No need to ban unli-rice in the resto

In 2003, the term unli-rice became a by-word in the slow food chains. Unli-rice is the short term for unlimited number of rice servings which is free of charge. This offering is popular among the slow food chains like those of Mang Inasal, Penongs, Barbeque Boss, Dencio’s etc. Slow food chains are the opposite of fast foods like that of Mcdonalds, Jollibee, Chowking, KFC and the like. These fast food chains do not promote unli-rice.

Even with the advent of unli-rice, fast food chains have not suffered in their revenue because different outlets have sprang out considerably despite the offerings of unli-rice in the food chain industry.

Today, a Philippine lady senator is seeking to ban the unlimited rice promo of restaurants in the country for economic and health reasons. To quote: “Ipagbawal na yang unlimited rice, masama yan. Pagbawal na natin yang unlimited rice kasi nagkakasakit tayo gawa ng unlimited rice na yan; we should learn how to eat vegetables” (Let us ban unlimted rice, it is bad for our health).

There are two comments I would like to share to my readers:

First, in a democratic country like the Philippines, no law shall be passed abridging our freedom to eat. Eating is a personal commitment. Even for those sickly people, they are still free to eat whatever they want to eat unless restricted by their physicians. The amount of servings for every food to eat is also a basic right to every individual. For those who can afford a large serving, they can eat to their heart’s content unless (again) restricted due to health reason. But for those who can barely afford a meal, we can only pray for their good health. Whether people eat white or brown rice is everyone’s preference and not every lawmaker’s deterrence.

Second, in the world of consumerism, promotional trick is every one’s business. Unli-rice is a big-come-on. People flock to restaurants (big or small) who offer unlimited rice to their patrons. Lately, there is already unli-tea and unli-soup. These unlimited offerings keep the small businesses in the food industry compete with the big fast foods and slow foods; a boost to small-time restaurants.

The suggestion of the lady senator is not practical. Maybe she should seek to regulate or ban the expiration dates of the different cards offered by malls, bookstores, cinemas, fast foods, drug stores and the like. These cards come in different names like suki cards, reward cards, bonus cards, happyplus, e-cards. How come there is no expiration date for the suki card of Mercury Drugs, mabuhay miles of Philippine Airlines, and suki card of Starbucks? While the rest of those cards expire every 2 or 3 years? Because in my mind renewal fee is another form of money-making, actually. Therefore, the lady senator should protect the public from this form of “extortion”.