Broken Rice Becomes Wedding Confetti in Greece’s Farming Revival

In northern Greece, rice farmers are transforming a centuries-old wedding ritual into a model of sustainability.

Faced with rising production costs, falling prices, and worsening droughts, growers in Chalastra have begun selling broken rice, grains that are normally discarded or used for feed, as eco-friendly wedding rice.

Each summer, nearly 300 tons of edible rice are wasted at weddings across the country, tossed for good luck but ending up on the ground. Now, cooperatives are packaging the fragments under a new brand, The Wedding Rice, turning loss into opportunity.

Greece, the EU’s third-largest rice producer, exports about 250,000 tons annually but faces stiff competition from cheaper Asian imports.

The initiative helps preserve both income and tradition, offering farmers a creative way to cope with climate pressures while promoting sustainable celebrations.