Flour-based food only short term trend: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): The increasing number of Indonesians consuming flour-based foods is an indication of improved living standards but the trend will end when Indonesians go "back to basics", Minister of Food Ibrahim Hasan said yesterday.

Speaking at the House of Representatives, Ibrahim said he was convinced that the trend would wear off when Indonesians returned to their main diet of rice.

"The tendency of Indonesians to opt for flour-based foods is unavoidable. But it won't stay for long," Ibrahim said.

Yesterday's plenary session was held to deliberate a government-sponsored food bill.

House members from the ruling Golkar faction in an earlier session questioned the rising tendency of Indonesians to consume flour-based foods and said the food bill should include rules to protect traditional, non-flour based foods.

Ibrahim said the shift was caused mainly by better living standards which enable people to choose and diversify their diets.

"People who once could not afford to buy good-quality rice can now do so, and people who once could only buy good-quality rice can now choose to buy potatoes, corn, bread and other uncommon foodstuffs," he said.

Ibrahim said the bill would include clauses on food diversification to anticipate other shifts and trends.

He pointed out that the level of Indonesia's rice consumption reached a saturation point, around 135 kilograms per capita, "many years ago".

"When you reach a saturation point, the trend is usually downward," he said.

Ibrahim reported that the food bill would also include clauses on food safety regulations which comply with international standards, including those established by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

He said the bill, when enacted, would guarantee fairness for domestic and foreign producers of the same kinds of foodstuffs, or substitutes.

Ibrahim said, however, that since the food bill is meant to accommodate the situation in Indonesia, it does not necessarily have to comply with international rulings on food distribution and trade.

"Indonesia is an archipelagic state, and this can sometimes make food distribution a problem. Would you really trust the private sector to do this?" he asked.

He said the food bill will make sure that the government has full responsibility for food security, up to the household level.

"The bill guarantees that where there are people, there is a government. And where there is a government, there is food," he said. (pwn)