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Basic Law on Food Awareness Education Enacted
A basic law for food awareness education was enacted, which aims to make rights dietary habits of people that are in disarray through a national campaign. The passing of the law is especially welcome as the Democratic Party (DPJ) was opposed to it and as no one could be sure of what was going to happen in the current session of the Diet (Japanese parliament) where the ruling and opposition parties are at loggerheads over the bill for privatization of the Postal Services.
Not much words are necessary to explain food habit disarray among Japanese people. New words have been coined one after the other such as
Koshoku [eating alone] and Koshoku [eating separate meals on the same table] while family bondage and pleasant family conversion over the meal are fading out. Some critics point to the disarray in food habits as a factor contributing to distraction of mind among children. Food is a major element that determines national trait of people. It is hoped that the passing of the law offers many people a chance to give thought to and practice how a daily food habit should be managed.
The basic law carries a fundamental philosophy which says that food is the more important than anything else in nurturing rich human nature and that it should be aimed to educate a man to have knowledge about and ability to choose foods. Furthermore, the law sets out new viewpoints or approaches to learning about foods, which "the Nuturition Improvement Campaign" or "the Government Guidelines on Dietary Habits" hitherto implemented did not have: to learn about food habits not just from nuturition and safety aspects but from aspects including succession of traditional foods, symbiotic and trusted relationship between farmers and consumers, revitalization of local agriculture and enhancement of food self-sufficiency ratio. Dietary habits of people and domestic agriculture are two sides of a coin. Food habits in disarray indicate ailing of agriculture. The campaingn to straighten up food habit will hopefully
gear up with revitalizing of agriculture.
Council for the Promotion of Food Awareness Education will now be set up with the prime minister as its chairperson and the national campaign will be promoted based on a basic plan to be drafted soon. Local governments will also draft their version of the plan and promote campaign involving families, schools and nursery schools. The fact that food awareness education now has a legal ground is quite significant in calling on schools, farmers and food industries to voluntarily participate in the campaign.
There is an opinion that the basic law is a state intervention to dietary lives of people and it might well lead to restriction of culture. Indeed, what and how to eat belong to freedom of individuals. The law should not lead to restriction of privacy. However, food habits cultured as a part of each individual through manner training and education are cultures in themselves. With that in mind, as we look back on the past 50 years of economic growth, days in and days out, we can not help but reflecting that no other countries in the world have so much neglected food culture, succeeded from generation to generation, than us.
People in each country has given inventive touches to food ingredients grown on the local land and succeeded life from generation to generation. That is the food culture. Children must be taught how the real society, which gorges itself, eating epicurean fancy meals, gives little thought to people who grow foods. To educate is to let one learn what one does not know. Unless taught, never learnt.
We must pay heed to it to ensure that the food awareness education does not end up in "gorgeous appearance with poor substance." "The Government Guidelines on Dietary Habits" published jointly by then Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the year 2000 has the rate of recognition by people of only 25% as of January 2004 (according to a survey by the Information Service Center for Food and Foodways.) Though, much was expected of it to result in propagation of Japanese-style diet, it has barely taken root among people. The basic law must not see repeat of the failure.
Enactment of the law is just a starting line. The task is to see it grows as a national wave. Let us hope that many contrete undertakings will emerge with full of local color and invention.
(from an editorial in the June 11, 2005 issue of the Nihon Nogyo Shimbun)
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