Locally Produced Food in School Lunches----A Challenge by Nyuzen, Japan

JFS Newsletter No.180 (August 2017)

Copyright 2017 Nyuzen Agriculture Public Corporation All Rights Reserved.

Japan has various school lunch programs in effect nationwide that involve advanced efforts to promote local production and consumption of food. The Third Basic Program for Shokuiku (food/ nutritional education) Promotion, effective from FY 2016 through FY 2018, aims to improve the ratio of locally produced foodstuffs used in school lunches to 30 percent or more from the current ratio of 26.9 percent, with the goal of promoting the local production local consumption movement through school lunch programs. The Basic Program for Shokuiku Promotion has been implemented since 2006 based on the Basic Law on Shokuiku enacted in 2005.

The School Lunch Program Act, revised in June 2008, also stipulates efforts to use local farm products in school lunch service according to agricultural conditions in each area and also to promote knowledge of local food culture, food industries and the natural environment of the area. The substantial aim of the act is food education through school lunch programs. At the same time, promoting use of local agricultural products can also be reliably expected to result in increased economic circulation in local areas.

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) released a guidebook to provide tips on how to use local farm products in school lunches, describing many existing examples. From these examples, we can see that a significant factor in successful attempts is the degree to which an original system can be created which actually matches the situation in the local area.

I studied all the examples from the view of local production for local consumption and then divided them into three major classes.

When a school lunch menu is planned, the amounts and kinds of food ingredients are identified and calculated in advance based on the number of students before any actual cooking takes place. The first step is pick items from the ingredients list that can be prepared locally. This is implemented throughout the nation. The next step is to establish an original menu plan according to expectations not only of how much of what items will be needed, but also with an eye on how much and what kinds of local ingredients can be harvested each season. In some areas, we see even more advanced cases, which can be called "third step" cases. There, the lunch planning staff and food ingredient producers confer with each other about the next year's lunch program beforehand so that the farmers can draft their work plans and even try raising new items in response to requests from the cooks.

This month, we introduce the case of a school lunch system practiced by Nyuzen, a town in Toyama Prefecture, through an interview with Mr. Yukihiko Tatsujiri, executive director of Nyuzen Agriculture Public Corporation in Toyama Prefecture.

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Tokyo Launches Campaign to Promote Switch to LED Home Lighting

Image by Masaru.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) announced on May 26, 2017, the launch of a campaign that will promote an energy saving movement among households through a shift to LED bulbs. Starting July 10, Tokyo residents who bring two or more incandescent bulbs to their local home appliance store will receive one LED bulb. TMG expects the campaign will accelerate energy efficiency among households, which currently account for about one third of all energy consumed in the city.

An LED lightbulb consumes anywhere from one-fourth to one-sixth the electricity used by an incandescent bulb. It also last longer, with 40 thousand hours of life--about 40 times that of an incandescent bulb. According to TMG, the current ratio of LED lighting use in Tokyo homes is only about 58 percent and further growth is needed.

To implement the project smoothly, TMG will require participating appliance stores to attend a briefing meeting beforehand to learn the campaign guidelines. A subsidy will be offered to encourage participation.

In its Action Plan for 2020, formulated in 2016, TMG aspires to become "Smart City Tokyo," defined as a city that keeps improving, is active and open to the world, excels on environmental performance, and is an international finance and business leader. TMG expects the campaign will encourage more residents to experience the energy-saving benefits of LED bulbs, which will then create a broader energy-saving movement among households.