# data[].attributes.body
There is a possibility that different historical studies about the origin of rice plantations would have contrary opinions. Some studies have shown that China has long been one of the places where rice was first cultivated. Ancient Chinese agriculture had two subcenters: the lower middle and lower Yangza River area, where rice was first cultivated (Bellwood 2005; Jones and Liu 2009; Zhao 2010; Zhao 2011). According to Zhao (2010, 100), "rice domestication and rice cultivation are two common terms in the study on rice agriculture origin, but there is no inevitable relationship between them." Primarily, rice domestication is an evolutionary process for its plantation through intentional and nonintentional human activities (Zhao 2010). There are possibilities that these human activities could have led to rice domestication and development in other ancient places in West Africa and South Asia.

# data[].attributes.body
In 2014 the global production of rice was more than 740 million tons (FAOSTAT 2016). The growing rice cut across different latitudes, climates, soil, and hydrological conditions (Bijay-Singh & Singh 2017). According to Pandey (2010, 2), "rice is the most important food staple which is grown on approximately 155 million hectares and accounts for one-fifth of the global calorie supply." Rice is one of the three most widely cultivated crops globally, with a global harvested area of 116 million ha in 2000 (Pandey 2010). Despite that, wheat is harvested in more areas than rice and corn: in the past 50 years, rice and corn have continuously increased in the area harvested (Pandey 2010). The rice harvested area increased 33 percent between 1961 and 1975 (1.48 percent per year) and increased by 12 percent between 1975 and 2008 (0.35 percent per year) (Pandey 2010). Today, rice is produced globally: the spatial pattern of rice production in figure 2 shows Asia's dominance in rice production (Pandey 2010).

# data[].attributes.headline
Rice Plantation from West Africa to the United States

# data[].attributes.subject
Rice Plantation from West Africa to the United States

# data[].attributes.body
Before the slave trade, West Africans were also cultivating rice. Clifton (1981, 266) in his study, quoted Peter Wood said, "Negroes in the Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the stono rebellion, has emphasized the contributions of black African slaves (fresh from the rice coast of West Africa with extensive knowledge of how rice was grown there) in the mastery of various techniques of planting." The study by Carney (1996) broadly discussed and illustrated how a distinct rice cultivation system in the mid-1700s flourished in the southeastern U.S. (coastal plain of South Carolina and Georgia), which was dependent on African labor. Figure 1 shows the rice cultivating region in West Africa and the rice cultivated regions by slave settlers in the U.S.

While the African rice farmers' uniqueness continues to thrive in rice cultivation in West Africa today, South Carolina and Georgia rice cultivation immediately declined after abolishing slavery. The U.S. rice economy marked its peak in 1860 before the civil war: accounting for 187.2 million pounds (South Carolina accounted for 63.6 percent and Georgia with 28 percent) (Carney 1996). The rice plantation system became decimated due to the abolition of around 125,000 enslaved rice farmers (Wilms 1972).

# data[].attributes.headline
Figure 1: Represents the migration rice pattern from West Africa to the U.S. Source: (Carney 1996)

# data[].attributes.subject
Figure 1: Represents the migration rice pattern from West Africa to the U.S. Source: (Carney 1996)

# data[].attributes.headline
Figure 2: Global rice production spatial pattern (2006-2008)

# data[].attributes.subject
Figure 2: Global rice production spatial pattern (2006-2008)

# data[].attributes.body
“8 Different Ways Rice Is Eaten around the World | CBC Kids.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada. Accessed April 19, 2021. https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/eight-different-ways-rice-is-eaten-around-the-world.

Alam, M.G.M., E.T. Snow, and A. Tanaka. “Arsenic and Heavy Metal Contamination of Rice, Pulses and Vegetables Grown in Samta Village, Bangladesh.” Arsenic Exposure and Health Effects V, 2003, 103–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-044451441-7/50009-9.

