SWIFT factory tour by Univ. COOP December 22, 2008

2009.5.11The 2nd Korea Japan u-agriculture Workshop

F t T bl E i t ith

Chiang Mai, Thailandp g p

Sunchon National University, Korea

Farm to Table Experiment with Information and Communication

Technology@University of Tokyo@University of Tokyo

Co-op Cafeteria

Ayumi Arakawa1 , Masaru Mizoguchi2

1 Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences2 Graduate School of Interfaculty Initiative in information Studies,

The University of Tokyo

Connecting Farm with TableConnecting Farm with Table

Monitor and the cube (Media Top) is

set at University Cafeteria to introduce

“Spinach made in Chang Mai,

Thailand.”

Cube: Media TopCube: Media Top by Fujitsu Design & GK Tech

Media Top works as a remote controller to change channels of the monitorthe monitor.

Informationfrom Field Server

Real time information from Field Server in spinach field in Chiang Mai is provided as one of Media Top contents.

Media Top Contents

Introduction 1Issues and incidents

toward food having o a d ood a ghappened, concern for safety of imported food and is increasing. Foodand is increasing. Food we eat is produced in the field, transported, processed cookedprocessed, cooked … and put on our table.

Although, general public g , g pdon’t know about where and how food they eat is treated This fact istreated. This fact is making people more anxious about food safetysafety.

Introduction 2For this reason,

research on food esea c o oodtraceability system to monitor production, processing andprocessing and transportation process using IT has started. However it is stillHowever, it is still difficult to monitor all the procedure.

Th fTherefore, Mizo-Lab is developing “Field information monitoring gsystem” to connect the starting and ending points of the food as firstpoints of the food as first step.

土 ： Soil 1

We thank for Spinach, blessings from mountain come across the sea.

Spinach served at cafeteria is grown in gChang Mai, Thailand. After their harvest, they

d dare processed and frozen at SWIFT pack-house before they arehouse, before they are shipped to Japan.

土 : Soil 2Thailand is a country with

population of 63 million, area of 514 000 k㎡area of 514,000 k㎡(1.4 times bigger than that of Japan), and is located in middle part of the Indo-China Peninsula and northern part of the Malaynorthern part of the Malay Peninsula. GDP per capita is $37,200, which is one i th f th t i Jninth of that in Japan.

Chiang Mai, where i h i i l t dspinach is grown, is located

in the mountain area in north of Thailand, close to ,the border with Myanmar.

育 : Grow 1Spinach is grown in the

field certified by GLOBAL GAP with reduced agro-GAP, with reduced agro-chemicals and organic farming

I d tIn order to sure safe food to the consumers and to conserve ofto conserve of environment, spinach is grown with reduced agro-chemicals and organicchemicals and organic farming. In addition, it is certified by EUREP GAP. GAP is an abbreviation forGAP is an abbreviation for Good Agricultural Practice, and it is a license that proves overall safety ofproves overall safety of agricultural products.

育 : Grow 2Spinach field is watched by

Field Server which enables us to see real time information!

育

see real-time information!

Field Server is an InternetField Server is an Internet Field Observation Robot placed in the field for certain period of time tocertain period of time to monitor various environmental factors and field condition It consists offield condition. It consists of a set of multiple sensors, a web server, an Internet Protocol (IP) camera andProtocol (IP) camera, and so on. This is used not only in spinach field in Thailand, but also in various placesbut also in various places all over the world.

人 : People 1Spinach is grown by minor

tribes called “chao-kao”. They live in deep in theThey live in deep in the mountains in the northern part of Thailand.

There are 10 minor tribes living in the northern part of Thailand Each of themof Thailand. Each of them has their own culture and language. Most of them make living by agriculturemake living by agriculture.Most of their origin is in Yúnnán Shěng, China, and they have moved tothey have moved to Thailand through Thailand-Myanmar border during the middle of thethe middle of the nineteenth century.

人 : People 2

By that time, English Government ruling

p

Government ruling Myanmar that time and Thai Government had reached an agreement onreached an agreement on border. As a result, they have been in politically and economicall erand economically very weak position. Growing spinach, for those minor t ib i i t ttribes, is very important way to earn money and to make their living.

献 : ContributionUniversity CO-OP

donates a part of theirdonates a part of their profit from spinach to children of spinach ffarmers.

