創業者ブログ

Local production for local consumption
(Dec.13, 06)

60% of the food supply for Japanese domestic consumption are imported from other countries. It is highly publicized the importance of the concept of "local production for local consumption." However, Japan is still long way from improving its food self-sufficiency ratio.

Let me explain the concept of "local production for local consumption" by making the analogy of electricity. So far, electricity has been produced mainly by wholesale power plants such as hydraulic, thermal, and nuclear ones. The electricity from these massive plants is transmitted through very long power cables. Actually, this process of transmission exhibits great loss of electricity. However, it is unrealistic to construct big power plants near big cities, where are the final-consuming populations. In order to resolve this dilemma, a new power generating method is attracting a great deal of attention: power generation by small-scale diversified power plants such as solar, wind, and gas ones. These plants are maintained by the consumer of electricity themselves. Ditto with foods; locally produced foods are much fresher than those transported from a distance; in addition, by eating local foods, we can trim the fat off the waste of energy to transport for transportation. Numbers of people are now becoming aware of these facts. For example, many farmers started selling the products on the farm road. I hope that this movement will make both producers and consumers of agricultural crops happy and promote an ecological view in society.

I have a couple of ideas to promote the movement of the "local production local consumption." One way to do this is to set up a requirement for school lunch program to use local products. School children would notice how the local products tastes good and precious. This could be a part of the education at schools. Another idea is to develop brands of local products. Look at "Katsuyama" mizuna [a kind of watercress], "Kamisho" satoimo [aroid], "Wakasa" karei [flounder], "Echizen" gani [crab], "Echizen" soba [buckwheat noodle], "Nishida" ume [Japanese plum], "Sanri-hama" rakkyo [pickled shallots]. They are all well-built brands.

↓Please support this blog at BlogRanking! Please click here!↓