Badanas: Potential Food Nusantara Threatened To Disappear

-Director of Food Diversity Badanas, Rinna Syawal (center) accompanied by the UB Chancellor, Prof. Widodo (ANTARA)

Managing Director of Food Diversity of the National Food Agency (Bapanas) Rinna Syawal stated that the various potential foods of the archipelago, which reached hundreds, both as a source of carbohydrates, proteins, and vegetables, could be lost.

"How come it's not worrying, young people now have started to like outdoor foods, such as Korean, Japanese, and even Thai foods. If we don't introduce it and re-ferroize local food, we can eventually lose our Nusantara culinary delights," he said when describing the potential of local food in front of hundreds of urban farming groups. Malang City at the Universitas Brawijaya (UB) campus in Malang, East Java, Saturday.

The potential for a fairly diverse local food, he said, is 77 sources of carbohydrates, 85 sources of protein, and 280 types of vegetables, spread across the archipelago.

"If we don't take advantage of this potential and we keep it, it can be lost, because our young people prefer food from outside. How do we maintain this local wisdom, how do we bring our young people back we love and love local food in the country," he said.

He admitted that changing people's mindsets from rice to other carbohydrate sources is quite difficult.

"Our biggest challenge is to change the mindset of the community, even though if we take full advantage of the potential of local food, we can be food independent. Why haven't we worked on this food potential optimally, because we are still pampered with our abundant natural resources (SDA)," he said.

He said that in 2007 there were still many green (land) areas, but in 2023 almost all of them were green, turned yellow, and the climate challenges were extraordinary, which affected food production.

According to him, foodstuffs other than rice (rice), especially tubers, are future foods that must be promoted for use, as well as alternative foods.

"Because we are not doing well with this food. We face various challenges and obstacles in an effort to meet our food needs. Therefore, we must take advantage of the potential for a fairly diverse local food," he said.

To maximize the potential of local food, his party will soon advocate for local governments (Pemda) in the country. Then educate the public widely regarding the use of local food, including the substitution of rice to other carbohydrates, such as tubers.

Furthermore, encouraging the food industry to use local materials, such as the manufacture of noodles that have been made from flour and 100 percent of imports can use Modified Cassava Flour (mocaf), sago, and sorghum materials.

"Our other efforts encourage culinary and tourism business actors, including hotels, to use local materials for their offerings as alternative materials used so far," he said.