[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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After the establishment of the Basic Law on Food Education (2005), one of the main tenets of school education in Japan has been to nurture individuals to lead a healthy dietary life, through the promotion of dietary education as a foundation for learning about nutrition and a healthy lifestyle in children. Moreover, the handbook on food guidance (2007) stipulates that food education should be incorporated into all aspects of school education. Accordingly, food education, which until then had been taught mainly through in "Home Economics", is now being recognized as a topic to be considered in every conceivable situation. This paper reports on the comprehensive and structured practical education of “food” at Jiyu Gakuen, wherein students from preschool to college each tend a plot of land for farming, and high school students take turns daily to prepare lunch for 300 students, including their own, and participate in the cleaning up after each meal. The environment for "food education" at Jiyu Gakuen is its nature-rich campus. In fields within the campus, students plow the land, sow the seeds, and grow food with utmost care. The food from nature’s bounty is processed and cooked, and enjoyed with gratitude in their meals at the dining table among peers. Students learn about the complete practical process as remnants after each meal are carefully collected and recycled back into the soil. Students realize that human life is sustained by plant and animal life, through their learning of this cycle of growing (farming), arranging (cooking), savoring (eating), and disposing (discarding). The students also learn about maintaining a healthy dietary life through realization of the importance of food as they engage in the process of growing and sacrificing plants and animals for food.

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[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract

[in Japanese]

View full abstract