|
The association conducts programs for increasing rice consumption nationally and internationally based on the premise of teaching the world better nutrition with rice. The objective of the campaigns abroad is to position rice as a regular food in the diet of low-income consumers. USRPA works with market segments C, D and E, teaching consumers that Rice is tasty, nutritious, economical and versatile for family consumption. Up to date information on programs in Mexico and Central America is detailed below. For more information on our programs, please contact us.
|
|
January 16, 2009  Results for the School Nutrition Program in Central America have exceeded expectations for 2008. The promotion was conducted at 1,347 schools in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. At these schools, 29,939 school cooks were trained to prepare low cost, nutritious meals for the 341,624 students who attend the schools.
The 2008 promotion year had a late start due to the delay in the ratification of the new Farm Bill, but the teams worked very hard to provide an effective program. Prices in grains - rice, beans and soy - were double in most of these countries and inflation rates were running as high as 20 percent in some of the countries. This made it even more important to the schools to be able to provide low cost, nutritious meals to the children during a time of increasingly high prices. Additionally, some countries' rice industries, the importers of U.S. rice, were under tremendous pressure from their governments to lower the price of rice to consumers and to buy less expensive rice from non-U.S. sources. By participating in the USA Rice, Beans & Soy School Nutrition Program, they were able to show government officials they were involved in helping the consumer in the country reduce food costs. The U.S. rice industry provides virtually 100 percent of the rice imports to Central America. Most of this rice imported is rough rice. These programs, conducted with the cooperation of the local rice industries, are essential to maintaining a 100 percent market share for U.S. rice.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
January 30, 2009  Our star program is beginning 2009 with great results. Many school principals have opened their doors to our activities and to mothers attending the training sessions.This year, the school lunch program is continuing in seven different states: Tlaxcala, Morelos, State of Mexico, Mexico city, Queretaro, Hidalgo and Nuevo Leon. The program will have simultaneous training sessions, which reach an average of 100 mothers per school visited. During our training sessions, moms learn the importance of cooking rice for their families, and they are given recipe booklets and promotional items to encourage questions and to share cooking tips and recipe secrets. All the children in the schools are invited to taste the rice cooked during the presentations, too.
It is very satisfying to see the level of interest in rice consumption growing. Once the visit to each school is scheduled, the schools prepare for the training sessions by painting and cleaning the site for the event. Even the principals at each school welcome our teams and participate with them. They express their gratitude to the US Rice Producers Association for having these sessions. Maria Isabel Montiel Lopez, head of the school Guadalupe Bernal Cuellar in Tlaxcala said, “we are very pleased that you chose our school for these activities that enrich the lives of our children and their families, please visit us again in the near future.” |
|
Read more...
|
|
Rice Romp is a website for students and teachers that provides a fun way to educate kids about rice history and production.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Programs
