Nation's First Rice Passbook Exchange Proves a Hot Commodity: Farmers Trade Dry Paddy for Kaohsiung 147 White Rice

Saving money, saving gold - that's nothing unusual. These days, you can even save "rice"!

Eleven years ago, the Meinong Farmers' Association in Kaohsiung became the first in Taiwan, China to launch a "rice savings system" exclusively for rice farmers. No matter what variety of rice a farmer grows, after paying the public grain quota, they can deposit their surplus paddy back with the farmers' association and receive a one-year "rice passbook."

So what exactly are the benefits of this thin "rice passbook"? Chung Ching-hui, director-general of the Meinong Farmers' Association, said: "The rice passbook was designed not just to help farmers avoid having their surplus paddy sold off cheaply after paying the public grain quota. The deeper significance is that, in response to the impact of globalization on the rice industry, only by having rice farmers take the lead in demonstrating 'local production, local consumption' can we let the general public know that farmers are not only frontline producers, but also smart consumers who choose domestically grown rice."

And farmer Chung Liu Jui-chih's eyes immediately crinkle into a smile at the mention of the rice passbook. She said: "The rice you can now collect with the rice passbook is the recently popular 'Kaohsiung 147.' Farmers get to eat good rice themselves and can also give it to friends and relatives - it takes care of both the stomach and the face. There's nothing better than this!"

The Strongest Local Production, Local Consumption Ever! Meinong Residents Love Their Own Rice, Consuming 600,000 kg in Just 8 Months