Often admired from abroad as an ideal school lunch program and nutrition education model for other countries around the world, Japanese "Shokuiku" has its flaws, too. Perhaps it is difficult to tell as Japan, when compared to other developed countries, has a much lower obesity rate and one of the highest longevity rates in the world. And speaking with bias as an admirer of Japan myself, Japanese culture typically aims at any projects it conducts right. However, as is the case here, sometimes striving for perfection while running a national program can lead to top-down policy. That in itself is a limitation.
Based on researching current trends and issues in Japan's food self-sufficiency, food safety, nutrition, and changing consumption patterns during a Comprehensive International Education Program on Sustainable Agriculture in Asia, Japan's youth are on a path expected with the commercialisation of the food system characterised by greater control of the food retail sector. Much like its North American and European counterparts, Japan's youth are collecting food miles with their changing diets, by consuming more store-bought, pre-packaged and processed foods shipped from China, Brazil, and Southeast Asian countries with few if any local ingredients. It is clear what this could mean for Japan's highly cherished "Washoku" cuisine, which recently received World Heritage recognition.
In an effort to teach Japanese youth better food habits for cultural preservation and societal health outcomes, policymakers developing Shokuiku have misunderstood a fundamental aspect of food choice in our modern society by calling for more responsibility among individuals as well as a return to traditional family values of eating dinner as a family.
While Shokuiku might have specified goals that many progressive advocates of food security, food self-sufficiency, localism and holistic nutritional education might agree with, its approaches are somewhat misguided. For instance, it does not consider that individual responsibility is not entirely equitable, as many people make food choices based on economic capabilities. Especially for low-earning members of our society (i.e., students), we cannot expect that they will make healthier and local choices when growing prevalence of supermarkets has made processed and imported foods more affordable. Also, the policy ignores other critical aspects that contribute to distanciation from food's source of Japan's modern context, such as changing family patterns due to urbanisation and more women entering the workforce. This means family dinners in the traditional sense are less likely to occur. It also implies that women should be primary caregivers by providing meals to her family, though we know it is unfair to assign domestic gender roles to women vs men.
Policy regarding Shokuiku must include more opinion from various members of society, including those marginalised by its initial policy, like women and low-income groups. Polycentric governance implicit in operating from a food sovereignty lens could help guide the program's reform. As a result, solutions that are more all-encompassing could be adopted. In addition, more responsibility regarding food choice should be shifted to the government, particularly the education system in engaging youth through curricular change. Whether this is best done from a federal level or interpreted and delivered by subnational governents remains a fundamental research question. These changes could include food literacy workshops or incorporate food-related lessons in all courses, and improvements to the already existent and mandatory home-economics curriculum to teach cooking, food preparation and storage, and critical thinking about traceability and food chains.
Washoku
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