Producers’ guidance for participants in hands-on experiences of farming, fishing and picking-up foods from the forest is most effective for them to deepen their understandings and interests in food and agriculture, a survey conducted by the Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has learned “A survey on diet and hands-on experience farming and fishing” was implemented by MAFF during a period of October and November 2016 by polling 4000 consumers aged from 20 to 60 years who have took part in those hands-on experiences. Among the polled consumers experiencing the hands-on farming with farmer’s guidance, 28.8 percent responded to a question regarding their shopping, saying “I am now … Continue reading →

While the new administration under U.S. President Donald Trump is casting a shadow over U.S.-Mexico relations, the U.S. dairy industry leaders are eager to emphasize their intention to keep in good terms with their counterparts of the U.S.’ top export market. Tom Vilsack, president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council who served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for eight years until January, visited Mexico earlier this week, heading a delegation of U.S. dairy industry officials. In addressing the National Dairy Forum, an annual gathering of Mexican dairy farmers organized by the Mexican Federation of Milk Producers (Femeleche) held in Mexico City on March 15, Vilsack stressed the … Continue reading →

A blog written by Japanese young people living abroad is attracting attention by offering information on food and agriculture of the nations they live in. The blog titled “Agriters” is written in Japanese by five people living in the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Nepal. “We hope the blog can offer clues for revitalizing Japan’s agriculture and rural villages,” said Mikihisa Shiratori, 32, who started the blog. Shiratori, who is taking postgraduate courses at the Department of Land Economy in University of Cambridge in Britain, invited other writers through social media. A writer who goes by a pseudonym GAK and conducts a research on agriculture and politics in the … Continue reading →