suffer from starvation as rice prices skyrocket to unbelieveable historic highs as the US decides on its new micro-hyper-trend.”