Whenever I think of my father, who died years ago, I remember a thought he shared with me when I was in my early teens, soul just awakening to social issues.
During lunch one day, he said, as he watched me polish off my bowl of rice: “Farmers are our unsung heroes. They labor as in the folk song we have, ‘bent from morn’ till the set of sun, cannot stand and cannot sit, cannot rest for a little bit,’ except when it’s time to have lunch, of course.”
He also said every grain of rice represents the farmer’s sweat and tears. And to waste one grain is to dishonor the farmer who strives to rise above the paddy he tills “because it is so hard to be so poor... sorrow and pain endure... must move your arms about, or you’ll find you must go without,” thus the folk song ends, he said.
This struck me like a thunderclap—a warning.
Lightning is often silent, even if it manifests itself before sound, but thunder always roars out its presence, loudly reminding earth that there is an existing problem.
The problem facing farmers is an old one even simply basing it on a folk song (maybe from the 1950s?). It centers on the Six-headed Monster challenging farmers: water, capital, nearby post-harvest storage, access to market, technology and climate change.
They who fill our bowls with their tears have less on their own tables, and yet they rise with the early birds and call it a day when gorion birds sing their evening song.
I believe this is why my father called farmers our unsung heroes who must gain our respect.
The world indirectly honors farmers with rice festivals like the Moon Cake Festival (Sept. 29). Other rice festivals include Panagyaman (April), Pahiyas (May), and Sinanggiyaw (October). These festivals focus on bountiful harvest which is a cause for celebration. The spotlight is on the result, and I do not brush that off.
People need to thank God for taming the Six-headed Monster. But what about the hands that labored to bring about the harvest? What about the plight of this country’s farmers?
There is one celebration in Japan that depicts rice cultivation with its hard work, and teaches people on agriculture and farming.
The rice paddy art of Inakadate Village in Aomori Prefecture uses a combination of rice plants with varied colors to create images on a rice field—of folk heroes, Mt. Fuji and even the Mona Lisa.
Until we reach the rice magic that can give us the luxury of planting a living paddy art, we may remain bent from morn’ till the set of sun.
For now, let’s thank our heroic farmers for providing us with their filling tears.