Don't conceal food shortages: Professor

Don't conceal food shortages: Professor

By Joko Sarwono

BOGOR, West Java (JP): In recent months, people have become
more aware of the rising death toll in famine-stricken Irian Jaya
-- which now exceeds 600 -- and the thousands of others facing a
drought-related food shortage in Maluku.

And some people have also started looking across the table at
friends or even spouses who help themselves to sumptuous meals
despite their already-thick waistline and susceptibility to
nutritional problems such as high cholesterol.

Florentinus Gregorius Winarno, a professor of food technology
at the Bogor Institute of Technology here, agreed that there were
two major global problems relating to food today -- its shortage
and a glut of it.

Both developing and developed countries are similarly
affected, Winarno said.

"There are obese people in developing countries, especially in
the urban centers," he told The Jakarta Post recently. "They are
facing health risks such as heart disease at an early age,
cancer, and other degenerative health problems."

On the other hand, famine is not something that takes place
only in poor countries.

"Even in developed countries, famine can affect certain
regions," Winarno, who obtained his doctorate in 1970 at the
University of Massachusetts in the United States, said.

Food shortage is not a shameful problem that should be covered
up, he said. The problem hinges on the good distribution,
transportation and international cooperation concerning food.

But the distribution of food is not easily accomplished and it
is not simple to reallocate a food surplus, he said.

For 30 years Winarno has been working in food science and
technology. When he was dean of the School of Agriculture,
Mechanization and Technology at the Bogor Institute of Technology
he helped found the Food Technology Development Center (FTDC) and
Agricultural Products Processing Pilot Plant.

He also establish at the institute, Indonesia's first
postgraduate program in food technology in 1976. In 1982, he
became a professor in food technology.

Winarno was the secretary-general of the Association of Food
and Nutrition Experts between 1980 and 1985, a staff expert for
the minister of agriculture on the technology of postharvest
agriculture and special advisor to the state minister of food. In
1991, he was installed as the youngest member of the prestigious
Indonesian Academy of Science.

Winarno was a visiting professor at the University of
Wisconsin in 1975, at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and
Osaka University in 1977, and at Deakin University in Victoria,
Australia, in 1981.

He was also the first person from Asia to be chairman of the
Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) and held the post between
1991 and 1995.

Based at the headquarters of Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) in Rome, the CAC was built in 1962 to handle affairs
relating to international food trade and standard setting.

Awards

A recipient of many awards, including the 1994 Adi Grahita
from IPB and the Bintang Jasa Utama from President Soeharto,
Winarno leads a hectic life.

"I have offices everywhere," he said.

And for a man approaching 60, Winarno is very fit. A
grandfather of five, Winarno does not have gray hair and
continues to play tennis. Born in Klaten, Central Java, on
February 15, 1938, Winarno also plays squash and does yoga.

"My secret is a healthy life style... a healthy diet and
regular exercise," he said. "A healthy person is not someone who
is without illnesses but who has a sense of well-being, is fit
and feels great."

"Exercise slows aging and reduces stress. Unfortunately, too
many people in this technological age prefer to pop pills (to
stay healthy) rather than to exercise.

"If a person does not want to set aside some time to exercise,
then he may have to spend an even longer time laying in a bed in
the hospital," he said.

Famine

The following are his comments about various food-related
issues.

Question: Hundreds of people have died in the famine in Irian
Jaya recently. Why are there food shortages?

Answer: I believe the real problem is not that Indonesia does
not have enough food, but more because of poor distribution and
difficulties in transportation. Not that these should be an
excuse. A country is responsible for providing its citizens with
their basic rights, in the form of an adequate amount of food and
good quality goods at affordable prices.

Q: So what is wrong with the situation in Irian Jaya?

A: If a province suffers from famine, its (officials) lose
'points' (with their superiors). This is why officials tend to
cover up (the food shortage situation). This is not good in view
of the Early Alert System for Food and Nutrition (SKPG). Food
shortage should not be covered up.

The early warning system is there to help prevent possible
food shortages. It was established in 1978 after there was a
famine in Central Java between 1975 and 1976.

Q: Some people say the food shortage in Irian Jaya was caused by
the authorities' failure to diversify the menu (of local people,
who primarily eat yams)?. What do you think?

A: Food diversification started to be discussed in 1978.
Discussions about it emerge again from time to time, usually
around the season when there is a rice shortage.

All this time, people talk about food diversification without
having clear concepts. Actually, food diversification should be
included in policies and translated into clear programs,
including education, training and counseling. Just like the
Family Planning program. The state minister of food should draw
up the general policies and programs on food diversification.

Q: Do you see any other problems regarding food?

A: Yes, there are the problems regarding food quality and food
safety.

Take the question of food quality for instance. The level of
damage during harvest and postharvest processing is still high.
Maybe the crops became ruined because of late harvesting, poor
treatment or poor storage. Sometimes, the amount of damaged crops
reaches 10 percent to 25 percent. It's a pity. But appropriate
technology should cure this problem.

As for food safety, we know that food poisoning often takes
place in developing countries, although not all cases are
reported. In developed countries, one reported food poisoning is
usually accompanied by 10 unreported cases. In developing
countries, the ratio is 1:100.

In Indonesia, the ratio could be 1:500 because of difficult
terrain and transportation, so people find it difficult to report
cases of food poisoning.