Urban Farm DB
← Back to cases

Naniwa Traditional Vegetables in Osaka Schools

Osaka, Japan · Operator: 大阪市 / 大阪市教育委員会 / JA大阪中央会

Overview

Osaka certifies 'Naniwa traditional vegetables'—heirlooms nearly lost to urbanization—and uses them in school gardens and lunches as 'living teaching material,' letting pupils taste and learn the food culture and farming nurtured by Osaka's historic 'kitchen of the nation.'

Citizen participation

The city education board uses Naniwa traditional vegetables in school gardens and lunches; pupils taste them and learn about local ingredients, food culture and production.

Operating model

Operated as a food-education policy via the city/education board and cooperative certification and local-produce use.

Impact

Institutionally conserves urban heirlooms and applies them to hometown food education.

Crops

  • 天王寺蕪 (Tennoji turnip)
  • 田辺大根 (Tanabe daikon)
  • 毛馬胡瓜 (Kema cucumber)
  • 難波葱 (Naniwa negi)
  • 服部越瓜

Scale

Certification covers vegetables grown in Osaka for 100+ years; used as 'living teaching material' in school lunches

Sources(2)

Related cases

Schoolyard
2014

Edible Schoolyard at Aiwa Elementary, Tama

JPTama, Japan

In 2014 Aiwa Elementary in Tama became Japan's first Edible Schoolyard, modeled on Alice Waters' Berkeley program. The school garden and kitchen serve as 'living classrooms' where children learn through all five senses, from sowing to harvest, cooking and eating, as a formal subject. Pupils experience nutrient cycles, the interconnection of life and ties to their community.

Food educationOrganic cycleCompost+2

edibleschoolyard-japan.org+2

Schoolyard
2022

Edible Schoolyard at Sakamoto Elementary, Chuo

JPChuo, Tokyo, Japan

Following its work at Aiwa Elementary in Tama, Edible Schoolyard Japan extended edible education to central Tokyo, where pupils of Chuo Ward's Sakamoto Elementary School take edible lessons linked to the nearby Edible KAYABAEN rooftop garden. It brings garden-based food education, from seed to table, into an inner-city public elementary school.

Food educationOrganic cycleCommunity+1

ediblekayabaen.jp+1

Schoolyard
1997

Edo-Tokyo Vegetables in Community Gardens and Schools

JPTokyo, Japan

A long-running movement reviving Tokyo's near-lost heirloom 'Edo-Tokyo vegetables' in city schools, a horticultural high school and allotments. Over nearly 30 years more than 50 varieties have been registered, linking heritage food culture and farming to the next generation via school lunches and food education.

BiodiversityFood educationCommunity

tokyo-ja.or.jp+1

Schoolyard

Kanazawa Kaga Vegetables School Cultivation and Food Education

JPKanazawa, Japan

Kanazawa's 15 certified 'Kaga vegetables' heirlooms are grown, harvested and cooked by schoolchildren in integrated-study programs and featured in food-education booklets and lunches, transmitting the city's heritage food culture and history to the next generation.

BiodiversityFood educationCommunity

www4.city.kanazawa.lg.jp+1

Naniwa Traditional Vegetables in Osaka Schools — Urban Farm DB