Washington D.C  -  MR. SPEAKER, I rise today to recognize September as Missouri Rice Month and to urge all Americans to enjoy rice as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Rice is the staple grain for more than 4 billion men, women, and children worldwide.  Eight out of ten people depend on rice for 40 percent of their energy needs.

As a $2 billion cash crop, rice is the fifth most valuable food crop in America. Rice is vital to the economic stability of agricultural producers across the nation.  Moreover, America exports rice to more than 100 foreign countries, providing nearly 15 percent of the rice in the global market.

With 1.2 billion of the world’s population living in poverty and 800 million undernourished, there is no more serious issue than hunger relief.  Here in America, we have the rice supply to alleviate much of this suffering – and no continent in the world has been affected more by hunger than Africa. 

In July, three rice farmers from Stoddard County, Missouri, accompanied me to Rome to learn more about how to get our Missouri products to African communities that desperately need food aid.  Internationally, the World Food Programme and the Food and Agricultural Organizations of the United Nations are working to implement commonsense programs to educate Africans on American agricultural products, to increase American exports and food aid to Africa, and to initiate school feeding programs.

By enabling America’s thriving rice producers to meet the food needs of the starving and malnourished around the world, we can overcome hunger.  But first we must raise awareness of America’s quality agricultural exports.  As more nations accept our food products for their own hunger relief, the demand for our rice will continue to grow.  The satisfaction of improving and saving lives is the only reward America needs.

Missouri Rice Month will help us meet our humanitarian goals, and Missouri Rice Farmers will keep growing the grain that feeds the world.