Consumers Union of Japan – Page 8 – Sound and Healthy Future for Our Children

Public Meeting on Genome-edited Fish in Kyoto

～What will happen to the future of food? ~

Japanese text here

Genome-edited foods are now being distributed in Japan, and in Japan alone, and are starting to appear on our tables. Moreover, two of the three types of genome-edited food distributed in Japan are fish (horse mackerel and tiger puffer fish). Until now, genetically modified fish have never been distributed as food in Japan. Genome-edited foods are as dangerous as, or even more dangerous than, genetically modified foods, yet the government has stated that there is no need to assess whether they are safe to eat or to label them. It is also totally unpredictable what will happen if genome-edited fish escape and enter the ecosystem. Regional Fish, the Kyoto University venture that developed, farms and sells such fish, has made no attempt to respond to our concerns or questions, while downplaying the dangers.

The fish farm is located in Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture, where the rich fishing grounds produce a lot of delicious local fish. However, Miyazu City has adopted genome-edited tiger puffer fish as an official “Hometown Tax Return Gift” as part of a program to promote local regions around Japan. Despite local citizens demanding that it be revoked, the city will not listen.

Regional Fish is developing genome-edited fish in collaboration with Food & Life Companies, which owns Sushiro, the revolving sushi restaurant chain. It has established a joint venture with NTT for land-based aquaculture and claims to be planning to establish new land-based aquaculture facilities across the country.

Genome-edited fish are now gradually making their way into our daily lives. But there is no labelling. We, the consumers, have no choice. Consumers Union of Japan is calling on Regional Fish to stop the development and cultivation of genome-edited fish, and on Miyazu City to withdraw them from its official tax return program. Furthermore, we are also working with the fishing industry to stop the onshore cultivation of genome-edited fish. This is why we have organised this meeting in Kyoto, where genome-edited fish are being developed and farmed.

We hope you will join us at this meeting to help protect the future of our food supply!

Date: 23 September 2023 13:00 – 16:00

Venue: Hito Machi Koryukan Kyoto, Kyoto Main Conference Room

Address: 83-1, Umeminato-cho, Kaminoguchi-agaru, Nishi-Kiyamachi-Dori, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto

Participation fee: 500 yen

Capacity: 300 at the venue, 500 online

Application deadline: Tuesday 19 September

(Note: The meeting will be held in Japanese only)

Program

12:30 Doors open

13:00-13:05 Opening remarks

13:05-13:50 Part 1: Keynote speech “How will genome-edited foods change the future of food” by Setsuko Yasuda

13:50-14:25 Part 2: Talk session “What is the problem with genome-edited fish?” by Keisuke Amagasa and Masahigashi Kawada

14:25-14:35 Break

14:35-15:10 Part 3: Panel discussion “Genome-edited tiger puffer fish as a tax return gift for promoting hometowns”

15:10-15:40 Questions and answers

15:40-15:55 Appeal by fishermen, appeal on genome-edited tomatoes

15:55-16:00 Rally appeal, closing remarks

By fridfrid | 03/08/2023 | Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Corporate Responsibility, Food |

Survey of Organic School Lunches in Japan

Please Participate in CUJ’s Survey on the Use of Organic Ingredients in School Lunches

Japanese text here

An increasing number of municipalities around Japan have recently started to use organically grown rice, vegetables and other ingredients in school lunches in primary and secondary schools. Citizens are also increasingly calling for organic ingredients to be used in school lunches, and various initiatives have been launched in various parts of the country.

Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ) considers that the inclusion of organic food in school lunches is not only good for children’s health, but also protects the environment and the producers, including local farmers. In order to further expand this trend, the initiatives of municipalities that are already using organic food (not only JAS standards) can be helpful.

We decided to conduct a survey of progressive municipalities in various regions. See below for the content of the survey in English:

Survey in Japanese here:

■学校給食における有機食材の使用に関する調査用紙（Word）

General overview of school meals:

Q: What is the population of your municipality and how many primary and secondary schools provide school lunches and how many students are served?

Population:

Number of Primary Schools Serving Pupils

Number of Junior High School Serving Pupils:

Q: Please circle the relevant school meal preparation method.
(1) Own school system by school
(2) Centre-based system
(3) Combination of own school system and centre system

School lunch costs

Q: What is the average cost per meal?
Primary school: Yen______________
Junior high school: Yen______________

About your organic school lunches

Q: When did you start using organic ingredients for school lunches?
Since year (e.g. 2020):

Q: How often do you serve organic school lunches each year?

Q: How often (in total days) are organic school lunches served?
Days per year:

Q: What organic ingredients do you use? Please circle all that apply and write the name of the ingredient for others:
Staple food: rice, bread (wheat etc.), noodles, other:
Vegetables: onions, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, radishes, other:
Meat: beef, pork, chicken, other:
Drinks: milk, fruit juice, green tea, other:
Fruit: apples, tangerines, grapes, bananas, strawberries, other:
Seasonings: miso, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, oil, sake, mirin, other:
Please specify any other organic ingredients not listed above:

Q: What proportion of the total school lunch is made up of organic ingredients (in monetary terms)?
Rice %, wheat, barley %, vegetables %, meat %, drinks %, fruit %, seasonings %.

