WEBVTT

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As much as I love to talk
about the food we eat,

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there's a lot to say 
about the food we don't eat.

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The stuff we don't like,

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can't afford,

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or I've just never been offered

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like, fried tarantula in Cambodia,

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or jellied moose nose in Canada.

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But then there are foods 
we're afraid to eat.

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We went to a region in Japan 
were fears about food grown there

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because of a very major 
and very tragic event

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have made consumers weary,

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which makes life
really hard for growers.

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FOOD FEARS

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(Noboru) A lot of sparrows
would come eat the rice.

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We fly kites instead of using scarecrows.

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Rice from this area 
has the highest rating,

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and it tastes great.

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This one is called Gohyaku Gawa.

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The green ones are Koshihikari.

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<i>This farm has been in Noboru Saito's
family for eight generations.</i>

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<i>A decade ago, 
Saito quit his government job</i>

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<i>to help his mom run the farm.</i>

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I'm 82 years old.

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After my son came back,

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my responsibilities lightened.

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<i>But a year after he returned, 
disaster struck.</i>

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There was a massive earthquake.

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When I looked around, the mountains--

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there are lots in this area--

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so these mountains looked like

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they were being swayed or sliding.

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<i>That earthquake was a 9.1 magnitude.</i>

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<i>The fourth most powerful ever recorded</i>

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<i>That triggered a massive tsunami,</i>

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<i>killed more than 15,000 people,</i>

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<i>and damaged
more than a million buildings,</i>

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<i>including the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Plant,</i>

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<i>which is still leaking radiation today.</i>

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<i>There's still piles of radioactive topsoil</i>

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<i>under black tarps near Saito's property,</i>

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<i>which is 50 kilometers
from the power plant.</i>

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(Noboru) Some people decided
to stop farming

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and fled to other regions
with their entire families.

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Personally, I didn't run away.

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I tried to make things work in this region
and fight the radiation.

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It's catching the B-waves
from the radiation.

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We have to make sure
the rice doesn't carry radiation.

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So every spring,

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we put potassium in our paddies.

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It'll absorb potassium
instead of [radioactive] cesium.

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This is known as inhibition of resorption.

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<i>The disaster has forced Sato
to find new ways</i>

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<i>to make sure his produce is safe,</i>

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<i>including raising money on the internet</i>

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<i>to buy a 22,000 dollar radiation tester.</i>

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(Noburu) Here, we have some peppers.

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You have to measure their weight first.

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560, 550 grams.

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And then you put it inside.

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The machine will measure the radiation

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and you can see whether or not
it's below the standard.

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It won't confirm until after 15 minutes.

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But already after 30 seconds,

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it's stabilizing at zero.

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<i>The Japanese government says
the food from Fukushima is safe.</i>

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<i>Two years after the meltdown,</i>

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<i>it reported the 1.5% of food products
were over the radiation limit.</i>

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<i>By 2017, that number dropped to 0.05%.</i>

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<i>But people are still reluctant.</i>

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If I bring my produce directly,

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I can answer questions.

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I can sell while talking to people.

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Then, because they understand.

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They buy productos from Fukushima

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with a peace of mind.

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More customers are visiting every week.

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Whether it's our peaches or vegetables,

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they keep coming back
because they taste delicious.

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<i>Just because customers are coming back,</i>

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<i>doesn't mean the disaster
is completely over.</i>

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<i>By 2022, the nuclear plant 
will run out of storage facilities</i>

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<i>for radioactive waste water,</i>

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<i>and experts have advised the government
to release the water into the ocean,</i>

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<i>which could impact fishing</i>

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<i>and raise new concerns
about the region's produce.</i>

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<i>[Koji Furuyama] is also a farmer
who specializes in luxury peaches.</i>

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<i>His strategy for shaking the region's stigma
is to be the best in the world.</i>

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Japanese agriculture is about making

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the highest quality produce in the world
in limited space.

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This has sugar content of over 20%,

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so it's easily 50,000 yen
[$471] per peach.

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Also, this is the world's
biggest kind of peach.

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It will be this big

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and it will keep growing
bigger and sweeter.

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<i>His best peaches have three times
as much sugar as a supermarket peach,</i>

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<i>and they're priced
at 20,000 dollars a piece.</i>

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Last year, the highest sugar content

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we achieved was 40.5%.

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I tried it myself.

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It was hard to describe with words.

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When someone eats something
that delicious,

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words won't come right away.

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<i>Even his more affordable fruits 
are pretty expensive.</i>

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These usually sell

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for 12,000 yen [113] each
in city department stores.

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That means altogether, these boxes
cost around 70,000 yen [$660] each.

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<i>As Japan prepares to showcase 
its recovery by hosting the Olympics</i>

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<i>10 years after the earthquake,</i>

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<i>it's announced that the baseball and
softball events will happen in Fukushima.</i>

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<i>Farmers here are excited that the games</i>

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<i>may give them the opportunity 
to reintroduce the world</i>

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<i>to their produce.</i>

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(Koji) Well, the people involved in media

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will present to the world
the actual, recovered Fukushima.

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So an event like the Olympics

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will become a plus for a prefecture
like Fukushima.

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Fukushima is stuck 
with this image of danger.

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That reputation is global.

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Instead of keeping
that bad memory of Fukushima,

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please visit Fukushima yourself

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and see with your own eyes

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that Fukushima is not
what you imagine it to be.