Comments from Brady

The following interview (which was distributed to readers of the Local Burger Restaurant email newsletter), was conducted by Lawrence writer Stephanie Barrows with Brady Lewis about his recent trip to Japan where he and nine other individuals were part of an agricultural exchange between the U.S. and Japan. Brady Lewis is the General Manager of Local Burger, a one-time sociology major, and speaker of American Sign Language. He offers his impressions of Japanese food and culture.

LOCAL BURGER GOES TO JAPAN

Introduction
BL:  Everyone broke up into groups and got to stay at different farms…. [Bob Lominska (Hoyland Farms, north of Lawrence) and I] stayed [with] Wako and Yokosan…. We had probably four meals there…. I would say 90% of the meal came from their farm…. They would start the morning out making tofu and pressing it out so we could have fresh soymilk to drink.  They called it “soysoup” but it was soymilk…. It was phenomenal…. [Y]ou could just eat it plain.

And the things they could do with daikons… really cool stuff.

The meals were just phenomenal.  Lots of little courses…. You felt really good when you were done eating.

That was one thing that really struck me about the whole trip [was] every place we went, from the farms to the restaurants, to grabbing a meal on the go, whatever…it was quality food….
There were very few additives and [other] things we add into our food here….  It was very different from fast food.  Everything came from the garden and the farm….

A different attitude
BL: The mentality, it seems to me, is very much more communal…You go to the restaurants there, and everything [ran] so efficiently. Everything came out beautifully plattered….

That was one thing I noticed [at] a lot of places we went to, from the hotels to the restaurants to the farms… people took pride in what they were doing….

Lessons from Japan
SB: Have you thought of ways you could take what you learned in Japan and apply it to what you do here?

BL: Definitely…. I’ve been expecting this big [revelation] to come….  I don’t know if that’s hit me, so much….

On the other side of the world, there are people doing the same thing we are doing, and struggling the same ways, [eating] in the same ways.  And, it’s very uplifting to know.

They almost make it look easy, sometimes.  I don’t know if that’s their life, to work hard and be really efficient…but you heard no complaining about people being tired, or working too hard… It was just what people did - you worked hard and you did a good job, and you took pride. I don’t know how they did it.  It’s probably part of a long tradition of…less individual thinking… It would probably take generations to change our thought processes here, and I don’t think we’re trying real hard. {laughs}

Comments from Dan

Transcription of interview with Lawrence writer Stephanie Barrows

Dan Nagengast, community organizer

SB: We’ll start with your trip to Japan - your background, things that you learned.

DN: I’m the director of the Kansas Rural Center, which is a non-profit organization, about 30 years old.  And, we’re involved primarily with sustainable agricultural issues, but also rural culture and rural livelihoods.  We have about 11 staff members, lots of projects pertaining to agriculture, energy…just rural life, in general. I sort of direct the Kansas side of this project….

It seems like what I’m interested in, [American] society in general isn’t there yet.  So, my role has been to say, “Hey, look at this,” and find people who have part of that puzzle,  and get them together.  That’s what I do.  I don’t tend to be the expert on any of this….

I tend to be the first one who knows.  Somebody tells me something, and I get interested.  And, I learn enough to tell other people about it.  But, the real mavens are the people who have the technical expertise and go deep into those kinds of things. So, I have a funny role, I think.

Dan Nagengast, world traveler

[W]e went over…to look at how they were farming; what were their marketing systems; what were they growing, techniques that they were using… the ways they were making local food more prevalent, organic food more prevalent, in their communities.  They’re here with the same sort of mission.  I think it’s been very instructive for everyone.  The conversations have gotten very deep, very quickly, and have been interesting….

I think we came away with a lot more interests in energy and on-farm energy use.  I think the Japanese think seriously about self-efficiency, and energy conservation, and how we do things.  But also [about how] to create what they need….

[Japan is] a country the size of California, mostly mountainous…and the mountains are, really, off-limits for development.  And, they have 130 million people.  They’ve had to set up systems that really can’t be wasteful, or expansive, or anything sort of…out-of-line….

I’ve met Americans who think that anything they have to do differently is negative.  And, it’s not negative.  It’s nice.  So, there’s something to learn, there.

We’ll see what they’re learning.  I mean, they’re here.  They take notes.  They all have notebooks; they all have cameras and videocameras.  They’re all interested [in our viewpoint.]  They want to get it all.  They want to get it translated.  So, they’re very inquiring….

If we’re interested, they’re interested.  We’re on that same wavelength….

Future possibilities

DN: [Growing for Market newsletter] is for market growers.  And one of the things [my wife and I] have talked about is whether something similar exists in Japan.  It’s written primarily by farmers, and it’s farming techniques, very practical things that they can use.

Farmers aren’t necessarily writers.  Sometimes, they don’t even know they have a story….

Comments from Eric

Both the Saitama and Kansas teams are involved in community farming, which is a hallmark of local organic agriculture, but what constitutes our communities are different. I was particularly interested to see how the community of organic producers and retailers including tofu and sake makers grew and expanded in Ogawa around the organic farmer Mr. Kanako and his disciples. I think we can take lessons back to America in creating and nurturing small scale agricultural communities — something that is really needed in Kansas — by following Mr. Kanako’s example. His work in sustainable agriculture and energy really impressed me.

