The Norinchukin Bank (Central Cooperative Bank for Agriculture and Forestry), a national center of the banking business network of agricultural cooperatives (JAs) in the country, plans to sponsor a five-year project of sending a caravan team with a mobile kitchen car to all the farmer’s markets operated by JA and JA’s organizations throughout the country.
A new-model kitchen car of the JA Bank’s caravan team now goes out on its cross-country tour to visit JA farmer’s markets. (© The Norinchukin Bank)
A chef of a popular TV cooking show “Today’s Cooking for Everyone” broadcasted by the public broadcaster NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) also joins the caravan team.
The caravan team kicks off a long journey of the project on August 6 by visiting a farmer’s market of JA Azumi in Nagano prefecture with a new-model kitchen car.
For the purpose of promoting a nation-wide campaign of boosting consumption of locally-grown farm products, the project will continue during the next five years up to 2020.
The caravan team and the mobile kitchen car are to visit all the farmer’s markets operated by JAs in every part of Japan and enhance dissemination of on-the-spot information appealing characteristic features of respective markets, which is expected to contribute to revitalization of rural communities in various areas of the country.
The project is sponsored by the JA Bank Group headed by the Norinchukin Bank in collaboration with one of NHK’s affiliates, NHK Promotions Inc., managing a popular website of NHK’s TV cooking show, “Today’s Cooking for Everyone: A Healthy Kitchen.”
On the mobile kitchen car visiting JA farmer’s market, a chef of the caravan team will demonstrate cooking of various dishes with seasonal farm products harvested by local farmers in respective areas, which are to be served for visitors of the market.