ERIC Number: EJ1000192
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Nov
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1443-1394
EISSN: N/A
Food Pedagogies in Japan: From the Implementation of the Basic Law on Food Education to Fukushima
Reiher, Cornelia
Australian Journal of Adult Learning, v52 n3 p507-531 Nov 2012
Japan's Basic Law on Food Education (Shokuiku kihonho) was enacted in June 2005 as a response to various concerns related to food and nutrition, such as food scandals, an increase in obesity and lifestyle-related diseases and an assumed loss of traditional food culture. The Law defines food education (shokuiku) rather vaguely as the acquisition of knowledge about food and the ability to make appropriate food choices. In this paper, my focus is the impact of shokuiku on discourses about food safety in relation to the nuclear disaster. I will address the following problems: Firstly, the assumption that "domestic food products are the safest in the world"; secondly, the power relations between municipal authorities, producers and consumers in Japan; and thirdly, the question of whether food pedagogies can adequately address food safety concerns after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. I argue that, although the Basic Law offers a holistic approach to food in theory, with its focus on nutrition and the emphasis on domestic food, food pedagogies, practiced according to the Basic Law cannot adequately deal with the food safety problems that Japanese consumers face after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Because of the ignorance regarding food safety issues from official sides, Japanese consumers are left with a lack of awareness for these issues. Therefore, stakeholders who are not included in the state's shokuiku campaign, such as consumer co-ops and Civil Radioactivity Measurement Stations try to provide knowledge about food to enable Japanese consumers to make appropriate food choices.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Food, Nutrition, Facilities, Nuclear Energy, Accidents, Safety, Power Structure, Foods Instruction, Local Government, Municipalities, Public Officials, Agricultural Production, Agricultural Occupations, Stakeholders, Food Standards, Holistic Approach, Health Conditions
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Japan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A