Bellwood P "First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies." Cornwall, UK. 2005

Bhattacharya, P., A. C. Samal, J. Majumdar, and S. C. Santra. “Arsenic Contamination in Rice, Wheat, Pulses, and Vegetables: A Study in an Arsenic Affected Area of West Bengal, India.” Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 213, no. 1-4 (2010): 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-010-0361-9.

Bijay-Singh, and V. K. Singh. "Fertilizer Management in Rice." Rice Production Worldwide, 2017, 217–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47516-5_10.

Borba, Verônica Simões, Marcy Heli Paiva Rodrigues, and Eliana Badiale-Furlong. “Impact of Biological Contamination of Rice on Food Safety.” Food Reviews International 36, no. 8 (2019): 745–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/87559129.2019.1683745.

Carney, Judith. "Landscapes of Technology Transfer: Rice Cultivation and African Continuities." Technology and Culture 37, no. 1 (1996): 5. https://doi.org/10.2307/3107200.

FAOSTAT. Accessed March 29, 2021. http://faostat3.fao.org/download/Q/QC/E.

“Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),” 2016. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264244047-23-en.

Gong, Er Sheng, Shun Jing Luo, Tong Li, Cheng Mei Liu, Guo Wen Zhang, Jun Chen, Zi Cong Zeng, and Rui Hai Liu. "Phytochemical Profiles and Antioxidant Activity of Brown Rice Varieties." Food Chemistry 227 (2017): 432–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.01.093.

James Clifton. "The Rice Industry in Colonial America". Agricultural History Society, July 1981. Vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 266-283 https://www.jstor.org/stable/3743016

Jones, M. K., and X. Liu. "Origins of Agriculture in East Asia." Science 324, no. 5928 (2009): 730–31. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1172082.

Juliano, B. O. (1993). Rice in human nutrition. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from http://books.irri.org/9251031495_content.pdf

Kanayo Nwanze, Savitri Mohapatra, Patrick Kornawa, Shellemiah Keya, and Samuel Bruce-Oliver. “Perspective: Rice development in sub-Saharan Africa.” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture no. 86 (2006). 675–677 DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.2415

Kaur, Bhupinder, Viren Ranawana, and Jeyakumar Henry. "The Glycemic Index of Rice and Rice Products: A Review, and Table of GI Values." Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 56, no. 2 (2015): 215–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2012.717976.

Milovanovic, Vladimir, and Luboš Smutka. “Asian Countries in the Global Rice Market.” Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis 65, no. 2 (2017): 679–88. https://doi.org/10.11118/actaun201765020679.

Pandey, Sushil. Rice in the Global Economy: Strategic Research and Policy Issues for Food Security. Manila: International Rice Research Institute, 2010.

Saleh, Ahmed S., Peng Wang, Na Wang, Liu Yang, and Zhigang Xiao. "Brown Rice Versus White Rice: Nutritional Quality, Potential Health Benefits, Development of Food Products, and Preservation Technologies." Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 18, no. 4 (2019): 1070–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12449.

Saleh, Ahmed S.M., Qing Zhang, Jing Chen, and Qun Shen. "Millet Grains: Nutritional Quality, Processing, and Potential Health Benefits." Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 12, no. 3 (2013): 281–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12012.

Wilms, Douglas C. "The Development of Rice Culture in 18th Century Georgia." Southeastern Geographer 12, no. 1 (1972): 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1353/sgo.1972.0003.

Wu, Fengfeng, Haiying Chen, Na Yang, Xiang Duan, Zhengyu Jin, and Xueming Xu. "Germinated Brown Rice Enhances Antioxidant Activities and Immune Functions in Aged Mice." Cereal Chemistry Journal 90, no. 6 (2013): 601–7. https://doi.org/10.1094/cchem-02-13-0039-r.

Yacoubian, T.A. "Neurodegenerative Disorders." Drug Discovery Approaches for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders, 2017, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-802810-0.00001-5.

