Letter to the Editor

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I really enjoy reading hyphen magazines, because I find a lot of interesting article. Article that I can relate to in some ways, for example in the newest issue “The Consumption”, I find the article “The price is Rice” to be very interesting. Me being Khmu, (which is an ethic group that lives in the high land of Laos) we tend to consume a lot of sticky rice. I remember we had to eat everything with sticky rice, I really mean everything! From meats, to soups, even hot chips, and cup of noodle.

Every time my family receives their welfare and food stamp, rice was the first thing that was on the list. Growing up I always though that the reason we ate sticky rice everyday was because it was cheap and it made us full fast. But this was not true rice cost a lot, I found out the cost was like $20 a pound and that was back then, now it like $30. Me now knowing that there are people out their in Asia working hella hard to get this bag of rice for us to eat, I learn to appreciate the value of rice. I now tend to try to finish my rice, not waste a single grain. I value sticky rice because it’s a part of my culture, and keeping my family close.

-Phon Chanthanasak