Growing Diversity - Asia
TITLE OF EXPERIENCE: Grassroots sustainable food production and cooking movement in Japan : Revival of under-utilized millets for sustainable future
AUTHOR: Yumiko Otani, International Life and Food Association (ILFA)
COUNTRY AND REGION: Japan
ECOLOGICAL ZONE:
ABSTRACT
Before the Meiji Revolution in 1868, when Japan opened the door to foreign countries, the Japanese people did not eat meat. Whole grains such as millets, barnyard, proso, foxtail, finger, sorghum and buckwheat were cultivated in rotation with barley and legume. People mainly ate these whole grains with miso (soybean past fermented with salt), pickles, vegetables, sea vegetables, and some fishes. Leaves and stems of these millets were used to feed animals whose manure was used to fertilize the field where the millets were grown.
However, after the Meiji Revolution, the Japanese diet was westernized. Meats, eggs, milk, bread, white rice and sugar took the place of millet. Millet almost disappeared in the Japanese diet because of this diet shift. Coupled with this dietary shift is the increase in incidence of diseases and ailments in humans. The case study describes in detail the nutritional and ecological advantages of the traditional diet.
The realization that Japanese health is related to the diet and its production led to the founding of the people’s network, International Life and Food Association (ILFA) to promote "food for the future". Since 1997, ILFA have campaigned and promoted the "revival of millets in farms and tables". ILFA have collected and distributed millet seeds and had taught its cultivation. "Food for the future" means survival and tasty cooking for a sustainable future using traditional ways of cooking and locally grown grains.
However, the number of the farmers who produce millets is decreasing. In 1997, ILFA organized the campaign to increase the production of the millets. The campaign had two purposes. The first is to enlighten the people about the value of millets and let them get interested in producing millets. In the campaign, ILFA distributed the seeds of the millets and brochures explaining how to grow millets. The second is to set up a network between organic farmers and consumers. An exhibition of millets was set up for one month and several seminars on millets were organized. As a result, the network of organic producers, consumers and millet producers was organized in1998. A book on millets was also published in1999.
Details about the International Millet Food Forum, it objectives, visions and planned activities, and the planned International Millet Symposium and is rationale is included in the case study.
CONTACT
Yumiko Otani, ILFA (International Life and Food Association), 944-1 Oishizawa 999-1212 Oguni-machi Nishiokitama-gun Yamagata 1-17-9 Sekikuguchi Bunkyo-ku Tokyo Japan, Tel. Nos. 0238-65-2775, 03-3269-0833, Fax No. 0238-65-2056, 03-3269-0627
Email: millet@ilfa.org