Saturday, February 17, 2007
2HJ sits in on MAFF public meeting related to destruction of surplus produce
On February 15 2007, Second Harvest Japan Executive Director Charles McJilton and Resource Coordinator Yusuke Wada observed a public meeting on the destruction of surplus produce. Overproduction and subsequent destruction this harvest season of Chinese cabbage and daikon has been met with national debate over the waste of this produce. At the meeting, an exploratory committee formed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries discussed opinions on the problem from various viewpoints of consumers and producers. The Ministry is soliciting ideas from the private sector, so 2HJ is planning to recommend food banking as a way of putting the surplus to good use rather than destroying it.
2HJ uses about 20 heads of Chinese cabbage weekly to make pickles for distribution in Ueno Park. MAFF reports that 22,000 tons of cabbage, Chinese cabbage, and daikon have been destroyed since last fall.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Harvest News: Winter 2007 Issue
Harvest News, Second Harvest Japan’s newsletter, contains stories and information related to 2HJ and food banking in Japan. Download this color version to share with friends, family, and coworkers!
Contents for the 2007 winter issue include:
-Message from 2HJ’s paid staff
-Food donor focus on Heinz Japan
-Client close-up on Harvest Pantry recipients
-Volunteer feature on David Adams, driver
Click to view Harvest News 2007 Winter [PDF: 255 KB]
Link to News story »Sunday, December 31, 2006
2HJ’s Harvest Pantry Reaches Families and Individuals in Need
Imagine living on 200,000 yen a month as a mother of five with your youngest child less than six months old. Your rent is one-third of your husband’s salary and then there are your bills. On top of this you have to buy powdered milk and diapers for your baby and three year old. Your older three children need money for lunch, school supplies and clothing. Even when you can provide for these needs, you worry about medical costs if one of the children should come down with something. You look for a part time job to bring in extra income, but because of the children, your only option is to work from home. Every yen your husband earns is absolutely vital to your family’s survival.
Although your husband is a hard worker, his salary as a construction worker is not guaranteed. If the weather prevents him from working, or even worse if he gets injured, your family’s income disappears. Knowing that your family is just one injury or stretch of bad weather away from not being able to afford food is a constant threat to your peace of mind.
This is the case for Riza Baitan,* one of the current 40 recipients (totaling approximately 100 people a week) in 2HJ’s newest program, the Harvest Pantry. “If my children ask me for a toy,” she says, “I always ask them to wait. I will never break a promise to my children, but it takes time to save that money. We scrape by every month.” In North America people facing situations like that of the Baitan family can receive emergency groceries from most food banks. However, the Harvest Pantry is the first to bring this concept to Japan, where 650,000 people lack food security.**
Organizations such as the Japan Association for Refugees (JAR) provide 2HJ with the names, addresses, and family size of recipients. 2HJ customizes each family’s food package, considering issues such as religion, food preferences, and dietary restrictions. After three months the recipient’s needs are reassessed. 2HJ sends the food packages via a courier service on a regular basis. “We have a great contract with a courier company,” explains Harvest Pantry coordinator Michelle Ryan, “and I think this is the most effective way to reach the individuals and families we currently support.” For a cost of only 500 yen per package up to 20 kg, the courier service also allows 2HJ to choose delivery time slots to ensure the food arrives at a convenient time for the recipients.
“The weekly package of food [from 2HJ] saves us approximately 15,000 yen per month,” Riza says. It also allows the family to eat things they normally cannot afford, such as fresh vegetables, meat and fruit. Riza says her children are ecstatic when the package from 2HJ arrives. The Harvest Pantry is expected to grow in the future to provide more people in similar situations with a safe, socially acceptable food supply in their time of need.
*Name has been changed to respect privacy.
**Based on research by Second Harvest Japan.
Writer: Ryan Fay
Photo: Yusuke Wada
Friday, December 29, 2006
2HJ Board Member: Kousaku Shibata
“If someone needs food, wherever they are, I’ll deliver it imagining the smile it will bring to their face.”
In his role as a long-time 2HJ driver, board member Kousaku Shibata plays an important role in linking companies who donate food and people who need it. Three times a week, he spends about an hour to drive his minivan from his house in Ichikawa city, Chiba, up to Costco Wholesale supermarket in Makuhari. From Costco, Kousaku receives donations of food that is still edible but is about to be disposed of because of overstocking or label misprints.
He receives various kinds of food, including vegetables, fruit, bread, and sweets. After carefully loading the donated food, which sometimes exceeds 500 kilograms, on some days Kousaku brings the load to the 2HJ warehouse in Asakusabashi, Tokyo. On other days, he distributes the food to agencies such as churches, orphanages, and elderly care centers, which support people who have difficulty in obtaining food in a socially acceptable manner.
“If someone needs me, I will go anywhere,” says Kousaku. With his contribution, 2HJ has visited more than 100 agencies in the past four years.
“People think Japan is a rich country,” he continues, “but actually there are many people who have serious trouble in securing meals. Many of them really cannot live without food from 2HJ. I do all I can to avoid skipping deliveries for any reason.”
