South Korea Tries to Tell Koreans What to Eat

Over the last decade, rice consumption in South Korea has fallen by over one quarter. But due to record harvests and a shift in diet away from rice and toward bread and noodles, the amount of rice in South Korea is greater than ever. "Korean consumers' tastes have steadily changed to prefer wheat-based products to rice and it makes it quite difficult to win them back," said Park Sun-woo, a farm ministry official. So what is the government going to do to convince Koreans to eat more rice? According to Reuters, the Korean government is telling Korean citizens that in light of the rice surplus it is the patriotic and historic duty of Koreans to eat rice. To support the movement towards eating more rice, the government is planning a national public relations campaign and will promote Korean liquor made with rice. "We are likely to have around 160,000 tons of rice surplus every year. Promoting the processed rice industry not only helps farmers but also expands the rice market," agriculture minister Chang Tae-pyong told reporters.