日本消費者連盟
すこやかないのちを未来へ
Sound and Healthy Future for Our Children

Consumers Union of Japan Invites You to Our Annual Symposium

Consumers Union of Japan invites you to our annual symposium:

Program
13:30 – 13:40 Greetings

13:40 – 14:00 Toshiyuki Saito:  What we have seen from the Green Food System Strategy

14:00 – 14:20 Keisuke Amagasa: Biotechnology is incompatible with organic agriculture: Dangerous RNA pesticides

14:20 – 14:25 Break

Panel discussion (Yoshihide Kanno , Regine Maeda, Toshiyuki Saito, Keisuke Amagasa)

14:25 – 14:35 Yoshihide Kanno, “Creating a multi-layered, cyclical agriculture and community” (Online participation from Yamagata)

14:35 – 14:45 Mrs. Regine Maeda, “From a village in the south of France” (Online participation from France)

14:45 – 15:30 Panel discussion and summary

Place: Rengo Kaikan, Tokyo

◆参加費のお支払いについて
まだ振り込まれていない方は、できるだけ早急にお願いいたします。
参加費：一般800円、日消連会員・学生500円
振込先口座は以下をご覧ください。
https://nishoren.net/flash/16091

By fridfrid | 18/06/2021 | Biodiversity, Chemical pollution, Civil Rights, Japan Resources |

Global People’s Summit on Food Systems — Against the UN Food System Summit

In September of this year (2021), the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will convene the United Nations Food System Summit. In this international event with the goal of building a “healthier, more sustainable and equitable food system,” and in 2021 (in the midst of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming 2019-2028) the participation and input of people engaged in family farming and small-scale agriculture, who account for more than 80% of the world’s food production, should be a priority.

However, when concrete discussions began in 2020, the issues of human rights and land grabbing that small-scale farmer groups have been advocating were not at the center of the agenda, and corporations and related organizations that promote land concentration, monopolization of agricultural supply chains. Also the industrialization of food, including biotechnology, have had a significant influence on decision-making. In response to this, many civil society organizations have begun to take action and sent a joint letter demanding a review of the summit’s preparatory process, transparency in decision-making, and dialogue to achieve this, but no fundamental review has taken place. In March, a group of small-scale farmers from the Global South (Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa) announced their boycott of the summit and launched a counter-summit, the Global People’s Summit on Food Systems (GPS).

The following statement is the press release issued along with the declaration of this counter-summit. What is it that the world’s small-scale farmers, who hold the key to the future of agriculture, and the many civil society organizations that share their beliefs, want to address by boycotting the UN event?

Consumers Union of Japan is a member of the Stop Golden Rice Network (SGRN), one of the organizers of the Global People’s Summit on Food Systems.

In Japanese here

Facebook in English here

Statement from Hungry4Change here

(more…)

By fridfrid | 18/06/2021 | Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Civil Rights, Corporate Responsibility, Environment, Food, Food Security, North-South, Organic Agriculture/Food, Trade |

Campaign to Reduce the Use of Plastics

Consumers Union of Japan is stepping up the campaign against plastic waste. We are asking major convenience stores and coffee shop chains what they are doing in Japan, as their stores in other countries appear to be moving faster to reduce the use of plastic containers and cups.

Questionnaire on Reusable Container Initiatives

To: Seven & I Holding, FamilyMart, Lawson, Starbucks Japan, Doutor Coffee

27 May 2021

According to media reports, reusable container initiatives are progressing overseas. For example, 7-Eleven in Taiwan has announced a plan to eliminate the use of all disposable plastics by 2050, and has introduced a reusable cup system in four of its stores. In addition, FamilyMart in Taiwan has also started selling lunch boxes in reusable containers. Furthermore, Starbucks in South Korea has announced that it will eliminate disposable cups by 2025. Some McDonald’s stores in London, UK have introduced reusable takeout cups that can be returned to other McDonald’s stores after the drink is finished.

We hope that Japanese companies will also promote reuse in order to reduce the use of single-use plastics. Therefore, we would like to ask you about your company’s efforts to reuse containers.

1) Please let us know the material of each of the beverage and food (lunch box, etc.) containers that you provide for both in-store and take-out.

2) Do you have any plans to change your take-out containers from one-way containers to reusable containers?

3) If the plastic recycling promotion bill currently being discussed in the Japanese Parliament is enacted, cutlery and straws may be legislated (reduced use) next year. Examples of legislation methods include charging a fee, point card promotion schemes, and switching to alternative materials. It has been shown that point card promotion schemes does not reduce the amount of plastic bags used. Also, switching to alternative materials will not reduce the amount of waste. We believe that charging a fee is the most effective way to reduce the amount of waste. Please let us know what your policy is.

 

By fridfrid | 01/06/2021 | Corporate Responsibility, Environment, Waste |

Statement: We Protest Against the Distribution of Gene-edited Tomato Seedlings that are Destroying Biodiversity

Statement:

We Protest Against the Distribution of Gene-edited Tomato Seedlings

that are Destroying Biodiversity

Calling on the Japanese Government to Strictly Regulate All

Gene-edited Organisms

22 May 2021

Consumers Union of Japan

22 May is the International Day of Biodiversity, established by the United Nations. Although this day should be a day to celebrate the abundance of nature, in May this year, the free distribution of gene-edited tomato seedlings has begun in Japan, threatening biodiversity. In addition, gene-edited rice and potatoes are being grown on a trial basis, and there is even a new move to approve fish developed in this way.

It is very unfortunate that this year’s Day of Biodiversity will be a day to protest that Japan is spearheading the research, development, and commercialization of this new form of genetic manipulation and the destruction of biodiversity. Gene editing is genetic manipulation on a much larger scale than conventional genetic modification. Despite the need for stricter regulations, the Japanese government has decided not to regulate it at all, making biodiversity impact assessments unnecessary, food safety assessments unnecessary, and food labeling unnecessary. This is a betrayal of life on Earth while posing risks to our future.

The threat of genetic engineering is that the altered genes may be passed on from one generation to the next, and in addition, they may spread throughout the ecosystem and become uncontrollable. With the current level of knowledge, it is impossible to predict what kind of impact it will have on the natural world once it is altered.

The responsibility of the Japanese government is grave. We protest the distribution of gene-edited tomato seedlings and call on the Japanese government to strictly regulate gene-edited organisms. We will continue to fight to protect biodiversity and safeguard the future of our planet.

By fridfrid | 22/05/2021 | Biodiversity, Biotechnology |

Japan Resources – 181

Please click here for our latest English newsletter: CUJ JR 181

Contents:

From the Editors: Special Issue About Organic School Lunches in Japan

Organically Grown Food for School Lunch Programs

Itadakimasu!

School Lunches at a Public School in Chiba Prefecture

News: New Wave of Protests Against Unregulated Genome-Edited Tomato

Trend: Intense Activity Toward Commercialization of Genome-Edited Food

By fridfrid | 10/05/2021 | Biotechnology, Environment, Food, Japan Resources, Organic Agriculture/Food |