People applying for asylum as refugees in Japan have a particularly tough time. Every week Kousaku makes 20-kilo food packages and sends them by courier service to 12 families that are struggling to get by.
Kousaku says he always imagines their smiles when they receive the packages, thinking, “What kind of food would that family like?” or “I bet he’ll like this fruit.”
Kousaku volunteered at the soup kitchen of Mother Teresa’s convent in Nagoya when he lived there 10 years ago. He saw the waste of huge amounts of useable food being disposed of at supermarkets and convenience stores every day. They made hundreds of servings at the soup kitchen by salvaging this food.
Four years ago, a friend of his in Tokyo, Charles McJilton, was establishing a food bank. Kousaku encouraged him, saying, “That’s very important. You’ve got to do it!” Since Charles didn’t have a valid Japanese driver’s license at that time, Kousaku volunteered to drive for him and quickly became an indispensable driver for 2HJ.
As a part-time postal worker, Kousaku spends his evenings from 18:00 to 22:00 at the post office and volunteers for 2HJ during the day. 2HJ reimburses him for expenses such as gasoline fees and courier service fees, but he receives no salary for himself. “I’m just doing what I can do,” he says as if his work is no big deal. But his first two years of volunteering were difficult for him both physically and mentally.
“Once I went through that time, it became my custom and my body adjusted. Now I can enjoy the activity and look forward to seeing what kind of food we get from donors.”
Seisei and Kousaku Shibata have been with 2HJ since its earliest days.
Kousaku’s wife, Seisei, chose a minivan when they bought a new car because she knew the car could be useful for 2HJ activities. Since the Nagoya days and through the beginning of 2HJ establishment, Seisei has been Kousaku’s ideal partner.
They both recall, “We’ve met so many people and heard their stories. When we hear the miserable stories of refugees we feel sad, but also sometimes we can see a family loving and helping each other. Sometimes the recipients welcome us with singing and dancing. They make us spiritually rich.”
About the future of 2HJ, Kousaku says, “We shouldn’t rush and try to increase the volume too rapidly.”
“Since we give people food, we as volunteers need to be sensitive to the subtleties of recipients’ feelings. We’re not just delivering food. We should value the process of building relationships with recipients slowly but steadily.”
Writer/Photo: Etusko Ohara
Link to News story »Friday, December 22, 2006
Drivers Wanted: Apply Within
Life has taught me that everything happens for a reason, and some things pop up at the moment we least expect it.
I was visiting Tokyo Union Church not long after the New Year’s holiday of 2006 when Charles McJilton and I happened to brush shoulders during the fellowship held in the basement following the service. I had just resigned my full-time job after growing weary of working for a very traditional Japanese company. I’d just signed a marriage license a few months before, and faced the stress of planning a wedding ceremony and re-thinking my future. I’d also just begun the process of applying for a scholarship that would allow me to take my lovely new wife abroad and continue my education. Yeah, it certainly was not a stretch of the truth to say that I was going through a transitional phase (chuckle). Everything was “up in the air” for me. The only constant was that I felt a need to be a part of something, to have purpose; I had a truly sincere desire to turn over a new leaf in my life, making the most of the ensuing months, which I calculated to be possibly the end of a wonderful and rewarding 10+ years in Japan. It was time to give something back. I can say that with ease because in retrospect, our meeting was not coincidence, it was providence.
Charles and I sat down and had our first meeting in a Chinese restaurant just down the street from 2HJ’s warehouse and office, which are located between Akihabara and Asakusabashi stations. There was something about the genuineness and sincerity of his character. I suddenly found myself saying, “I want to volunteer as a driver for as long as I can.” I’m so glad I did.
Second Harvest Japan was and is continually growing and making a name for itself as a non-profit organization food bank in Japan. Now I’m a part of it.
In the coming weeks and months, I gave one day per week of my time on average to ride the subway in the morning to the warehouse, where I’d drive of 2HJ’s vehicles to one of the frozen food giant Nichirei’s warehouses in Funabashi City and pick up anywhere from a few hundred kilos to a ton or so of frozen vegetables, in frost-covered cardboard boxes of varying size and shape. Then, on to Costco in Makuhari where literally crates of bread, fruits, vegetables, etc. were waiting for me. I have joked with another volunteer that sometimes I felt like I was playing a game of Tetris, because the donations are often so generous that it was challenging to fit everything inside the van. After the food was packed up, it was taken back to the warehouse to be divided up and re-distributed to the refugees, the homeless, shelters, and orphanages that 2HJ provides with much needed food. From the first day onward, it never felt like I was putting in time as a volunteer at all. As a driver and now occasional weekend volunteer, I’ve got to say that there’s something captivating about 2HJ and the purpose we serve. The atmosphere is fun and family-like. Every day is a little bit different from the next, and nothing is ever boring. If you have a little bit of free time, a valid driver’s license, and the courage to selflessly put the needs of others before your own, I challenge you to come on board and be a part of something great.
Writer: David Adams
Photo: Carin Smolinski
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