12 students led by Associate Prof. Naomi Inoue visited “NANAIRO Farm” located at Chuo-Rinkan Station which is outskirt of Tokyo on January 12, 2020. This was the second visit after the one in last November.

The farm puts into practice CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), in which farmers and consumers work together financially and physically. By doing this, farmers can share financial risk and work load with consumers, and consumers can ensure transparency of food supply to have safe food. Food mileage can be significantly reduced in this system. This　farm　is　also implementing organic　farming　without　using　any　pesticide　nor　chemical　fertilizer, which requires a large amount of work load. Therefore, labor force of consumers in CSA is the key for realizing organic farming.

Having in mind that modern societies in Japan are seeing loss of local communities, CSA also has potential to nurture local communities or social bond which can address a series of social issues including welfare of disabled ones, elder ones and those socially isolated.

Students visited the farms, site for composting agricultural waste, livestock manure and residue of food processing, and packaging center. Mr. Kayatanagi rigorously taking students all around farms and explains how they operate. In the evening, he gave presentation about CSA and their farm to articulate how local bottom-up approach can address current disfunction of modern agricultural system in Japan. It was a great opportunity for students to understand issues of sustainability in Japan interpreted by Mr. Katayanagi from his own perspective.