Non-Market Food Provision and Sharing in Japan’s Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes

Abstract

Socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS) are characterized by a dynamic mosaic of different ecosystem types that maintain relatively high biodiversity and produce a bundle of ecosystem services. One unique characteristic of SEPLS is the sharing of provisioning services within and beyond communities, such as forests, agricultural and marine products. Conventional ecosystem assessments based on statistical data often ignore the benefits of these non-market provisioning services. This short communication quantifies the contribution of the sharing of food provisioning services in Japan in terms of their amount and variety, and it analyzes the relationship between such sharing practices and landscape types. Using an online web survey, we investigated the benefits of sharing goods and services provided from SEPLS. In both mountainous and flat agricultural areas, 16% of the total food amount came from non-market sources, compared to 10% in urbanized areas. Farmland and forests had significant positive correlations with most non-market food items in terms of amount. Greater amounts of built-up area in the landscape were associated with a lesser amount of non-market food provision. Food sharing culture can contribute to enhancing resilience against socio-economic changes and natural disasters. This study provides baseline information for monitoring the hidden flow of food provision and its multiple functions.

Factors that Affect Nonmarket Fruit and Vegetable Receptions: Analyses of Two Cross-Sectional Surveys in Gunma, Japan

“…AFNs include practices such as community supported agriculture, farmers' markets, organic farms, cooperatives, solidarity purchasing groups, farm shops, urban agriculture, box scheme, and community gardens [2]. The distribution of nonmarket food (home grown foods and foods received from neighbors and/or relatives [3][4][5][6][7]) can be considered one aspect of AFNs that is related to the previously described characteristics [1]. Further, studies on urban gardening, home gardening, and community gardening can be seen in other works [8][9][10][11].…”

Factors that Affect Nonmarket Fruit and Vegetable Receptions: Analyses of Two Cross-Sectional Surveys in Gunma, Japan

“…The vegetable receiving frequency in the rural and suburban areas was higher than in the urban area. Previous studies reported no significant difference in the ratio of access to nonmarket food because of the agricultural area classification [4,7]. However, there were significant relationships between land use types and the amounts and variety of nonmarket foods individuals consumed [7].…”

“…Previous studies reported no significant difference in the ratio of access to nonmarket food because of the agricultural area classification [4,7]. However, there were significant relationships between land use types and the amounts and variety of nonmarket foods individuals consumed [7]. In the initial analysis of Survey 2, more people were growing vegetables in rural and suburban areas compared to urban areas [27].…”

“…Within this city, we identified three geographic regions, each with a population of about 1000 people aged 20-74 years, that could be classified as rural, suburban, and urban [27]. Additionally, in the agricultural area classification system developed by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, these areas are considered "mountainous agricultural area(s)", "flat agricultural area(s)" and "urbanized area(s)", respectively [7,33]. Furthermore, the previous study indicated that there were more vegetable growers (constituted by both farmers and gardeners) in the rural and the suburban areas than in the urban area [27].…”

“…AFNs include practices such as community supported agriculture, farmers' markets, organic farms, cooperatives, solidarity purchasing groups, farm shops, urban agriculture, box scheme, and community gardens [2]. The distribution of nonmarket food (home grown foods and foods received from neighbors and/or relatives [3][4][5][6][7]) can be considered one aspect of AFNs that is related to the previously described characteristics [1]. Further, studies on urban gardening, home gardening, and community gardening can be seen in other works [8][9][10][11].…”