Scientists say that rice has fed more people in the world over a longer period of time than any other grain crop. Human beings have been cultivating it for over 5,000 years, and it was first cultivated in China before spreading to Sri Lanka, India, and then the rest of the world.

Rice is a versatile crop that can be grown in a variety of climates and is easy to store. The most cultivated varieties of rice are Oryza glaberrima and Oryza sativa. This grain is so beloved it’s now grown on every continent on the planet, except for Antarctica.

It’s also popular enough to earn its own month. September is now observed as National Rice Month, and it’s the perfect time for people to examine how they want to use this grain in their diet.

The History of National Rice Month

Although we’re currently unsure of the year when this month was created, we do know that it was created by USA Rice. This organization is the global advocate for the United States rice industry, and they created National Rice Month to promote rice on behalf of the farmers, millers, businesses, and merchants responsible for rice production.

Some Fast Facts About Rice

We are always fans of fast rice facts, so we did a little bit of research and listed some below. Hopefully, everyone will find them as fascinating as we did.

• Wild rice isn’t actually rice. It’s a distant relative to rice that is part of the Zizania genus.
• On average, Americans eat more than 20 pounds of rice per person per year.
• Brown rice has more fiber than white rice.
• Brown rice contains phytic acid.
• Brown rice stabilizes blood sugar levels, provides B vitamins, and improves bowel movements.

Observing National Rice Month

Observing National Rice Month is as simple as finding some rice dishes and then making them during the month of September. If we were to attempt to list every single rice dish we knew about in this article, we’d be here all day.

That’s why we’re only going to make a few rice dish recommendations. The dishes we recommend making during this month include Cilantro-Lime Rice, Black Bean and Rice Burritos, Chicken Fried Rice, and Creole Dirty Rice. Those are the dishes we think really taste great.

Of course, people can also use this month to learn more about rice. And as is usually the case, we recommend everyone observing this month spread the word about it online using the hashtag #NationalRiceMonth. Let everyone know what you’re cooking and how it turned out. Who knows, you may even turn someone on to a rice dish they’ve never had before.