There is a growing concern in Japan over its dependence on foreign imports to feed its people, due in part to the Japenese diet becoming more "Americanized." Instead of producing some dry report to educate the Japanese people on the importance of going back to sustainable traditional diets the Agricultural, Forestry & Fishery Ministry employed the services of a design studio to produce a short animation to raise awareness about Japan's low food self-sufficiency compared to other nations, not to mention it's history and traditions.
I have previewed and it would be an excellent short video to show in class to support a discussion on sustainability of food sources.The video has been viewed by over 100,000 people so far and can be seen by visiting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok3ykR2GHCc.
Of greater interest (or perhaps concern) is that if the Japanese apply their innovative spirit to agriculture (as they did to automobiles and electronics) in the attempt to be more self-sufficient and rely less on imports to feed the nation the impact will be significant. One negative impact for the US will be the lost revenues enjoyed now by those exporting foods to Japan. Another impact (which is both negative and positive depending on your perspective) is the technnologies and subject matter expertise that Japanese entrepreneurs will develop to make the country less reliant on imports which will then be exported to other nations producing Third Wave revenues for Japan. There will no doubt be other resulting positive and negative impacts for the world and it underscores the importance of establishing a worldview perspective for those graduating from our respective culinary arts and hospitality programs.
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