Fukushima Farmers negotiate with Japanese Government/Tepco 福島農家の若者、政府と東電に対して勇気ある発言

Chiyoko Kaizuka, 83-year old farmer, weeds a spinach field Sunday, March 20, 2011 in Moriya, Ibaragi Prefecture, Japan. Japan announced the first signs that contamination from its tsunami-crippled nuclear complex has seeped into the food chain, saying that radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms near the facility exceeded government safety limits. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

“…“You can’t even sell a small quantity without tests,” she said. “Even for your own consumption, you have to get your crops checked. It’s mandatory. After the crops have been declared safe, we eat them. We hope they are safe.”…”

Image and quote source ; http://www.dw.de/fukushima-farmers-return-to-the-land/a-16446642
The 38th National Action day of Environmental pollution victims negotiation with TEPCO/Japanese government 6^th of June, 2013
(Editor’s note: He did a brave speech in front of the Government and Tepco. I am so glad to hear the voice of very sincere Fukushima farmer and he is not the only one. The video doesn’t run smoothly.)
(Typescript by Mia)
I am still engaged in agriculture full time in Fukushima. I live in Sukagawa in Fukushima prefecture. Last year, cesium exceeding 100Bq was detected in the brown rice produced there. First case nationwide. As a result decontamination of the rice fields started. In my district, farmers were also mobilized to do the decontamination work in the rice fields. I hope you heard me, I am not talking about the radiation reading in the air.
We are just tilling deeply and spreading the radiation thinly.
We are not removing the contamination. No wonder that radiation level has gone down.

We decontaminated the rice field.

We have not removed the contaminated soil. Of course not!

The environment has not changed at all two years after the explosions.

The guidelines say we cannot use farm materials such as coverings that are contaminated.

But we have no way of measuring the radiation level for those.

Are you going to do something about this? Please don’t take lightly what we farmers are going through.

We grow food.

We eat safe and clean food ourselves.

And we supply them to our consumers. But there is no longer the joy in harvesting our produce.

The farm produce from Fukushima is cheaper than that from other areas.
Do you think we can keep our motivation going, knowing that in advance, and expecting the compensation payment for the loss?
(Editor’s note: For farmers to be able to claim the compensation to the government to maintain their livelyhood, they need to produce and sell their food accordingly depending on the level of radiation in their food, and see how much loss they had.)
The current government limit is 100Bq/kg.
The farmers know how many Bq of cesium their produce contains.
We can ship them if the reading is lower than 100.

(Editor’s comment: Prof. Koide at Kyoto Research Reactor Institute commented that it was 0.1Bq/kg for cesium in rice before the Fukushima disaster. So 100Bq/kg means 1000 times more radioactively contaminated than before.)

But I would not dare eat them myself.
The consumers assume there is no radiation in the food they buy.
What do you say about this?
We Farmers know better.
We feel guilty about growing it and selling it.

We won’t eat it ourselves, but we sell it. I want to hear what you think about this. I would like you to respond to my question.

(Editor’s note: I may type up the other farmer’s voice as well if I have some time.)

1 Comment »

Every expressed feeling here has penetrated me though!
How darely could the goverment desert them!
No tears, anger!

Comment by shokosayama | September 5, 2013 | Reply

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