5 ms·

I doubt it, especially since you can generally get a much wider range of varieties of potatoes in the US than in Japan, not just organic/non-organic, but differ

by yladiz 10y ago

I doubt it, especially since you can generally get a much wider range of varieties of potatoes in the US than in Japan, not just organic/non-organic, but different colored potatoes as well. My guess is that the rhetoric coming from the companies that US potato quality is lower is more due to the government being protectionist about national agriculture. It's also probably due to the mentality that producers want specific kinds of potatoes for specific purposes and maybe only trust Japanese farmers to make the specific kind of potatoes the way they want them.

hkmurakami 10y ago
I remember seeing a "food security" campaign where demonstraters wanted the country to achieve 100% food sufficiency as a national security prerogative. Wasn't sure if it was a strange form of nationalism, or a veiled lobbying effort by an interest group (the abundance of very small scale farmers across the countryside)
- alva 10y ago
  Intuitively it sounds quite sensible. The more a nation can sustain itself on its internal market, the longer they can hold out through negative external circumstances. Much like energy. When everything is going rosy, relying on high % imports can be economically beneficial. In the case of extreme events like local or global wars, it leaves the country extremely fragile. Even outside wars, if there are drastic price increases in the global market then you are highly exposed. Look at OPEC, the power they wield and how they direct their efforts in essentially geo-political 'battles'. I don't know much about it, but I suspect that energy and agricultural self-sufficiency are very important and underestimated factors in (developed) nation state security.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    I don't think they're underestimated. Most rich countries have large subsidies to national farmers. In the US federal budget, Food & Agriculture is the largest slice right after the big ones (social security, healthcare, military, veterans).
- kalleboo 10y ago
  I'm led to believe that JA (the agricultural coop) is one of the strongest lobbies in the country. The government had a lot of work cut out for them to sell TPP.
- SilasX 10y ago
  What's strange about it? Most nations have such a policy goal, regardless of how merited (or not) it is.
- fictioncircle 10y ago
  Farming in the US is heavily subsidized due to a nexus of national security, the farm lobby, and food stamps. So it's a legitimate concern many nation's have, even EU countries have similar programs. In the US it has gotten out of hand, however.
- mistermann 10y ago
  Security of food supply is now also nationalism? Are we allowed to do anything in our self-interest anymore?
  - arkades 10y ago
    Food security is not nationalism. But people actually campaigning for it... People, who rarely get worked up about anything that doesn't put money in their pocket or stroke their ego, giving enough of a damn to go out and campaign for it... well, OP said it directly: he wasn't sure whether it was about putting money in their pocket, or stroking their ego.
    - mistermann 10y ago
      Or, maybe they'd like a secure, trustworthy food supply.
- qubex 10y ago
  Clearly they've failed at achieving ”food security” if the local demand for potatoes has outstripped local supply. The apparent bias against resorting to importation also seems to indicate it is largely thinly-veiled protectionism and political cultivation of special interests. Furthermore however intuitive it may seem it runs contrary to hundreds of years of economic orthodoxy, known as Ricardo's Comparative Advantage.
  - mywittyname 10y ago
    It depends on what you mean by security. They may not be insulated from large-scale crop failures, but they are insulated from heavily-subsidized foreign companies dumping products on their market in a bid to undercut domestic prices and eliminate local producers as competitors. As with most things, it comes down to a trade-off: increased risk of disruptions from ecological events in return for a decreased risk from geopolitical situations. One is not inherently better than the other, but Japan has a preference for self-sufficiency as much as possible.
  - flukus 10y ago
    > Clearly they've failed at achieving ”food security” if the local demand for potatoes has outstripped local supply. How so? Food security is being able to feed the country even when it's completely isolated, not having potato chips on store shelves.

by yladiz 10y ago

hkmurakami 10y ago

I remember seeing a "food security" campaign where demonstraters wanted the country to achieve 100% food sufficiency as a national security prerogative. Wasn't sure if it was a strange form of nationalism, or a veiled lobbying effort by an interest group (the abundance of very small scale farmers across the countryside)

alva 10y ago
Intuitively it sounds quite sensible. The more a nation can sustain itself on its internal market, the longer they can hold out through negative external circumstances. Much like energy. When everything is going rosy, relying on high % imports can be economically beneficial. In the case of extreme events like local or global wars, it leaves the country extremely fragile. Even outside wars, if there are drastic price increases in the global market then you are highly exposed. Look at OPEC, the power they wield and how they direct their efforts in essentially geo-political 'battles'. I don't know much about it, but I suspect that energy and agricultural self-sufficiency are very important and underestimated factors in (developed) nation state security.
- icebraining 10y ago
  I don't think they're underestimated. Most rich countries have large subsidies to national farmers. In the US federal budget, Food & Agriculture is the largest slice right after the big ones (social security, healthcare, military, veterans).
kalleboo 10y ago
I'm led to believe that JA (the agricultural coop) is one of the strongest lobbies in the country. The government had a lot of work cut out for them to sell TPP.
SilasX 10y ago
What's strange about it? Most nations have such a policy goal, regardless of how merited (or not) it is.
fictioncircle 10y ago
Farming in the US is heavily subsidized due to a nexus of national security, the farm lobby, and food stamps. So it's a legitimate concern many nation's have, even EU countries have similar programs. In the US it has gotten out of hand, however.
mistermann 10y ago
Security of food supply is now also nationalism? Are we allowed to do anything in our self-interest anymore?
- arkades 10y ago
  Food security is not nationalism. But people actually campaigning for it... People, who rarely get worked up about anything that doesn't put money in their pocket or stroke their ego, giving enough of a damn to go out and campaign for it... well, OP said it directly: he wasn't sure whether it was about putting money in their pocket, or stroking their ego.
  - mistermann 10y ago
    Or, maybe they'd like a secure, trustworthy food supply.
qubex 10y ago
Clearly they've failed at achieving ”food security” if the local demand for potatoes has outstripped local supply. The apparent bias against resorting to importation also seems to indicate it is largely thinly-veiled protectionism and political cultivation of special interests. Furthermore however intuitive it may seem it runs contrary to hundreds of years of economic orthodoxy, known as Ricardo's Comparative Advantage.
- mywittyname 10y ago
  It depends on what you mean by security. They may not be insulated from large-scale crop failures, but they are insulated from heavily-subsidized foreign companies dumping products on their market in a bid to undercut domestic prices and eliminate local producers as competitors. As with most things, it comes down to a trade-off: increased risk of disruptions from ecological events in return for a decreased risk from geopolitical situations. One is not inherently better than the other, but Japan has a preference for self-sufficiency as much as possible.
- flukus 10y ago
  > Clearly they've failed at achieving ”food security” if the local demand for potatoes has outstripped local supply. How so? Food security is being able to feed the country even when it's completely isolated, not having potato chips on store shelves.