Thursday, July 15, 2010

Rice bread maker

>http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20100714a1.html

Well, it looks like bread, anyway.

In the U.S., some people make or buy bread made from rice flour. I think most of these people are allergic to gluten and are looking for gluten-free bread. This new machine obviously has a different rationale since gluten is listed as one of the ingredients. According to the article, "Sanyo said baking bread at home will help increase the nation's food self-sufficiency rate and reduce transportation, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions."

I don't see how making bread out of rice will "increase the nation's food self-sufficiency rate" since Japan is alreadhttp://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20100714a1.html

Well, it looks like bread, anyway.

In the U.S., some people make or buy bread made from rice flour. I think most of these people are allergic to gluten and are looking for gluten-free bread. This new machine obviously has a different rationale since gluten is listed as one of the ingredients. According to the article, "Sanyo said baking bread at home will help increase the nation's food self-sufficiency rate and reduce transportation, which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions."

I don't see how making bread out of rice will "increase the nation's food self-sufficiency rate" since Japan is already importing some rice, though not for consumption as rice -- it's used for industrially-produced food such as rice crackers. Rather, it seems to be an effort by Sanyo to take advantage of the prejudice in favor of rice, as the central element of Japanese cuisine. Also, it may be partly an attempt to trade on the idea of eating food produced in Japan (rice) rather than food imported from another country (wheat flour). Many Japanese prefer to eat domestically produced food for various reasons: safety from pesticides, promoting Japanese farmers, supporting the Japanese economy, and even reducing the carbon footprint of the foods they eat, as the article says.

No comments:

Post a Comment