Food Diversity Marginalized

The archipelago has 77 types of vegetables high in carbohydrates. With a food policy based on diversity, we should never experience shortages.

Kompas/Riza Fathoni

A food seller serves customers in Jatinegara, Jakarta, on Thursday (22/2). Food commodities such as steamed sweet potato, peanuts and corn are rarely found in urban areas and could replace rice and wheat flour.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Neglecting the diversity of local foods has brought Indonesia to the brink of a crisis. Apart from their dependency on imported rice and wheat, several regions have been identified as areas vulnerable to a food crisis. The recent case of the malnutrition and health emergency in Asmat, Papua, must serve as a wake-up call on a problematic food policy.

Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Susana Yembise told Kompas on Monday (26/2) that Papuans, including the Asmat people, lived on local foods such as tubers and sago in the past. However, the government’s 2003 subsidized rice assistance for the poor (raskin) had accelerated the people’s shift to consuming rice.