ライフスタイルの転換と食-農との新しい結びつき

抄録

Eating habits in our country, which have rapidly changed since 1955, can be expressed by words such as “detachment, ” “simplification” and “standardization”. Among the primary factors for this are a decreasing interest in food and agriculture caused by the separation of diet and agriculture. In such circumstances, public attention is being attracted to the emergence of those who are taking another look at a life detached from production and at the same time choosing an agricultural lifestyle. These people have created the possibility of supporting various forms of local agriculture.
Therefore, after consideration of the new movement in school meals that is one of the primary factors in the recent change of lifestyle, as well as in eating habits, I would like to reach for the possibility of linking farmers to city people using “diet” and “lifestyle” as keywords.
1) The commodity economy which has permeated society along with the rapid growth of the economy, has advanced the concepts of “detachment of diet equals division of work” and “modernization equals westernization”, both in urban and rural areas. Recently, a new movement has spread over both areas. It is a movement towards self-support/self-reliance in rural areas and towards a change in lifestyle in urban areas with diet as the clue. This can be seen by purchases of safe food and participation in production, etc.
2) Other primary factors that have led to changes in eating habits are the theory of diet defined by the concept that “westernization equals modern eating habits” and school meals being prepared in line with this theory. However, in circumstances where children's problems caused by eating habits have become real, locally rooted, local-consumption type practices of dietary education through school meals have prevailed. This sort of situation helps to change people's values, including adults, in diet and agriculture.
3) The following are measures for creating a link between farmers and city people:
(1) Changing people's values through the work of taking another look at what consumption and production should actually be, with “diet” as a key word.
(2) Creating a distribution system which is in a locally rooted, local-consumption type system.
(3) Taking measures to lead people towards agriculture with “diet” as the clue to an agricultural lifestyle, as well as endeavoring to make farmers and city people cooperate in terms of “diet and agriculture”.