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Made in Fukushima: Japan farmers struggle to win trust
KORIYAMA, Japan, Aug 1, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The pumpkin is diced, the chicken
carved and the eggs beaten into an omelette, but the people preparing the
food are not chefs — they are scientists testing produce from Japan’s
Fukushima region.
Seven years after the March 2011 nuclear disaster caused by a devastating
tsunami, rigorous testing shows no radioactive threat from Fukushima’s
produce, officials and experts say.
But local producers say they still face crippling suspicion from
consumers.
More than 205,000 food items have been tested at the Fukushima
Agricultural Technology Centre since March 2011, with Japan setting a
standard of no more than 100 becquerels of radioactivity per kilogramme
(Bq/kg).
The European Union, by comparison, sets that level at 1,250 Bq/kg and the
US at 1,200.
In the last year, the centre says no cultivated produce or farm-reared
livestock has exceeded the government’s limit.
In all just nine samples out of tens of thousands were over the limit:
eight from fish bred in inland ponds, and one a sample of wild mushrooms.
Each day, more than 150 samples are prepared, coded, weighed, and then
passed through a “germanium semiconductor detector”. Rice undergoes screening
elsewhere.
While radiation affected several regions which have their own testing
processes, Fukushima’s programme is the most systematic, testament to the
particularly severe reputational damage it suffered.
In the wake of the nuclear disaster, a wide-scale decontamination
programme has been carried out in Fukushima.
It can’t be done in forests, where thick tree growth makes it impractical.
But elsewhere topsoil has been removed, trees washed down and potassium
sprinkled to reduce caesium uptake.
But the testing process is the cornerstone of efforts to win consumer
trust.
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– ‘Our products are safe’ –
“Some people are still worried, in Japan and abroad, so we want to
continue to explain to people in other prefectures and in foreign countries
that our products are safe,” said Kenji Kusano, an official at the testing
centre.
And occasionally radioactivity is detected, for example in wild plants and
mushrooms, which are destroyed if they exceed the government standard.
Kusano said testing will remain important as residents gradually return.
“When residents come back to areas that are off-limits at the moment and
start producing their own fruit and vegetables, they must be tested,” he
said.
The Fukushima disaster devastated a previously flourishing local
agricultural sector.
“Profits have not yet reached pre-2011 levels and prices remain below the
national average,” said Fukushima representative Nobuhide Takahashi.
The situation is even worse for fisherman, many of whom have survived only
on compensation paid by Fukushima operator TEPCO.
The tsunami destroyed ports across the region and demand is low despite an
even stricter testing standard of 50Bq/kg for Fukushima’s seafood.
“When we catch fish and send it to market in Tokyo, some people don’t want
to buy it,” said Kazunori Yoshida, director of Iwaki’s fishing cooperative.
As a result, fishermen brought in just 3,200 tonnes of seafood in the area
last year, down from 24,700 in 2010.
The problem remains one of perception, despite the fact that independent
testing confirms what government labs show.
The Minna no Data (Our Data) NGO carries out its own testing and spokesman
Hidetake Ishimaru said the group was “very surprised” by the “mostly very low
levels” it found in Fukushima produce.
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– ‘Nobody believes’ –
At the international level, there has been some progress: 27 countries of
the 54 that imposed restrictions on food from Fukushima after 2011 have now
lifted those bans.
And another 23 markets, including the United States and European Union,
have relaxed restrictions, though some regional neighbours including China
and South Korea have kept bans in place.
The perception problem persists domestically too, with surveys showing
some Japanese consumers still avoid Fukushima produce.
And experts say the government’s science-based approach has done little to
convince people.
“Nobody believes, just by shouting safety,” said Katsumi Shozugawa, a
University of Tokyo professor who has studied Fukushima food safety.
He said government testing was appropriate, but attempts to convince
consumers remained “poor.”
Tomiko Yamaguchi, sociology professor at Tokyo’s International Christian
University, said some consumers were torn between fear over Fukushima produce
and solidarity with residents there.
“People can’t talk about these things. It’s almost like a taboo,” she
said.
“But regardless … if you are very concerned for your children, it
doesn’t matter if there’s scientific evidence or not.”
On a farm in Fukushima where peaches hang ready to be picked, 14th
generation farmer Chusaku Anzai said he was resigned to the situation.
“There’s no point wasting our energy trying to convince those who don’t
want our products,” the 69-year-old said, his face worn by five decades of
farmwork.
“We can’t do anything but wait for them to change their minds.”
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