WEBVTT

00:00:01.463 --> 00:00:03.731
As much as I love to talk
about the food we eat,

00:00:03.731 --> 00:00:06.675
there's a lot to say 
about the food we don't eat.

00:00:06.675 --> 00:00:08.030
The stuff we don't like,

00:00:08.030 --> 00:00:09.025
can't afford,

00:00:09.025 --> 00:00:10.525
or I've just never been offered

00:00:10.525 --> 00:00:12.484
like, fried tarantula in Cambodia,

00:00:12.484 --> 00:00:14.658
or jellied moose nose in Canada.

00:00:14.658 --> 00:00:16.930
But then there are foods 
we're afraid to eat.

00:00:17.230 --> 00:00:20.240
We went to a region in Japan 
were fears about food grown there

00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:22.594
because of a very major 
and very tragic event

00:00:22.594 --> 00:00:24.179
have made consumers weary,

00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:26.110
which makes life
really hard for growers.

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:26.659 --> 00:00:28.594
FOOD FEARS

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:33.933 --> 00:00:39.516 line:1
(Noboru) A lot of sparrows
would come eat the rice.

00:00:39.516 --> 00:00:44.058 line:1
We fly kites instead of using scarecrows.

00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:49.816 line:1
Rice from this area 
has the highest rating,

00:00:49.816 --> 00:00:51.249 line:1
and it tastes great.

00:00:53.266 --> 00:00:55.685 line:1
This one is called Gohyaku Gawa.

00:00:55.685 --> 00:00:58.731 line:1
The green ones are Koshihikari.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:01.976 --> 00:01:05.538
<i>This farm has been in Noboru Saito's
family for eight generations.</i>

00:01:06.346 --> 00:01:09.167
<i>A decade ago, 
Saito quit his government job</i>

00:01:09.167 --> 00:01:10.787
<i>to help his mom run the farm.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:15.149 line:1
I'm 82 years old.

00:01:15.992 --> 00:01:18.558 line:1
After my son came back,

00:01:19.898 --> 00:01:22.069 line:1
my responsibilities lightened.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:26.812
<i>But a year after he returned, 
disaster struck.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:27.800 --> 00:01:29.588 line:1
There was a massive earthquake.

00:01:29.588 --> 00:01:33.601 line:1
When I looked around, the mountains--

00:01:33.601 --> 00:01:35.359 line:1
there are lots in this area--

00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:37.036 line:1
so these mountains looked like

00:01:37.036 --> 00:01:39.999 line:1
they were being swayed or sliding.

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:40.484 --> 00:01:43.185
<i>That earthquake was a 9.1 magnitude.</i>

00:01:43.185 --> 00:01:45.863
<i>The fourth most powerful ever recorded</i>

00:01:45.863 --> 00:01:47.787
<i>that triggered a massive tsunami,</i>

00:01:47.787 --> 00:01:50.117
<i>killed more than 15,000 people,</i>

00:01:50.117 --> 00:01:52.503
<i>and damaged
more than a million buildings,</i>

00:01:52.503 --> 00:01:54.869
<i>including the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Plant,</i>

00:01:54.869 --> 00:01:56.987
<i>which is still leaking radiation today.</i>

00:01:57.983 --> 00:02:00.252
<i>There's still piles of radioactive topsoil</i>

00:02:00.252 --> 00:02:02.903
<i>under black tarps near Saito's property,</i>

00:02:02.903 --> 00:02:05.101
<i>which is 50 kilometers
from the power plant.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:06.578 --> 00:02:09.636 line:1
(Noboru) Some people decided
to stop farming

00:02:09.636 --> 00:02:15.487 line:1
and fled to other regions
with their entire families.

00:02:17.304 --> 00:02:20.530 line:1
Personally, I didn't run away.

00:02:20.530 --> 00:02:26.476 line:1
I tried to make things work in this region
and fight the radiation.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:28.683 --> 00:02:35.285 line:1
It's catching the B-waves
from the radiation.

00:02:36.345 --> 00:02:43.395 line:1
We have to make sure
the rice doesn't carry radiation.

00:02:44.957 --> 00:02:47.964 line:1
So every spring,

00:02:47.964 --> 00:02:50.843 line:1
we put potassium in our paddies.

00:02:51.202 --> 00:02:53.414 line:1
It'll absorb potassium
instead of [radioactive] cesium.

00:02:53.414 --> 00:02:55.507 line:1
This is known as inhibition of resorption.

NOTE Paragraph

00:02:56.848 --> 00:02:59.274
<i>The disaster has forced Saito
to find new ways</i>

00:02:59.274 --> 00:03:01.356
<i>to make sure his produce is safe,</i>

00:03:01.356 --> 00:03:03.242
<i>including raising money on the internet</i>

00:03:03.242 --> 00:03:05.947
<i>to buy a 22,000 dollar radiation tester.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:06.844 --> 00:03:09.053 line:1
(Nobuoru) Here, we have some peppers.

00:03:11.749 --> 00:03:13.750 line:1
You have to measure their weight first.

00:03:14.766 --> 00:03:17.218 line:1
560, 550 grams.

00:03:17.444 --> 00:03:19.307 line:1
And then you put it inside.

00:03:20.243 --> 00:03:22.132 line:1
The machine will measure the radiation

00:03:22.774 --> 00:03:26.045 line:1
and you can see whether or not
it's below the standard.

00:03:26.235 --> 00:03:29.422 line:1
It won't confirm until after 15 minutes.

00:03:29.922 --> 00:03:34.242 line:1
But already after 30 seconds,

00:03:34.242 --> 00:03:36.280 line:1
it's stabilizing at zero.

