While designing interventions to reduce household food waste, it is necessary to consider their ability to reach people with varied interests in food waste and to ensure that these interventions are widely implementable in the real world. To make such interventions effective, it is important to set appropriate timings to promote consumer food waste prevention behaviors. Based on this viewpoint, I proposed an intervention in which participants received tips to reduce food waste during a general online cooking class. A wide variety of people could attend and hold this class without changing its original concept. I implemented the intervention for people in their 20s to 40s who were mainly responsible for cooking at home and evaluated its effects by using a questionnaire survey conducted before, one month after, and six months after the intervention. The results showed that the intervention group（n=52）exhibited a significant increase in the frequency of several food waste reduction behaviors after one month and six months: using the edible parts of vegetables that are usually thrown away（e.g., carrot peels）, freezing dishes that could not be eaten immediately, and substituting unavailable recipe ingredients with other foods. The frequency of food disposal decreased significantly. While the control group（n=58）also showed increased food waste reduction behaviors, the intervention group showed greater changes, indicating the effectiveness of the intervention. For comparison purposes, I implemented another intervention（n=46）which provided tips for household food waste reduction as well as information to raise awareness of food waste problem, such as the high amount of food waste, during an online cooking class. The effectiveness of the intervention which provided information on the high amount of food waste and tips for food waste reduction was comparable with that of the intervention which only provided tips for food waste reduction.

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In the international community, the current status of food security is assessed, and policies are being discussed based on the definition provided by FAO（2001）. In our country, in accordance with this concept, the Basic Law on Food, Agriculture, and Rural Areas has been revised, but it is unclear how closely the newly proposed policies align with the international definition. This study examines the “situational norms” of food security concept as defined by FAO, along with its theoretical background and the development of social issues. As a result, it has been revealed that there are discrepancies between the current international concept of food security and the policies being implemented in Japan. First, the food provided by the policies does not go beyond the scope of “energy sufficient diet”. Second, measures for people who cannot access healthy food in the market are limited to the provision of food as a commodity and do not extend to securing entitlements. To combat the “new hunger” we face today, it is necessary to identify the deficiencies in current health, nutrition, and social policies and explore the intersection with food policy.

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This article provides an overview of the presentations and discussions held during the Fall seminar titled “Measures in Japanese Food System to Increase the Demand for Organic Food Products to Meet the Increased Supply Induced by the Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems Policy）MIDORI）.” Four presenters shared their insights, current status, and practical approaches toward boosting the demand for organic foods. The discussion underscored the importance of reducing logistics costs and enhancing the availability of domestically grown organic ingredients at competitive prices to align with the government’s goals. The presenters also shared insights on organic food exports, highlighting their potential to bolster the supply of domestically grown organic ingredients if priced competitively. School lunch programs emerged as another avenue for scaling up organic food procurement. Experience from South Korea suggests that such programs can incentivize more farmers to transition to organic farming. Although the entry of large companies into the organic food sector may disrupt existing stakeholders in favor of stronger, economically competitive players, presenters remain optimistic that this shift will ultimately yield more benefits than drawbacks, as it promotes wider recognition of organic foods within the broader food system landscape.

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This study introduces the vision and activities of the Co-op Shizenha, which aims to expand organic farming at the local and national levels. The co-op evolved from group purchase activities for safe foods developed in the 1970s. Since its re-organization as a co-op, its sales and number of consumer members have increased steadily. In its vision for the year 2030, the goal is to achieve total sales of 50 billion yen, 35% of which will come from organic food sales, which is a significant increase from the current level. To achieve this goal, the co-op is undertaking numerous measures such as networking with other similar co-ops, forming a consortium to develop organic processed products that use domestically grown organic ingredients, creating schools to train organic farmers, and providing marketing, collection, and delivery services to new organic farmers.

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This study presents the visions and practices that would contribute to achieving the goal set in the Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems, which is to increase the area for organic produce to 25% of all cultivated areas in Japan. To achieve this goal, the following four measures need to be incorporated or strengthened: training, research, funding, and markets for organic farming. The role of the newly established Japan Organic Processed Foods Consortium is important in expanding organic production, as its R&D includes production methodologies for organic crops specifically made for processing, which is a big shift from the common belief that processing is a way to utilize ugly vegetables. To support the conversion of farmers to organic production, the consortium has developed a logo to encourage manufacturers to use organic ingredients in conversion. Establishing wholesale markets that specialize in organic produce would accelerate the growth of the organic market by improving logistical efficiency and the affordability of organic produce to the public.

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In this study, the trends and challenges in the export of domestically manufactured organic foods are described, based on the experience of Muso Co. Ltd., a leading trading company specializing in organic and macrobiotic food products. The company exports a variety of organic foods, mainly to the European and US markets. The COVID-19 pandemic spurred its sales, but the company is now experiencing a downturn. Although the company sells Japanese food, the ingredients in its products are not necessarily produced domestically. To increase the total volume of domestic ingredients, a realistic option is to increase their use in the main export items such as miso, soy sauce and dried noodles. Although the company expects demand for its products to grow in the long run, it currently faces challenges, including cost increases due to wars and conflicts, low demand for organic products due to inflation, and frequent revisions and complications in the organic certification system in importing countries.

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This study presents the significance and issues of the school lunch market in the environmentally friendly agricultural products market based on a South Korean case study, in which the school lunch market is utilized as new demand for environmentally friendly agricultural products. In recent years, the largest source of pro-environmentally friendly agricultural products in South Korea has been local agricultural cooperatives, while school lunches have become the main source of demand. This can be attributed to free school lunches, for which public funds are used to supply environmentally friendly agricultural products as ingredients. The significance of school lunches in South Korea’s environmentally friendly agricultural product market can be cited as securing a stable and large-scale demand for environmentally friendly agricultural products, thereby contributing to the organization of producers and introducing quality standards. Given the high dependence on school lunches, expending consumption by securing a variety of demand sources may become necessary. In addition, methods such as setting a fixed proportion of organically certified ingredients are required to increase the supply of organic produce.

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