THE rising cost of food affects everybody, and we need to be aware that there are many processors and traders adding their markup to the price of food from the grower to the consumer. That's why growing your own vegetables is a great way to save money and guarantee they are fresh and organic. If we eat Philippine rice, then it was likely grown by some of the 2.4 million poor Filipino rice farmers who earned an average of P285 to P331 — or nearly $5 to $6 as of Saturday morning — a day growing and harvesting the crop. Is that earning fair?

A Social Weather Stations survey showed earlier this year that 14.2 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger in the first three months of 2024. Many of the very poor just eat a handful of cooked rice and soy sauce or a piece of small fish. Others in the cities consume 'pagpag,' a stew of recooked scraps from the uneaten dinners of restaurant customers. The apparent greed of the tycoons who control the Philippines' food supply, especially rice, and the politicians who enable them, are to blame for the hunger and super-high rice prices.