Abstract
The resource consumption pattern of remote islands is assumed to be different from that of the main land due to the constraints of both material distribution and human interaction. This study aims to investigate food production and consumption pattern of remote islands with an attention to flow of food supply and food stock for emergencies through household questionnaire survey and interviews with the residents in Hachijo Island, Tokyo. We found that sharing food provisioning services plays an important role by sustaining more or less the half of total food consumption at high cropping and harvesting season of agricultural and marine products. The study also found that many households own additional deep freezers to store the products shared and exchanged with neighbors and relatives in Hachijo Island. Based on the findings from Hachijo, we examined the potential role, opportunities and challenges of such food sharing culture to build a resilient island against natural disasters and social-economic changes.
