Some Japanophiles are interested in the biggest, brightest aspects of a culture. I find myself being attracted to the polar edges of things — such as culture. When someone in the “west” thinks of Japan, we think of anime, j-pop, j-drama and, well, the same thing many Japanese people probably think of American culture — the highly visible part. So surely when you see something like one of the biggest econimies in the world having a problem feeding its people, you can’t help but want to call bs. Well, here it is. Iron Chef and the episode where $1000 in lobsters were used for the broth of asparagus seems so much more wasteful now!
My apologies if I’m making you feel guilty for eating or anything. This is the second time I’ve noted waste in food. Not intentional.
Anyway, the BBC has published a picture gallery depciting and bring up some very interesting points related to the troubles a country the size of Japan has in feeding its population.
BBC News (UK): In pictures: Japan’s food crisis
From the story:
The Japanese consume about 25% of the world’s stocks of tuna.
The tuna themselves are such voracious eaters it takes around 4kg [appx. 8lbs] of small fish to produce 1kg [appx. 2.2lbs] of tuna, so some argue that consumers who want to make sustainable choices should avoid buying tuna.
A giant tuna can sell for the price of a small car, so the incentives for those involved in the trade to source fish caught illegally elsewhere are huge.
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