Born of the Tokyo Greengrocer – Japanese food as designed by ‘800 for eats’

• food
• Japan
• Tokyo

By KenAug 21st, 2009

Creative Commons. Some Rights Reserved. Photo by gracias!

Fact: The self-sufficiency rate of Tokyo is 1%.
(From the 2006 Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries survey of all prefectures in Japan. Calculated on a calorie basis.)

Did you know about this statistic? You may know that the domestic food self-sufficiency rate for Japan is 40%, but Tokyo is a whole different ballpark.
Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. Can it really survive?
This figure must come as a shock to many people. However it has lead to the start of a project that aims to take advantage of this situation. The founders’ inspiration: the humble greengrocers. Let’s take a look at the future of food in Japan through their eyes.
The project is called ‘800 for eats’. A ‘food project to support growers in Japan’, the Tokyo based project proposes original food ideas based on Japanese traditions, techniques, and local produce from all over the country. They are not a food manufacturer or producer, and they do not belong to any particular distributor. Spanning conventional borders they help farmers with new ideas to overcome such things as successor issues, and competition to develop sales routes.

From the 800 for eats Homepage

The project aims to show that ‘this can be achieved from Tokyo, where self sufficiency is 1%.’ Having been involved in the food industry director, Fumie Okumura has seen the troubles of farmers with her own eyes. On the other hand, she also knows the reality of Tokyo, surrounded by an abundance of food from all over the country and the world. That is where she came to realize that “if all the food comes to Tokyo, then from Tokyo we can help all food producers”. In Japan, this role had at one time been filled by the greengrocer.
‘The greengrocer was once a crossroad of local food. Where the owner would not only sell their own vegetables, but the beans, seaweed, fruit, and berries that make up any menu. The name 800 (from the Japanese kanji for greengrocer) was chosen to represent the connection between producers, ingredients, techniques, and the public.’

The 800 for eats Logo

The goal is not simply to promote delicious domestic food, but to get the public interested in food and techniques that should be passed on to future generations, and provide the impetus to buy them. ‘800 for eats’ aims to do this from the number 1 consumer: Tokyo.
The three steps to success are ‘grow’, ‘design’, and ‘sell’. Specialists in each field came together in March 2009 to start the project.
The first product that was launched at the opening party was special tea grown without agrichemicals or chemical fertilizers. They make and sell six types of tea mixed from three different varieties of plant.

The 800 for eats Lemongrass Tea

The lemongrass tea recommended by Ms. Okumura is made from lemongrass grown on a fallow field in Takeo city, Saga. The municipal office has gone so far as to create a lemongrass section, devoted to helping local farmers grow and promote their produce. The taste is said to be so good that it will ‘change your image of lemongrass’.
The tea has been flying off the shelves at events and exhibitions due to its catchy packaging designed with the ever-changing trends of city slickers in mind.

Tea on Display at an Exhibition

As the hopes of the producers are finding their way to your table, the second installment is already in the works for autumn – rice.
“I want this to be a chance to learn about the rice produced everywhere in Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa”, says Ms. Okumura. Here’s hoping the autumn installment will also bear fruit.

Exhibition at ‘designshop+galary’

There has been unprecedented media coverage and interest in farming of late. While more and more city folk are growing their own in veranda gardens, the time is ripe to re-think the state of agriculture in Japan, and the reality of the food around us.
800 for eats is in a strong position to brighten the future by charting a positive course for producers, distributors, and consumers.
Rather than being bent on raising the self-sufficiency rate, a completely new approach to the food system may be the best way to tackle the food problem.
　
This article has been translated from the original Japanese post.