Why supermarket “doesn’t raise food prices” ads give consumers a boost | Agricultural Predictions | Diamond Online

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Food and fertilizer prices are skyrocketing due to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Under such circumstances, does the supermarket’s “Do not raise food prices” advertisement really benefit consumers?Serialization“Agriculture Great Forecast”# 6 gives my thoughts on a solution to food security problems. (Kazuma Nishitsuji, CEO of MYFARM)

To raise the food self-sufficiency rate
“National farming” and “self-production for local consumption” should be taken for granted

Japan’s current food self-sufficiency rate is 37% on a calorie basis, the lowest ever since the war. Ten years ago, many economists said, “Even if the food self-sufficiency rate drops, it’s okay to import from overseas.” However, when it comes to talking about “ships are not coming in Corona” and “sanctions are being imposed on military invasions,” even if you spend money, you will not be able to buy food.

It would be nice if Japan could be economically rich enough to buy, but unfortunately it is a disadvantage.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is aware of the vulnerability of food security, and two years ago, it declared that it would raise the food self-sufficiency rate to “45%” by 2030. However, no concrete idea has been found yet.

There are many obstacles to improving the food self-sufficiency rate to 45%. For example, imagine Kobe beef and Matsusaka beef that everyone likes. If you eat beef raised in Japan, you have the image of contributing to improving the self-sufficiency rate. However, it is actually no count. This is because the self-sufficiency rate is counted depending on whether the food that the cow is eating is domestic or foreign. If you want to raise the food self-sufficiency rate to 45% with your current diet, you need to have livestock eat domestic food.

My farm, which I run, also runs a poultry farm, but the price of food has increased 1.8 times compared to the previous year. I would like to pass it on to the price of eggs as the food price rises, but it is a difficult situation when looking at consumption trends. It is also very difficult to be self-sufficient in food. Even so, I think that we have to do it by “cultivating grass in abandoned cultivated land” or “grazing and having food eaten on the spot”. I used to do it in Japan as well. It is difficult to raise the food self-sufficiency rate unless the farming cooperation changes in this way.