It was great to see Lawrence through the visitors’ eyes.  I was introduced to areas of my own community such as Van Go arts program that I did not know about, and I plan to support these local programs in the future.

In thinking about future projects, there was some discussion of studying comparatively the programs that introduce young people to farming. In the Japanese case, there is a system of agricultural educators among the farmers themselves, who are recognized by the government and train young people in farming in a year long program, even receiving some government funding to do so (at least on occasion). This system could be compared to the formal training other students receive in agricultural universities. Who do these programs serve? Who determines the curriculum? In what ways do these programs overlap or diverge? Growing the next generation of farmers is a critical issue in Japan and the US, so I think this is an important question to study. We should speak more to the participants in these programs and find out why they became interested in farming, and we could compile some data on how many graduates become farmers and how do they do that?

Comments from Ted

The trip offered me exposure to a new land, culture and foods (onsen, ryokan, etc.), new friends with a shared interest in making a living growing fresh fruit and vegetables sustainably, and a chance to share their life-long efforts to create sustainable, integrated systems, also first exposure to Japanese agricultural systems, techniques, tools, gadgets and crops, many of them new to me. For example, rain covers over tomatoes, trellises, companion planting, compost production, biogas/liquid fertilizer production, paper seed trays, pre-cut holes in paper mulch, that our growers don’t control insects (except through drowning during the washing process), that farm sizes are small, that farmhouses are comfortable, that it is possible to have a gardener training program where everybody does the exact same thing. I was particularly interested in the on-farm internships used to train new farmers. I was also interested in finding out about the Japan for Sustainability group. I also learned that an old friend of mine is alive, and as a result of this visit we renewed our friendship. We were childhood friends in Nigeria and he is now a thoroughbred racehorse trainer (not sure how sustainable that is). The trip raised many, many questions in my mind…I would like to see a further strengthening of our friendships, hopefully leading toward longer-term partnerships. I am very interested in possible opportunities for exchange visits as part of new farmer training programs. I would like to have the opportunity to collaborate with Japanese research and extension personnel to support farmer participatory research on production issues of relevance to producers in both countries.

Comments from Jennifer

I was very interested in similarities of agriculture communities - facing similar problems with aging farmers, difficulties for young people to start farming, globalization. I observed unexpected efficiency of farming methods - multi-cropping, use of row covers and trellis systems. The municipal biogas plant impressed me with its operation and food waste collection strategies. The Tokyo community garden was very interesting with its combination of educational sessions and a personal garden plot for students was something I had not seen before.

While the Japanese visitors were here, in discussions, I learned about an organization for young organic farmers. I learned that one of our Japanese team members, Takatori Yuko, goes to schools and does educational programs about how food grows - some things similar to what I do, so I am hoping to talk to her more about some of the things she teaches.

For future pilot projects, I’m really interested in starting a professional organization for young organic farmers that could be a sister organization to the one in Japan. I would love to further explore a large community garden on public land - with the possibility of having a garden school with it.

Comments from Pat

Although I have visited Japan many times before, never have I had a chance to spend time in an agricultural community as I did on this trip. I was very impressed with the dedication of the farmers and business people we met who are working hard to create a viable local community and promote businesses using locally made foods. It is encouraging to me that so many town residents appreciate their efforts. I thought the town of Ogawamachi was a great place, in that it has many old buildings used as stores, restaurants, and houses, but it is not such a big tourist destination. It did not seem artificially enhanced for tourists, but a real livable community. I think Ogawamachi has great potential to serve as a model community not only for the integration of organic agriculture and local businesses, but also for integrating traditional culture (we visited a thriving washi, traditional paper-making studio) into modern Japanese lifestyles. I felt sorry for all the business commuters I saw though, who arrived back at the station at around 9 PM (it’s a very long commute to Tokyo, about 1.5 hours each way), but they don’t have an alternative if they want to live in a nice community that is also affordable.

As a potential future project, I would suggest integration of awareness of traditional agriculture systems and sustainable land use practices with efforts to promote cultural heritage in both Kansas and Ogawamachi. Kansas has recently established a new National Heritage Area, Freedom’s Frontier, but I don’t believe there is a comparable organization in Ogawamachi or Saitama.

On another topic, I was interested to learn about the various Japanese organizations that promote organic farming. It seemed to me the organizational structures and the relationships among these groups functioned in much the same way as Japanese arts organizations and crafts studios with which I am already familiar.

Comments from Bob

This winter I plan to collaborate with Chiyoko Hijiya, Central Soyfoods, K-State The Merc and Local Burger to launch okara as food product.

In my specific farming practices, I am going to add more “verticality” to the way I grow some things.  I also gained ideas on the uses for daikons and garlic chive that should improve the marketing of those products.  In addition I plan to start okra indoors and transplant out doors during the first warm weather to help with plant spacing and to get a jump on the season.

In general, I saw how the Japanese did a good job of producing miso, noodles, and soy sauce from their wheat and soybeans and realize that we need to do more local processing.

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