Yang, Seung-Ok, Chunyan Wu, Min-Young So, Sung-Joon Lee, and Young-Suk Kim. "Effects of Brown Rice on Cellular Growth and Metabolic Changes in Mice." Food Research International 84 (2016): 33–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2016.03.009.

Zhao, Zhijun. "New Archaeobotanic Data for the Study of the Origins of Agriculture in China." Current Anthropology 52, no. S4 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1086/659308.

# data[].attributes.body
The Global Rice Consumption
Rice emerges to be the most important human consuming crop of the three major crops, especially in the low and lower-middle-income countries as shown in table 1 (Pandey 2010). The primary feed crop has been corn, but it was estimated to have declined in the recent years. However, the consumption of rice in the United States and Europe is low (Pandey 2010). The consumption of rice is dominated by most parts of Asia “because rice-producing Asia is a net exporter to the rest of the world, its current share in global rice consumption is slightly less, at about 87%” (Pandey 2010, 16). Figure 3 illustrates, Madagascar, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in West Africa and Guyana, French Guiana, Panama, and Suriname in Latin America are the only non-Asian countries where 30 percent of total crop area harvested is rice (Pandey 2010).

# data[].attributes.headline
Table 1: Percentage of calories supplied by various staple foods, 2005

# data[].attributes.subject
Table 1: Percentage of calories supplied by various staple foods, 2005

# data[].attributes.headline
Figure 3: Percentage of calories coming from rice

# data[].attributes.subject
Figure 3: Percentage of calories coming from rice

# data[].attributes.body
Rice is one of the most cultivated staple foods in around 100 countries of the world. Rice is a major source of carbohydrates and protein (Saleh et al. 2019). There are series of processing steps to which rice is subjected, such as drying, milling, and packaging (Saleh et al. 2019). Several nutrients are lost during these processes. The bran layer of rice is usually removed to obtain the polished rice. The bran layer consists of many nutrients and bioactive compounds from aleurone, pericarp, sub-aleurone layer, and germ (Kaur, Ranawana, and Henry 2016). Thus, a whole rice grain (specifically brown rice) contains many nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, fat, protein, and greater bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, y-oryzanol, and aminobutyric acid others (Gong et al. 2017). Refined white rice does not contain as many nutrients as brown rice, but it high in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are a huge energy source when rice is the main component of people's diet (Juliano 1993). However, it is recommended that brown rice is a safer diet for people with diabetes and obesity (Saleh 2019).

The second major component of rice is protein after carbohydrate. Protein from rice contains four protein fractions such as albumin, globulin, glutelin, and pro-lamin (Saleh 2019). These rice varieties contain different levels of nutrients than one another, as shown in table 2: thus, the choice of rice different body requirements as it was aforementioned.

# data[].attributes.headline
Table 2: Represents the nutrients composition of brown rice, milled rice, and rice bran.

# data[].attributes.subject
Table 2: Represents the nutrients composition of brown rice, milled rice, and rice bran.

# data[].attributes.body
·         Extracts from brown rice have shown substantial potential neuroprotective effects to fight diseases like neurodegenerative. The most common neurodegenerative disease is Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, which is the loss of neurons in the brain and spinal cord common with aging people (Saleh 2019; Yacoubian 2017).

·         According to Saleh (2019, 1080), "Brown rice diet was suggested to be used for protection of bone mass and structure against osteoporosis. Yang et al. (2016) suggested that children's growth disorder can be resolved through the intake of brown rice, which can promote human growth hormones.

·         The global demand for gluten-free food from people with celiac disease and other intolerances continues to rise. Gluten leads to the small intestine's damage: hence, rice is a gluten-free food like other cereal grains such as millet, corn, and sorghum (Saleh 2019; Saleh et al. 2013).

