Tochigi's Tactics to Sell Its Beef: Make Children Eat to "Prove" It's Safe

One of the very popular propaganda campaigns by the governments is to use children to appeal safety. Since the national government, prefectural governments, municipal governments all do it, producers and wholesalers must feel they are not just allowed but encouraged to do the same, and they join in with the governments to exploit small children so that they (think they) can sell their stuff, whatever they are peddling.

Here's the latest from Tochigi Prefecture, where radioactive cesium in the beef exceeded the national provisional safety limit by wide margin and the shipment of the meat had been halted in August, as reported cheerfully by NHK News Japanese (Tokyo Metropolitan version) on October 3, 2011. The link has since been deleted, but the article has been copied at Tokyo Brown Tabby's site, from which I quote in full:

栃木県産牛を給食にしてＰＲ

PR of Tochigi Beef using school lunch

出荷停止の措置が解除された栃木県産の牛の肉を食べてもらおうと、栃木県鹿沼市で小学校の給食に牛肉が入ったハヤシライスが出されました。

To encourage consumers to buy and eat beef made in Tochigi Prefecture, where the shipment ban has been lifted, Kanuma City in Tochigi Prefecture served "hashed beef over rice" as school lunches in the city's elementary schools.

栃木県産の牛は、肉から国の暫定基準値を超える放射性セシウムが検出され、ことし８月、およそ３週間にわたって出荷が停止されました。

Radioactive cesium exceeding the national provisional safety limit was detected in the beef from cows raised in Tochigi Prefecture, and the shipment of the cows was halted for 3 weeks in August.

給食は畜産が盛んな地域のひとつ、鹿沼市と地元のＪＡが、出荷停止が解除された県産の牛肉の安全性をＰＲしようと行ったもので、市内８つの小学校に牛肉が入ったハヤシライス、合わせて５０００食が出されました。

This school lunch using the local beef was a PR campaign by Kanuma City and the local JA (agricultural producer co-op) to appeal the safety of the Tochigi beef. Total 5,000 "hashed beef over rice" dishes were served in 8 elementary schools, featuring the local beef.

このうち市立東小学校の１年生の教室には、鹿沼市の佐藤信市長や地元の畜産農家などが集まり、３９人の児童といっしょに給食を食べました。

In the classroom of 1st graders at Higashi Elementary School, Kanuma's Mayor Shin Sato and local cattle farmers joined the 39 pupils for the lunch.

子どもたちは久しぶりに牛肉が入ったメニューをうれしそうに味わっていました。

Children looked happy to eat the dish with beef, which hasn't been used in lunch [since radioactive cesium was detected].

女の子のひとりは、「お肉がやわらかくておいしかったです。もっと食べたいです」と話していました。

One girl said, "The meat was so tender and delicious. I'd like to eat more".

畜産農家の瓦井義男さんは「子どもたちが牛肉を食べる日を楽しみにしてくれていてうれしかったです。これからも安全な牛を生産するので安心して食べてほしい」と話していました。

Yoshio Kawarai, cattle farmer, said "I am glad that children were looking forward to eating the beef. We will continue to raise safe cows, so we want them to feel safe eating the beef".

Needless to say, Tabby is incensed. I feel dizzy with high blood pressure translating the text of the news. They served 1st graders with possibly radioactive beef, and the mayor of the city and cattle farmers were there with the small children to make sure they all ate lunch.

Well, was it radioactive or not? No one will ever know, because Tochigi Prefecture has clearly decided to go Miyagi Prefecture's way - that is, if the measurement is below the provisional safety limit of 500 becquerels/kg for radioactive cesium, the government does not bother to tell you how many becquerels.

Here's Tochigi's latest "test" of its beef, on October 3, 2011. Note the right-most column, which shows the amount of radioactive cesium detected. It's all "暫定規制値以下" - "Below the provisional safety limit". It could be ND, it could be 499, but no one's supposed to know and they don't bother to tell.

The same arrogance has been shown by the Miyagi governor who declared that no one needs to know the detailed number as long as it is below 500 becquerels/kg for radioactive cesium.

As Professor Kunihiko Takeda said in his October 3 post, the governments of all levels are in it, the producers and sellers are in it in exploiting small children so that they can "sell" radioactive foods, they shout down the mothers who want to feed their children with radiation-free food, while the fathers strangely look the other way. Professor Takeda pleads with the fathers to join the fight and join the mothers, but the prospect looks bleak so far. Pro-nuke propaganda since 1991 has been a resounding success with the fathers. (Links are in Japanese.)

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