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Page added on June 25, 2017
What will we eat when all the food runs out?
Last week, the Yukan Fuji (June 20) reported that 20 outlets in the Kappa Sushi conveyor belt sushi chain in east and west Japan are promoting an all-you-can-eat special, with patrons from middle-school age to 64 years charged ¥1,706 (boys and men) or ¥1,490 (girls and women). Seniors over 65 can partake in the same gargantuan feast for just ¥1,058.
A time limit of 70 minutes applies and certain menu items are excepted from the arrangement. The campaign continues until July 14 on weekdays and is limited to the hours from 2 to 5 p.m.
The participating Kappa outlets have reportedly been mobbed by crowds of people who have to take numbered tickets that are also printed with the waiting time, which can be as long as 15 hours — plenty of time to work up an appetite.
“Before coming, I skipped yesterday’s lunch and supper,” said a man who appeared to be in his 20s, sparing a moment from stuffing his face to talk to the reporter. Another youth, with athletic appearance, peeked up from behind five stacks of empty dishes and boasted, “I ate 50 plates full.”
But amid this apparent plenty, Japanese are finding, to their dismay, that seafood is very much a finite resource. Take unagi kabayaki (skewered and marinated grilled eel filets), which was once so ubiquitous it was even served in low-budget chains favored by salarymen such as Yoshinoya and Sukiya. Five summers ago due to declining catches, the aforementioned two chains dropped eel dishes from their menus, as did Hanaya Yohei, a chain of Japanese-style family restaurants.
Imports have helped make up for a part of the shortfall, but the life cycle of the eel is a complex one, and efforts to breed them in captivity have been unsuccessful. The days of cheap and plentiful eel are likely to be gone for good.
The Sunday Mainichi (June 18) reported that a shortage looms for another popular seafood item: katsuo (bonito).
Traditionally consumed at the beginning of summer, katsuo appeals not only for its good taste, but also its comparative affordability. This year, however, at three fishing ports in Wakayama Prefecture — Susami, Kushimoto and Tanabe — the catch has declined to one-tenth from the peak in the year 2000. So paltry was the catch at Susami this year, the town was forced to serve refrigerated fish at its annual festival.
“On some days, boats return to port without catching a single bonito,” a member of the South Wakayama Fishermens’ Cooperative told the Sunday Mainichi. “If this continues the fishermen will move away.”
Similar tales of woe are being heard from fishermen in Kochi, Miyazaki and Mie prefectures. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the bonito harvest has suffered declines for four consecutive years, falling year on year by 300 tons. The 2016 figure, 248,000 tons, was slightly more than half of the 446,300 tons caught in 1984.
While the bonito’s migratory habits and life cycle are not fully understood, the cause of the declining catch is attributed to overfishing. In recent years, large vessels from Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea and other countries have been trolling for bonito in the Western Pacific.
Over 20 years ago, Akira Nihei, a guest researcher at Ibaraki University and member of the Japan Skipjack Tuna Society, issued a warning that bonito stocks would eventually run out. Without an international agreement to reduce the total catch by about half its current levels, he predicts that bonito is facing exhaustion.
The Sunday Mainichi’s writer reminds readers that dried bonito shavings, called katsuobushi, form one of the basic flavorings in many types of Japanese cuisine. Should the fish vanish from the seas, it would definitely make waves in the food industry.
What we will eat in the future is almost certain to change, predicts the cover story in Nikkei Business (May 15). Titled “The Fourth Food Revolution,” it provides some food for thought about how the human diet will change in the 21st century.
First, by the time the world’s population reaches 9 billion around 2054, demand for vegetable protein will have soared, reaching nearly 1 billion tons annually. Second, both in terms of water and other resources, animal proteins, beef in particular, will place a high burden on the environment that cannot be sustained.
Should petroleum prices remain low, more investors will channel funds into agriculture and food-related industries. As major firms founder, small and medium-sized businesses can be expected to spur food-related innovations. In addition, information technology and biochemistry fields can be expected to come up with major innovations in both agriculture and foodstuffs.
Of course, in a pinch we could always turn to insects. On April 23, some 20 young adults gathered at a bar in Tokyo’s Shibuya district to feast on pasta garnished with crickets, ant cocktails and a variety of other buggy treats, a dozen items in all. The event was arranged by Keio University student Yuta Shinohara, who has adopted the public alias Chikyu Shonen (Earth Boy).
Shinohara sees his mission as disseminating the message that eating insects is both interesting and full of potential. He’s been experimenting with ramen noodles made with a cricket-based broth, and within this year reportedly plans to launch his own establishment boasting a menu of tasty dishes creatively prepared with bugs.
“There’s no reason not to eat bugs,” Shinohara remarked, praising their nutritive value and low impact on the environment. He listed his five favorite bug treats as crickets (“they’re like ‘river prawns’”); cicada larvae (“easy to eat, go well with Chinese-style seasonings”); a caterpillar that inhabits cherry trees; praying mantis (“creamy”); and South American cockroaches (“taste resembles miso, they’re great with Chinese seasonings”). Grilled gokiburi (cockroach) anyone?
19 Comments on "What will we eat when all the food runs out?"
onlooker on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 9:44 am
Yep, we are getting down to eating bugs and jellyfish. lol
bobinget on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 11:30 am
Retired farmer builds ‘raised beds’ in backyard.
With a pick-up load of (really used) lumber ‘Bob the Builder’ slapped together a kitchen garden in 1.5 days.
The ‘little woman’ and I have been eating out of the thing all spring. (good news)
Bad news for vegans and fundamentalist vegetarians.