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:37.775 --> 00:03:41.432
<i>The Japanese government says
the food from Fukushima is safe.</i>

00:03:41.432 --> 00:03:42.901
<i>Two years after the meltdown,</i>

00:03:42.901 --> 00:03:47.394
<i>it reported the 1.5% of food products
were over the radiation limit.</i>

00:03:47.394 --> 00:03:51.216
<i>By 2017, that number dropped to 0.05%.</i>

00:03:52.776 --> 00:03:54.831
<i>But people are still reluctant.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:03:55.162 --> 00:03:58.607 line:1
(Noboru) If I bring my produce directly,

00:03:58.607 --> 00:04:00.184 line:1
I can answer questions.

00:04:00.184 --> 00:04:02.524 line:1
I can sell while talking to people.

00:04:02.912 --> 00:04:05.965 line:1
Then, because they understand.

00:04:05.965 --> 00:04:08.297 line:1
They buy productos from Fukushima

00:04:08.297 --> 00:04:09.822 line:1
with a peace of mind.

00:04:10.394 --> 00:04:13.589 line:1
More customers are visiting every week.

00:04:13.739 --> 00:04:15.960 line:1
Whether it's our peaches or vegetables,

00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:20.683 line:1
they keep coming back
because they taste delicious.

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:21.599 --> 00:04:23.604
<i>Just because customers are coming back,</i>

00:04:23.604 --> 00:04:25.836
<i>doesn't mean the disaster
is completely over.</i>

00:04:25.836 --> 00:04:29.546
<i>By 2022, the nuclear plant 
will run out of storage facilities</i>

00:04:29.546 --> 00:04:31.414
<i>for radioactive waste water,</i>

00:04:31.414 --> 00:04:35.000
<i>and experts have advised the government
to release the water into the ocean,</i>

00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:36.521
<i>which could impact fishing</i>

00:04:36.521 --> 00:04:38.913
<i>and raise new concerns
about the region's produce.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:04:40.037 --> 00:04:42.571
<i>Koji Furuyama is also
a farmer in Fukushima</i>

00:04:42.571 --> 00:04:44.995
<i>who specializes in luxury peaches.</i>

00:04:44.995 --> 00:04:47.310
<i>His strategy for shaking
the region's stigma</i>

00:04:47.310 --> 00:04:49.105
<i>is to be the best in the world.</i>

00:04:50.101 --> 00:04:53.242 line:1
Japanese agriculture is about making

00:04:53.242 --> 00:04:56.624 line:1
the highest quality produce in the world
in limited space.

00:04:57.844 --> 00:05:00.483 line:1
This has sugar content of over 20%,

00:05:00.483 --> 00:05:03.603 line:1
so it's easily 50,000 yen
[$471] per peach.

00:05:03.903 --> 00:05:06.574 line:1
Also, this is the world's
biggest kind of peach.

00:05:07.721 --> 00:05:09.819 line:1
It will be this big

00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:11.936 line:1
and it will keep growing
bigger and sweeter.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:12.739 --> 00:05:16.687
<i>His best peaches have three times
as much sugar as a supermarket peach,</i>

00:05:16.997 --> 00:05:20.203
<i>and they're priced
at 20,000 dollars a piece.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:21.514 --> 00:05:24.567 line:1
Last year, the highest sugar content

00:05:24.567 --> 00:05:25.893 line:1
we achieved was 40.5%.

00:05:27.192 --> 00:05:28.518 line:1
I tried it myself.

00:05:28.979 --> 00:05:30.769 line:1
It was hard to describe with words.

00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:33.670 line:1
When someone eats something
that delicious,

00:05:33.670 --> 00:05:36.110 line:1
words won't come right away.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:40.659
<i>Even his more affordable fruits 
are pretty expensive.</i>

00:05:41.330 --> 00:05:43.386 line:1
These usually sell

00:05:43.386 --> 00:05:47.409 line:1
for 12,000 yen [$113] each
in city department stores.

00:05:47.409 --> 00:05:50.794 line:1
That means altogether, these boxes
cost around 70,000 yen [$660] each.

NOTE Paragraph

00:05:53.070 --> 00:05:56.521
<i>As Japan prepares to showcase 
its recovery by hosting the Olympics</i>

00:05:56.521 --> 00:05:58.373
<i>10 years after the earthquake,</i>

00:05:58.373 --> 00:06:02.858
<i>it's announced that the baseball and
softball events will happen in Fukushima.</i>

00:06:02.858 --> 00:06:06.091
<i>Farmers here are excited that the games
may give them the opportunity</i>

00:06:06.091 --> 00:06:08.529
<i>to reintroduce the world to their produce.</i>

NOTE Paragraph

00:06:08.909 --> 00:06:10.885 line:1
(Koji) Well, the people involved in media

00:06:10.885 --> 00:06:13.634 line:1
will present to the world
the actual, recovered Fukushima.

00:06:13.634 --> 00:06:17.174 line:1
So an event like the Olympics

00:06:17.174 --> 00:06:19.559 line:1
will become a plus
for a prefecture like Fukushima.

00:06:19.925 --> 00:06:22.307 line:1
Fukushima is stuck 
with this image of danger.

00:06:22.307 --> 00:06:26.982 line:1
That reputation is global.

00:06:26.982 --> 00:06:32.204 line:1
Instead of keeping
that bad memory of Fukushima,

00:06:32.204 --> 00:06:33.948 line:1
please visit Fukushima yourself

00:06:33.948 --> 00:06:36.883 line:1
and see with your own eyes

00:06:36.883 --> 00:06:39.173 line:1
that Fukushima is not
what you imagine it to be.