(Jeonju=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jin-bang = The Rural Development Administration announced on the 4th that it will hold a campaign titled 'November 11 is Garaetteok Day' from 4 to 11 to promote rice consumption.
The Rural Development Administration stated that during this period, if people post pictures of themselves eating or cooking various types of rice cakes, including garaetteok, as comments on social media campaign posts, 40 people will be selected by lottery to receive a set of 'Siknyang' character goods from the National Institute of Crop Science and a set of domestic rice varieties.
The Garaetteok Day online campaign can be found on the National Institute of Crop Science website (www.nics.go.kr) and on social media.
The government designated November 11 as 'Farmers' Day' in 1996 to boost the pride and self-esteem of farmers. As the younger generation increasingly perceives this day as a time to exchange stick-shaped snacks, in 2006 it was designated as 'Garaetteok Day' to encourage rice consumption by eating garaetteok.
Director Gwak Do-yeon of the National Institute of Crop Science said, "We hope that the Garaetteok Day campaign will be a time to share garaetteok made from our rice, to once again reflect on the importance of our agriculture and rice consumption," and "We look forward to it becoming an opportunity to express gratitude for the hard work of farmers and to lead to a healthy food culture."