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Japanese magazines have always included just about anything as supplements, and nothing seems strange anymore, but have you ever seen a magazine that comes with fresh ingredients such as seafood, meat and vegetables?

The birth of Tohoku Taberu Tsushin and the founding of the Japan Taberu Tsushin Alliance

In July 2013, "Tohoku Taberu Tsushin" was launched, delivering each month an information magazine introducing ingredients, production areas and producers, along with the ingredients themselves. Readers can join a members-only Facebook group to interact directly with producers, take part in events, and support their favourite farmers through CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) by paying monthly.

Editor-in-chief Hiroyuki Takahashi wanted to use Taberu Tsushin to directly connect producers and consumers, cities and rural areas. He served two terms as an Iwate Prefectural Assembly member, during which he felt deeply the decline of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the ageing of producers and the depopulation of local areas. After the 311 disaster he ran for governor, and after losing he founded the NPO Tohoku Kaihatsu. After much trial and error, he launched the ingredient-plus-information magazine "Tohoku Taberu Tsushin" the year before last.

Not only Tohoku: primary industries all over Japan face similar problems. In order to spread "Taberu Tsushin" nationwide and let producer-consumer communities take root smoothly, the "Japan Taberu Tsushin Alliance" was founded in April 2014. Unlike ordinary affiliation, the alliance system allows each region's character to shine, everyone grows together and stimulates one another, and an "alliance operations meeting" formed by all the editors-in-chief, held once every three months, decides overall rules and policies.

Everyone is a partner with a shared goal; at the launch party for Hokkaido Taberu Tsushin, other editors-in-chief such as those from Tohoku and Higashimatsushima also took the initiative to attend