No matter how much we rinse our leaves tiny insects survive adding protein to out diets.
“The INSIDER Summary:
A new study from an insect control company estimated that we eat, on average, 140,000 ‘bug bits’ every year.
Mealworm, maggot, and roach pieces are found in everyday foods like chocolate, coffee, and wheat flour.
It’s totally legal: The FDA allows small amounts of insect matter in our food.
Talk about unwelcome guests. You may not be ready to start implementing bugs into your diet, but a new study shows that you’re already eating them in massive quantities.
Terro, an insect control company based in Pennsylvania, released a report that estimated that the average individual eats 140,000 insect pieces every year. But even though that number probably makes you squeamish, Terro says it’s totally normal. Even the FDA allows a certain amount of insect matter to make its way into our food in safe quantities.
You may not be able to see or taste these tiny bug bits, but rest assured: mealworms, maggots, roaches, and beetles can be found in everyday foods, especially coffee beans, chocolate, and wheat flour. The “worst” offender of the creepy crawly additives is hops (used in beer), which can contain 25,000 bug bits per 100 grams (about two and a half cups).
“While it might be unsettling to realize insects ultimately end up in the food we eat, many cultures across the world eat them whole as a part of their overall diet,” Terro’s press release said.
We had better get used to it. After all, insects are the future of food!”
Posted note: To avoid eating insects,
Vegans need become ‘breatharians’. Here’s couple who did:
http://www.self.com/story/breatharians-disordered-eating
Just think, 65 million displaced persons currently
starving to death around the planet are in reality part of the avant guard.
Davy on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 11:40 am
We will be eating more seasonal and with less choice. We will be eating less. We will be eating more preserved food and little food will be wasted. We will again learn to reuse food. The old ways will return. Those near the ocean will find much less to eat since the ocean is dying sooner than what is occurring on land. Junk food will slowly be eliminated as we become poorer and hungrier. Junk foods are really more expensive but currently are subsidized by market choice and economies of scale. Eventually when industrialized food begins to fail so will junk food choices.
It is hard to gauge the speed of these changes. Where these changes take hold first and the degree is anyone’s guess. Much depends on the fate of the global economy. If the status quo continues the worst will be in the 3rd world where overpopulation is the worst. If the economy gives out the 1st world will be more like the 3rd world and the 3rd world will become apocalyptic in many places. Food will be the great equalizer soon.
Sissyfuss on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 2:53 pm
To choose to eat bugs rather than control our breeding and consumption shows what a miserable excuse for a mammal we are.
makati1 on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 5:57 pm
Sissy, I agree. Those who believe they are going to slide by with a bit less, and maybe meat once or twice a week instead of daily, are in for a shock. Those already living on rice and a bit of fish or chicken will fare much better. Obesity will return to the dictionary as a word with no meaning rather than the condition of most 1st worlders.
onlooker on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 6:09 pm
Sissy, the eating bugs is Nature forcing correction upon us especially the gluttonous West but even some areas of Asia as their stupid leaders try emulate the West
deadlykillerbeaz on Sun, 25th Jun 2017 8:09 pm
Everybody will eat crow and humble pie, all you can get and eat.
Won’t be anything else, so enjoy!
dooma on Mon, 26th Jun 2017 3:09 am
We in the west a very much “food snobs”. We see eating insects as a sign of desperation. Many places in the world have been supplementing their diets with insects for years.
On the subject of overfishing, it is an entirely different ball game. With high tech electronic equipment, nets that are over 20km long, helicopters for spotting schools and more what chance have the animals of the sea got?
I am wondering how long until dolphin appears on the menu at chain restaurants in Japan? Right next to Jellyfish.
Yadayada on Mon, 26th Jun 2017 1:27 pm
You can buy dolphin in your local supermarket in Japan. I’m told.
1w.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:47 am
Loving errythang and haven’t met an ankle zipper I didn’t like. TGIF!
2j.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:48 am
YAY!!! I am so so so glad you enjoyed them!!
1m.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:48 am
Boy, the Zen gang has so much more fun than us banal Shambhala people. We started out with a wildly flamboyant teacher and it seems like everything since has been about homogenizing and smiling sweetly and creating McDharma centers. I just might have to find myself some black cushions and decamp to the local Zen center where I can stir up trouble by declaring my loyalty to Brad. (I do that a lot at Shambhala gatherings but they all just stare at me blankly, they are really not a bunch that likes to go off the reservation.)
2h.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:48 am
thank you for your very useful article and add insight to my own
1v.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:49 am
I had a miscarriage before this 3 month pregnance and I suspect it was caused by my intake of Atroiza. I am afraid to take it this time coz o dnt want to lose my baby. Is it possible the drug is responsible for the miscarriage? Should I take it?
1z.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:49 am
I love this casual look and the blue is so pretty on you!
24.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:50 am
The idol reminds me of one of those carnival games where you knock over a target with a ball or an air gun and it falls back on its hinges, and then you win a 7 foot tall pink teddy bear. No solution here, just a comment, did that game have a name?
1u.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:52 am
My CD 4 count is 446 and my boyfriend his still negative n now want a baby I’m scared of that my CD 4 count can drop maybe during delivery. I’m steal safe can I become pregnant?
1f.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:52 am
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1r.sallow.co on Wed, 20th Dec 2017 1:53 am
This is incredible as to how spot it is in my life right now. I have always been the swan on mountain lion….for a year or so I have felt I so drawn to the wolf. And I have been desperate for self time and wanting to be alone, I tell everyone I am a loner , i recently watched a documentary of wolves and I felt as though it’s my family. I must utilize my totem !