Fukushima farmers struggle to build trust

THE pumpkin is diced, the chicken carved and the eggs beaten into an omelet, but the people preparing the food are not chefs — they are scientists testing produce from Japan’s Fukushima region.

Seven years after the March 2011 nuclear disaster caused by a devastating tsunami, rigorous testing shows no radioactive threat from Fukushima’s produce, officials and experts say.

But local producers say they still face crippling suspicion from consumers.

More than 205,000 food items have been tested at the Fukushima Agricultural Technology Centre since March 2011, with Japan setting a standard of no more than 100 becquerels of radioactivity per kilogram (Bq/kg).

The European Union, by comparison, sets that level at 1,250 Bq/kg and the US at 1,200.

In the last year, the center says no cultivated produce or farmreared livestock has exceeded the government’s limit.

In all just nine samples out of tens of thousands were over the limit: eight from fish bred in inland ponds, and one a sample of wild mushrooms.

Each day, more than 150 samples are prepared, coded, weighed, and then passed through a “germanium semiconductor detector.” Rice undergoes screening elsewhere.

While radiation affected several regions which have their own testing processes, Fukushima’s program is the most systematic.

In the wake of the nuclear disaster, a wide-scale decontamination program has been carried out in Fukushima, but the testing process is the cornerstone of efforts to win consumer trust.

“Some people are still worried, in Japan and abroad, so we want to continue to explain to people in other prefectures and in foreign countries that our products are safe,” said Kenji Kusano, an official at the testing center.

Kusano said testing will remain important as residents gradually return.

“When residents come back to areas that are off-limits at the moment and start producing their own fruit and vegetables, they must be tested,” he said.

The Fukushima disaster devastated a previously flourishing local agricultural sector.

“Profits have not yet reached pre-2011 levels and prices remain below the national average,” said Fukushima representative Nobuhide Takahashi.

The situation is worse for fisherman. The tsunami destroyed ports across the region and demand is low despite an even stricter standard of 50Bq/ kg for Fukushima’s seafood.

As a result, fishermen brought in just 3,200 tons of seafood in the area last year, down from 24,700 in 2010.

At the international level, there has been some progress: 27 countries of the 54 that imposed restrictions on food from Fukushima after 2011 have now lifted those bans.

And another 23 markets, including the US and European Union, have relaxed restrictions, though some neighbors including China and South Korea have kept bans in place.

The perception problem persists domestically too, with surveys showing some Japanese consumers still avoid Fukushima produce.

Katsumi Shozugawa, a professor in University of Tokyo, said government testing was appropriate, but attempts to convince consumers remained “poor.”