20180205 Addition

“To live is to eat!”

Goichi Endo

Rice farmer

Takahata-machi is the birthplace of organic agriculture in Japan, which was introduced from 1970 by a group of former members of the local youth association. While protecting the local environment in which they live, our ambitious producers are engaged in organic production.*

To live is to eat, and everything that goes into our mouths contributes to the formation of our bodies. We are responsible for deciding whether to eat safe food, or whether to eat food that contains additives because it is cheap, but our cultivation methods are designed to protect the environment and people’s lives.

However, even if food is organic, consumers will only buy it if it is also delicious. Therefore, we have embraced the challenge of entering various food competitions, such as the International Contest on Rice Taste Evaluation, in which factors such as the firmness, stickiness, flavor, and strength of the rice are quantified and assessed against certain evaluation criteria.

I have also received the highest Gold Prize for consecutive years, as well as the Diamond Prize, which is akin to entering a hall of fame. The Kamiwada Organic Rice Production Cooperative, of which I am a member, also won an award at the “15th Contest for the Promotion of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture.”

Therefore, over the years, Takahata-machi has maintained its commitment to safety while also winning over a large number of consumers.

* Organic cultivation (without pesticides and chemical fertilizers) and special cultivation (at least 50% less chemosynthetic agrochemical and nitrogen components in chemical fertilizers) account for just under 50% of the town’s production. This proportion is also higher than other municipalities in Yamagata Prefecture, and the proportion of organic farms is especially high.