Member Event: Lecture on Direct Producer-Consumer Relationships in Japan’s Food System
Posted: January 3, 2013
Categories: Events / Food in the News
Join the Food Policy Research Initiative (FPRI) and The Japan Foundation, Toronto for Dr. Motoki Akitsu’s lecture on the emerging “food prosumer movement” in Japan. The Toronto event on January 16th is the first of two lectures in this series, a follow-up event for the Japan-Canada Food System Resilience Symposium held in May 2012. The second lecture will be held in Montreal on January 17th.
Dr. Akitsu will share examples such as direct producer-consumer relationships (Teikeisystem), the local food movement, and farmer partnerships with community gardens. Aspects of Japan’s unique culture and society within the movement will be highlighted. In the case of organic produce, for example, certification systems have not been popular in Japan; such produce tends to be handled through informal, face-to-face relationships instead, relying on mutual psychological and social commitments to make this relationship possible and effective. Through this lecture, participants will learn how such relationships work, why, and what Canada may be able to learn from the Japanese experience.
The Toronto lecture will be held on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 from 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at The Japan Foundation, Toronto (131 Bloor Street West, 2nd floor of the Colonnade Building in Toronto). Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Admission is free but attendees must RSVP in advance. Register for the lecture at the event website or by calling 416-535-8501 x2005.
Motoki Akitsu, PhD is an Associate Professor of Philosophy of Agricultural Sciences in the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University. Akitsu is an expert in rural, agricultural, and environmental sociology. His studies focus on the ethics of agricultural sustainability and rural community in Japan and other Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Thailand. Akitsu has examined issues around sustainability of rural communities, declining population, and management of local resources, from a sociological perspective. Akitsu is also interested in the formation of connections and relationships between agricultural producers and consumers such as the Teikeisystem and Enkomai.
Dr. Akitsu will be joined by three discussants at each lecture. The discussants in Toronto are Mustafa Koc, PhD, Professor at Ryerson University; Lauren Baker, PhD, Coordinator at the Toronto Food Policy Council; and Ran Goel, Co-Founder of Fresh City Farms. The discussion will be moderated by Catherine L. Mah, MD FRCPC PhD, Head of the Food Policy Research Initiative (FPRI) at the University of Toronto/Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.