# data[].attributes.body
Rice contaminants compromise the food security and the economy because bacteria, nematodes, viruses, and fungi are the common contaminants found in rice (Borba, Paiva Rodrigues, and Badiale-Furlong 2019). According to Borba, Paiva Rodrigues, and Badiale-Furlong (2019), toxigenic fungi and mycotoxins are mostly found before and post-harvest, milling, and storage rice (Borba, Paiva Rodrigues, and Badiale-Furlong 2019). Thus, the mechanisms are put in place in different countries to check and protect rice.
Pollution cut across all aspects of the environment, and it affects what we breathe (air), eat (soil), and drink (groundwater).

According to Bhattacharya et al. (2010), humans ingest arsenic by consuming food like rice that is grown on arsenic soil and groundwater. Some studies have emphasized how crops have been contaminated through arsenic-contaminated groundwater irrigation (Bhattacharya et al., 2010). "U.S. Food and Drug Administration, based on the total diet study, reported that food contributed 93% of the total intake of arsenic" (Bhattacharya et al. 2010, 4). Alam et al. (2003) also reported the uptake of heavy metals such as As, Pb, Cu, Cd, and Zn in rice. Bhattacharya et al.'s (2010) study area result shows that the irrigation water samples hold arsenic concentration many folds beyond WHO permissible limit for irrigation water. It is evident that contamination of rice begins from the production stage. The safety measure put in place by WHO permissible limit standard of metals in groundwater: The permissible limit for arsenic is 0.01 mg 1⁻¹ (Bhattacharya et al. 2010).

# data[].attributes.body
Cultures across the world hold prestige in their most consumed agricultural products. In Asia, rice is grown by almost 2 billion people and consumed by more than 4 billion: making rice one of the most significant crops within the continent (FAO, 2016). The population of Asia is projected to be 5.3 billion in 2050. Due to the growing rice appetite in this region, rice may become insufficient despite being the net rice exporter since 1978 (Milovanovic and Smutka 2017). In Africa, about $1.5 billion is spent on rice importation annually due to low production to meet the high demand (Kanayo et al., 2006). The significance of rice is overwhelming in these two regions of the world.

# data[].attributes.body
This project has explained and illustrated the importance of rice production, distribution, consumption, and nutritious relevance. The global diversity rice-eating culture is briefly discussed in this chapter. CBC kids (2021) released on their website the versatility of rice and how rice is being eaten in predominantly rice-consuming countries. Listed below are meals made from rice from different cultures:

·         Tahdig is an Iranian special crunchy rice dinner meal known as crispy rice, and it’s mostly made with potatoes, carrots, lettuce, and cranberries.

·         Xoi ba mau is a Vietnamese flavored beautiful sticky rice meal/dessert made with Gac fruit or paste of mung beans.

·         Jollof rice is popular food across West Africa (common in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Ghana), especially in Nigeria, where it is the national food. There is always a rivalry debate about which country has the best jollof rice in West Africa. It is made with pepper, tomatoes, onion, garlic, stock-cubes, ginger, and curry powder.

·         Onigiri is a Japanese staple food which is always a traditional ceremonial food for more than 2,500 years when rice was used as currency. Onigiri is a ball made like white rice seasoned with salt and sugar.

·         Dirty rice is a Louisiana spicy and flavored cajun meal mixed with green bell peppers, onion, celery, meat, cayenne, and black peppers, making it dirty. This dish is traced to descendants’ African American slaves and other inhabitants of colonial Louisiana.

·         Chak-hao Kheer is Indian black rice (dessert), also known as forbidden rice in ancient China because only the royalty and upper class could eat it. The black rice is mostly served in Manipur (north-eastern India), and it’s rich in fiber and protein, which is the reason it’s known for its health benefits.

·         Risotto is an Italian-made pasta which means “little rice” served in northern Italy. Risotto is made with mustard-color spice and pumpkin or wine.

·         Northern wild rice is a Canadian meal traced to the indigenous Ojibway communities as a sacred component of their culture. The wild rice is also known as manoomin (harvesting berry or good berry).