Key agricultural workers are those who are regularly engaged in self-employed farming. Currently, 1.226
million people are engaged in agriculture, but this number is decreasing year by year.
The reason for the decreasing trend is that the average age of farmers is currently 68.4 years old, and
many people tend to retire from farming as they age.
Although agricultural mechanization and improvements in production technology have reduced the amount of
time it takes to farm, on the other hand, it is difficult to create large plots and introduce large
machineries, making farming less efficient.
As a result, we are in a situation where we are not
able to develop young people
who will be responsible for local agriculture.
The younger generation has moved to urban areas, and the farming population is aging.
The food self-sufficiency rate is an indicator of how much of the food
consumed is covered by domestic production.
On the one hand, the calorie-based food
delf-sufficiency rate is a calculation of the
proportion of domestically produced products in
the daily calorie intake per person,
based on the calories, which are essential for human
survival.
On the other hand, focusing on economic value,
the ratio of domestic production to
the whole production value of food supplied to the nation
(the amount of food destined for
domestic consumption) is called the production value basis,
and the "amount of money" is used as
a measuring stick.
As you can see in the graph, both the calorie-based food self-sufficiency
rate
and the production value based one are decreasing year by year.
They stay at a low level compared to the top three overseas countries,
with Japan relying
on
imports for nearly 60%.
Interview with Hiroyasu Ogawa of Atsumi Peninsula Tomato Land
We asked why he started the agricultural card project! !
I wanted to boost my industry, but I didn't know what to do, and I got a hint to
start my
project when I tweeted it would be fun to make an agricultural card based
on the Aomori prefecture
fisherman card I saw on TV.
Although I have never actually met the two farmers face to face, who I had originally
connected with
through Twitter, the farm cards were completed through conversations on
smartphones and online
meetings via Zoom.
When I tried this project, I found that the farmers' reactions were very positive.
Since the recruitment was limited to Twitter and Instagram, most of the participants
were in their
20s and 30s, and I hear that they are encouraged by seeing people of the same generation across
the
country doing their best through the agricultural cards.
It would be a dream-come-true to have your face, the vegetables you grew, and photos
of your fields
on the cards and to be delivered to consumers all over the country with the vegetables,
and the
cards are collected by the consumers. Also, I would be happy if the consumers who see the cards
feel,
"Wow, vegetables are grown here!" or "It's fun to collect cards!" I also hope that the
consumers
and the producers will feel closer to each other and that the way they approach food will
change.
Atsumi Peninsula Tomato Land Official HomepageHP here
"Tabe choku"
Delivered by “choku” from farmers and fishermen across the country
Online direct sales shop for carefully selected ingredients and flowers
Delivered directly from producers, you will receive fresh vegetables, fish, flowers, and more.
You can also exchange messages with producers of vegetables and other products.
