Twitter Is Divided On Padma Lakshmi's Bread Opinion

You have to try really hard to have a controversial opinion about bread. You might as well have a piping hot take on leaves or lint. Yet, Padma Lakshmi has managed to do it. Early this morning, the "Top Chef" judge tweeted, "If I'm being totally honest, rice > bread."

A sound of approval flickered through the comments, and one rice devotee noted, "Almost anything that goes in a sandwich can be cut up and mixed with rice, and it'll still taste heavenly." Many others simply gave variations on the theme of "true," "so true," and "ultimate truth." These also included the rice dishes that they especially liked: "Totally agree. Egg on rice with a roasted tomato sauce."

However, the bread brigade came in force as well. "Despite a global pandemic and the re-emergence of rightwing populism threatening democracy around the world, this is one of the worst takes," one wrote. Many more pointed to naan as far superior to rice. Others leaned into the multifaceted nature of bread: "I love rice! ... but I still need something to put the pizza toppings on." After all, the point reasons bread encompasses baguettes, pita pockets, and injera. 

As most debates about rice or bread seem to boil down to either one's culture or just their preference in food, we might as well consider the nutritional differences between the two. According to SFGate, as long as you choose the whole grain option, you can't go too wrong with either — bread has fewer vitamins, but rice has more calories and carbohydrates. Though in both cases, the differences are very minor, and the piece shows this with a calorie count. While brown rice has 108 calories per ½ cup, whole wheat bread has 69 per slice. In both cases, these numbers would be higher if they were the white, processed versions.

Environmentally, though, bread seems to clinch it. In 2019, the BBC uploaded a climate change food calculator that says one serving of rice produces three times the amount of greenhouse gases as one serving of bread. According to Ethical Consumer, this is because the production of rice releases methane. Nevertheless, eating rice is still better than meat and dairy. So, ultimately, Padma Laksmi's tweet will probably live on more as a prompt for barstool debates than anything incisive.