Japan's Basic Act on Food Education established washoku culture, covering school nutrition lunches and people who eat out
Text / Upstream and Downstream reporters Liu Yixin, Lai Yuwei
The words "food" and "farming" are inseparable, and helping schoolchildren understand the connection between food and farming from an early age is precisely the core spirit of food education; however, what should "food education" teach, who is responsible for teaching it, and how should the curriculum be designed? How can food and farming education truly take root in education rather than becoming a mere formality or even falling into the trap of "environmental education"? These have always been the focus of concern across all sectors, especially educational institutions.
Japan has been promoting food and farming education for 12 years now and is often used by Taiwan, China as a model reference. Hinako, director of the Food Education Division of the Consumer Affairs Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, was invited to Taiwan, China and said that Japan initially had the Cabinet Office at the central level promote the food education plan, and it was only transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in April 2016. In addition, Japan went further by establishing "washoku culture" and using the concept of cultural inheritance as the foundation for promoting food education.
Japan's food and farming education has set a model, but Hinako said that Japan's Basic Act on Food Education does not have such a long history either. It first promulgated the Dietitian Act in 1947, making dietitian qualifications a legal requirement, then enacted the Nutrition Improvement Act, the School Lunch Act, the Basic Act on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, and the Health Promotion Act. Against this policy background, the promulgation of the Basic Act on Food Education in 2005 laid the foundation for complete food and farming education.
