[The fountain] The irony of food security in Korea

In the age of food security, securing food is important. But is it enough to only take care of rice, which has an extraordinarily high self-sufficiency rate?

CHOI HYUN-JOOThe author is a stock market news reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo. It was exactly ten months ago. I ordered a hamburger meal at a famous fast-food restaurant, and I was served cheese sticks instead of French fries. At that time, major potato exporting countries banned exports, saying that as abnormal weather conditions resulted in lower yield, there were not enough to meet their own demands.

Prices of beans to produce cooking oil and wheat also rose. As the price of corn went up, the price of meat also rose due to increased feed costs.

Even if crops were barely secured, they were difficult to bring into Korea due to the maritime and aviation logistics crisis caused by Covid-19. As awareness of food security has risen, the government has stepped up to increase the grain self-sufficiency rate.

The plan was to increase the self-sufficiency rate of wheat from 0.7 percent to 5 percent in three years by 2025. It meant turning rice paddies into wheat fields, but the food industry laughed at it as “typical bureaucracy.”

Food security has come under fire again. This time, it’s about rice. A revision to the Grains Management Act — which mandates the government buy surplus rice — was pushed through by the Democratic Party (DP) that holds the majority in the National Assembly. If excess rice exceeds 3-5 percent of the expected demand or if rice prices fall more than 5-8 percent on year, the government must purchase the surplus. Currently, it is subject to the government’s discretion.

The DP argues that as rice is a staple food in Korea, its protection is for food security. But the governing People Power Party claims that it is a waste of tax money as the excess rice purchase costs 1 trillion won ($767.5 million) annually on average. The food self-sufficiency rate of Korea is only 44.4 percent as of 2021. It is among the lowest of OECD member countries.

In the age of food security, securing food is important. However, is it enough to only take care of rice, which has an extraordinarily high self-sufficiency rate? The per-capita rice consumption for Koreans was 80.7 kilograms (178 pounds) in 2005, and it is expected to fall to 55.6 kilograms this year. In the meantime, meat has become a staple food with per-capita consumption at 58.4 kilograms.

But politicians don’t discuss diversifying food imports, extending agricultural tax exemptions, or developing smart agricultural technologies. Is it really okay for the issue of food to become a subject of a fight among lawmakers?