Friday, March 2, 2012

Date City in #Fukushima to Allow Rice Growing Everywhere, Even Where 500 Bq/kg Safety Limit Was Exceeded Last Year

The mayor of the city says "It's for the research purpose, and won't be sold". Sure.

If Fukushima City and Nihonmatsu City follow suit, the only municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture where rice won't be grown this year are the same as last year, inside the no-entry zone and in the planned evacuation zone.

Everywhere else, whether it produced rice with 500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium or not, farmers will grow rice.

Officials in Nihonmatsu City have already said as long as it is the national government's responsibility to test the harvested rice, they don't see any problem growing rice.

From Jiji Tsushin (3/2/2012):

福島県伊達市の仁志田昇司市長は2日の定例記者会見で、2012年産米について国の暫定規制値(1キロ当たり500ベクレル)を超える放射性セシウムが検出された地域でも試験的に作付けを行う方針を明らかにした。セシウムが検出された原因や除染の効果を調査するのが狙い。同市長は「出荷をしないという前提で試験する。(収穫後は)きちんと管理する」と語った。今後、この方針をめぐり国などと協議する。

Shoji Nishida, Mayor of Date City in Fukushima Prefecture, held the regular press conference on March 2 and announced the policy to allow farmers to plant rice this year even in the areas where radioactive cesium exceeding the national provisional safety limit (500 becquerels/kg) was found in rice last year. The purpose is to identify the reasons for cesium detection in rice, and to study the effect of decontamination. The mayor said, "It is an experiment, and the rice won't be sold. After the harvest, it will be properly managed." The mayor will discuss the policy with the national and prefectural governments.

This is the same city that has sent more conscientious farmers who refrained from growing rice last year a notice that their land will be considered abandoned unless they farm and grow crops this year.

In the highly contaminated district of Date City, one worker hired by the JAEA died at the decontamination site.

Why do they continue to grow rice in the most contaminated prefecture in all of Japan? you ask? As I posted before, it is to encourage farmers to continue to farm, ostensibly. And to keep rice paddies in good condition, ostensibly. And to increase the food self-sufficiency, ostensibly. None of them make any sense to me, but here's a tweet from one of the supporters of rice growing Fukushima farmers sent to Professor Yukio Hayakawa:

米作りは生態系維持や土質の維持、そして農民の生き甲斐などの観点からは毎年欠かさず作るほうがよいと言えます。経済的価値からだけの判断は一面的過ぎませんか?

In order to maintain the ecosystem and the quality of the soil, and to give farmers something to live for, it is better to grow rice every year without fail. Judging only by the economic merit is too one-sided, don't you think?

Professor Hayakawa's answer:

あなたはその考えのもとに自分の子どもの健康を差し出せますか?

Can you sacrifice the health of your own child based on your thinking?

People like this person who wrote to Hayakawa are trapped in their PC. It probably doesn't even occur to them, as it didn't for this person, "quality of soil" is damaged at least for several decades because of radioactive cesium, strontium, silver and other radionuclides that fell on the farmland in Fukushima.

I can tell you the country was not like this before. Yes, the idea of "tatemae" (facade) and "honnne" (real) was always there, but at least people knew that it was "tatemae" when they heard it.

Now, more and more Japanese truly believe in their own "tatemae" and lies.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Giving the farmers something to "live for"..what about something to "die for?" What is the plan to keep farmers from becoming radiated by the fallout on their lands? What about the workers? What about the people eating the contaminated rice? Is this a massive plan to just make sure EVERYONE has a fatal dose of radiation? Then no need to pay for compensation? Wonder if that has ever been discussed in the "meetings where no notes/reports/minutes were kept!"

Anonymous said...

This occurs to me - If the same crops are grown as before then it might be possible that subsequent crops will absorb the contaminates that are found in the soil and eventually deplete the contaminant found to be utilized by the plant. Since we already know that previous harvests (post disaster) were found to be contaminated, in theory (the possible hypotheses) repeated absorption by the same type plant grown (rice) will result in the depletion of the contaminates available to the plant.

Just like the sunflower utilization/discontinuation you have reported on before.

The contaminated harvests would have to be dealt with, kept from consumption or continued dispersal of the contaminate, isolated, handled as hazardous material.

Of course the safety of everyone involved needs to be addressed.

Of course you can expect no progress on removing contaminates as long as new contaminates are being introduced by reactors that continue to release new issues or if water used on the crops introduces new contamination to the location of cultivation.

blah blah blah blah

Important information can be found from this.

Miserable.

Smoking Caster

no6ody said...

I have news for the Mayor... to do research, you don't need to plant *all* of the land. This sounds like $¢¥€₦¢€, not science. Someone is getting high on their own supply. "Tatemae," indeed!

Farmers plowing their contaminated fields--can't be good for their health. I hope they can afford HEPA gas masks.

Anonymous said...

spam folder

Anonymous said...

no6ody @ 6:58 pm: "$¢¥€₦¢€"

new one on me, but succinct and memorable. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

’’here's a tweet from one of the supporters of rice growing Fukushima farmers sent to Professor Yukio Hayakawa:

米作りは生態系維持や土質の維持、そして農民の生き甲斐などの観点からは毎年欠かさず作るほうがよいと言えます。経済的価値からだけの判断は一面的過ぎませんか?

In order to maintain the ecosystem and the quality of the soil, and to give farmers something to live for, it is better to grow rice every year without fail. Judging only by the economic merit is too one-sided, don't you think?

Professor Hayakawa's answer:

あなたはその考えのもとに自分の子どもの健康を差し出せますか?

Can you sacrifice the health of your own child based on your thinking?

People like this person who wrote to Hayakawa are trapped in their PC. It probably doesn't even occur to them, as it didn't for this person, "quality of soil" is damaged at least for several decades because of radioactive cesium, strontium, silver and other radionuclides that fell on the farmland in Fukushima.''


''It probably doesn't even occur to them''

This is what entering a new paradigm is like. It's a difficult one to swallow, perhaps simply too financially catastrophic (for the government) to admit to. So it is a case of the 3 Monkeys.

Another example of this propoganda in progress is the poster campaign 'Ganbare Nippon' and 'Pray For Japan'. There is a subtle undercurrent that in order to help Japan 'Ganbare' back into good health is to buy Fukushima produce and 'help' those poor, innocent farmers and reject the 'baseless rumours', 'hysteria' of the actuality/reality.
This is just a classic passive indocrination technique worthy of the most sophistocated democracies. You can see their more 'active' policies being played out right now with the burning of debris without residents permission (actively ignoring them tbh or telling them to 'shut up' etc) and feeding kindergarten children
school lunch laced with contamination.

Welcome to the new paradigm! Inspire the next. Ideas for life. How about, Face The Truth?

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