RICE was first domesticated thousands of years ago in the Yangtze River valley in China. Today most of the world's rice is produced by China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Brazil and Japan. Most Asians are accustomed to having rice for at least one meal a day, if not for all meals. In many countries, rice is featured heavily in traditions, customs and festivals.

Help End Hunger! Go to www.freerice.com, play word and geography games, and donate rice to the hungry through a World Food Programme initiative. Beware - it's strangely addictive to test your vocabulary skills or knowledge of world capitals, but now you can tell your parents you're getting smarter with each click... and donating endless grains of rice to the less fortunate.