Even well-off families Can Only Add a Handful of Rice to Their Corn Meal Porridge
Corn (maize) long ago replaced rice as North Korea’s staple food. North Koreans call corn meal “corn rice”. The well-to-do eat steamed rice; for others, corn is their staple food. Depending on a family’s economic status, the rice-to-corn ratio varies. Well-off families don’t use more than 50% corn; as the household budget becomes more strained, corn’s share grows.Mrs. Kang Un-hui (alias) of Pyongsung city in South Pyongan Province has not so far had to worry about food thanks to her husband, who is a police officer. However, now only her husband gets a food ration. It has been several months since the food ration ended for the three other family members. Even so, they are not starving, but the quality of their meals has fallen sharply. Long ago, they only ate steamed rice. Last year, their meals were half corn and half rice. This year they struggle to be able to mix a handful of rice into the corn meal.
Says Mrs. Kang: “These days, if you’re not pretty rich, the quality of your meals worsens. Now, a family that can afford corn meal is doing well. It’s gotten to the point that it’s hard to have corn meal with even one handful of rice. If our family is like this, other families will be even worse-off. Apart from North Koreans of Chinese origins, everybody is like this. Even so, that does not mean we should complain. My husband has steady work, and I’m just grateful that he can keep his position. I hope that the country’s food situation will improve quickly and we can receive our food rations in the usual way.”
[Source: http://goodfriendsusa.blogspot.com/2012/07/north-korea-today-no-462-july-4-2012.html ]
Okay, the image (Kimmy Crack Corn?) is an obvious photoshop intended for political snark, and I’m not going to post the source in order to protect their anonymity. The story dated 4 July 2012, quoted verbatim, is unaltered.
But there is something odd in that report, and it has to do with rice and corn.
Lookee here:
[Source]
So why is corn (maize) disparaged as a staple in North Korea when it has three times as many calories and more nutrients? Is it because it’s a crop cultivated in the Americas? I dunno, Babs, but I do know this.
The U.S. don’t raise no rice-fed cattle.
North Korea’s sparse agricultural resources limit agricultural production. Climate, terrain, and soil conditions are not particularly favorable for farming, with a relatively short cropping season. Only about 17% of the total landmass, or approximately 20,000 km2, is arable, of which 14,000 km2 is well suited for cereal cultivation; the major portion of the country is rugged mountain terrain.[1] [Wiki]
That means North Korea has approximately 12% of its landmass good for growing grains, and it grows mostly rice. The government takes most of the rice away from the private subsistence farms.
So much for the Workers’ Paradise. Eat dirt, peons.