Q: How do you procure your organic ingredients? Please circle the relevant procurement method and ingredients.
(1) Directly from municipal farmers: rice, wheat, vegetables, meat, drinks, fruit, other:
(2) From municipal agricultural organisations: rice, wheat, vegetables, meat, drinks, fruit, etc.
(3) From other sources: rice, wheat, vegetables, meat, drinks, fruit, other:

Q: How did you come to use organic food? Please circle the relevant number. Please describe any others. (Multiple answers allowed)
(1) Residents’ (parents’) demands, (2) Producers’ demands, (3) Councilors’ demands, (4) Commitments by the head of government, (5) Nutrition teachers’ and cooks’ demands,
(6) Other:

Please send your reply to koketsu@nishoren.org

ご協力ありがとうございました。ご返信は下記にお願いいたします。

【返信先】

〒169-0051 東京都新宿区西早稲田1-9-19-207

日本消費者連盟／担当：纐纈（こうけつ）美千世

FAX：03‐5155‐4767

Eメール：koketsu@nishoren.org

Ito City School Lunch Campaign (20 July to 12 August 2023) Poster:

Organic School Lunch Campaign in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture in 2023

By fridfrid | 02/08/2023 | Food, Organic Agriculture/Food, Uncategorized |

Face-to-face Courses

Blog: Realising the Benefits of Face-to-face Courses (27 July 2023)

Japanese here: https://nishoren.net/new-information/18878

Since Covid-19 was reduced to a Category 5 infectious disease, face-to-face study meetings and gatherings have gradually increased. On 1 July 2023, the general meeting of the East Japan Liaison Group for Clean Water and Life was held face-to-face for the first time in four years. A study session was held with Associate Professor Harada Sadao of Doshisha University speaking on the theme “Plastic in the Ocean” Seeing the lecturer’s facial expressions and hearing his voice, I think the participants realised the advantages of face-to-face lectures. It was also invigorating for some of the participants to see each other for the first time in a long time, and to confirm that they are continuing their activities.

Online meetings, which were popularised during the Covid-19 Pandemic, are useful for many people to participate and spread the word about different issues. I think they will be used even more in the future. But why not also hold face-to-face study meetings? In my opinion the role of Japan’s local consumer centres is not only to provide advice on complaints. I think they could also respond to consumer requests for study groups and small meetings.

Do try making a request to hold a course on something you want to know or learn about at your local office.

Topics include fragrance pollution, food additives, food labelling, electromagnetic device pollution, de-plasticised lifestyles, artificial grass, genetically modified foods (GMOs), genome-edited foods and even food tech such as insect foods. For advice on lecturers, please make use of the CUJ Lecturers’ Group. You may unexpectedly meet someone close to you who is dealing with the same issues.

By Sazaki Miyoko, Co-chair of CUJ

By fridfrid | 02/08/2023 | Civil Rights, COVID-19 |

PFAS Artifical Turf at Your School?

Artificial plastic turf, PFAS chemical pollution in Japan, how about it? Join us to stop it.

Japanese here

Artificial turf is on the increase on playing fields, but also in school yards, children’s playgrounds and private gardens.

Plastic green space has attracted attention as a source of large amounts of microplastics, but it is not the only problem.

PFAS (organofluorine compounds) have been found in groundwater and river water in many parts of Japan above the national provisional guideline values and have become a social problem.

It has been pointed out that PFAS is also leaching from artificial turf.

Furthermore, the filler (rubber chips) used to make artificial turf elastic also contains substances that are carcinogenic and have an environmental hormone effect. Despite calls for a ‘plastic-free’ society, the number of dangerous plastic products continues to increase.

By fridfrid | 10/07/2023 | Chemical pollution |

Following in the Footsteps of CUJ’s Founder, Naokazu Takeuchi

Blog: Food is not a Commodity – Healthy Life for the Future

Japanese here: https://nishoren.net/new-information/18760

(June 22, 2023)

Members of the CUJ steering committee held a meeting to exchange opinions after reading “Food is not a Commodity – Healthy Life for the Future” by Takeuchi Naokazu, the 1969 founder of Consumers Union of Japan.

The title of this book expresses well the thoughts of Mr. Takeuchi, who was involved in the activism consumer movement in the 1970s. This was an age of environmental pollution when Japan was known as the “pollution archipelago.”

CUJ was vocal in criticizing corporations on issues such as food, cosmetics, and detergents.

Takeuchi’s book also describes the “pillars of our movement,” such as the non-political approach in terms of each individual theme, and the fact that CUJ receives no support from corporations, and that we are financially independent through membership fees and subscriptions.

As a student at the time, I first met Mr. Takeuchi at a rally for the Anti-Nuclear Week 1977. In response to the local struggle to prevent nuclear power plants from being built, Mr. Takeuchi advocated a joint anti-nuclear action by consumer groups and residents’ groups in Tokyo, a major consumer of electricity.

In the more than 50 years since the formation of Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ), I frankly feel that we have done very well to continue our activities to this day with the support of our many members.

Our consumer movement refuses to accept anything that hinders peace and threatens our lives and livelihood.

I am convinced that we must continue to pass this message on to the next generation over the next 10, 20, and 30 years…

By Kamiyama Ado

By fridfrid | 10/07/2023 | Civil Rights |