Due to economical reasons, there are many children who can not go to school in minor tribeto school in minor tribe communities that grow spinach. University CO-OP donates a part ofOP donates a part of their profit from spinach to children in minor tribes.

絆 : InteractEvery year in December,

University Co-op organizes

絆

U e s y Co op o ga esa tour to visit northern part of Thailand.

I never i i d th t I ldI never imagined that I would be able to eat fresh spinach in Thailand. I will never forget the taste. Through talking with farmers and getting to know that money g g ywe pay goes to farmers in Thailand, I realized that what we eat is actually yconnected to the world. (Kohei Sano, Faculty of Agriculture, participated inAgriculture, participated in Thailand Tour in 2007)

食 : Health 1

We interviewed Dr. Oh hi h d

食

Ohashi, who grows and analyzes spinach.

I hI research on the improvement of vegetable quality including plantquality including plant growth and internal quality by controlling light.by controlling light.

Recently, cultivation using artificial lighting inusing artificial lighting in an environmentally controlled room is Dr. Keiko Ohashi-Kaneko

increasing. Bio-Environment Engineering Laboratory

Department of Biological &Environmental Engineering

食 : Health 2

On plant breeding i lik th

食

in spaces like those, elements of exposing light, that is light strength lightthat is, light strength, light quality, and exposed time and timing effect plant growth and nutrients. By analyzing this mechanism biochemically I hope tobiochemically, I hope to contribute to this kind of new possibility of plantnew possibility of plant breeding.

Dr. Keiko Ohashi-KanekoBio-Environment Engineering Laboratory

Department of Biological &Environmental Engineering

食 : Health 3Vitamin C: It has

antioxidant properties and

食 : Health 3

a o da p ope es a dgenerates and preserves collagen. It is good not only for protection against colds,for protection against colds, but also prevention and improvement of chalk mark and mottlesand mottles.

βcarotene: It promotes vitamin A in the body. yVitamin A is good for normalization of sights, has antioxidant properties, anti p p ,carcinogenesis action and many other physiological actions.actions.

食 : Health 3Lutein: We have found

out through analysis that

食 : Health 3

out through analysis, that Lutein content of spinach is more than βcarotene. It i d f ti dis good for prevention and improvement of cataract, other eye troubles causedother eye troubles caused by aging and eyestrain.

Folic Acid: Lack of folic o c c d ac o o cacid causes anemia megaloblastic. Because women are more likely towomen are more likely to develop anemia, they are suggested to ingest it.gg g

食 : Health 4

Iron: Spinach contains

食 : Health 4

Iron: Spinach contains much iron among other vegetables. Iron exists invegetables. Iron exists in blood red cell as component of hemoglobin. This is also good for prevention of anemia.

Let’s eat spinach and stay healthy!y y

Results fromFi t d S d SFirst and Second Survey

Recognition thatecog o a“Spinach is from Thailand”.

Thailand5% Thailand

Don't know

28%

95%

72%

First Survey (Nov.5, 2008) Second Survey (Dec.8-11, 2008)

Findings ⅠFindings Ⅰ

O l 7 6% (Fi t) d 8 7% (S d) d th t th• Only 7.6% (First) and 8.7% (Second) answered that they are interested in the information about “Producers of the agricultural products”. In the other hand, Media Top g p , pcontent about producers is the most popular (80.5% of all Media Top user), and recognition about “university coop is donating part of the profit from spinach tocoop is donating part of the profit from spinach to producers’ community” is higher among other information.

→Users of cafeteria are subconsciously interested in who d th i f dproduces their food

→Users of cafeteria recognize that donation to producers in Thailand as added valuein Thailand as added value

Findings ⅡFindings Ⅱ

• The recognition of the source of spinach is NOT relevant to “Interest in Food safety yand security”.

→This kind of interactive tool is effective to let people who are not originally interested know about the food.know about the food.

Challenge 1Challenge-1

• The time and efforts to make contents about spinach is too big. Although there p g gare requests for changing contents showing in the monitorshowing in the monitor.

→The system should be connected to internet and automatically get data frominternet and automatically get data from Field Server

Challenge 2Challenge-2

Wh h ld thi b l t d?• Where should this be located?

→Younger generation in Komaba campus

i ht b i t t d i thi ki d f t lmight be more interested in this kind of tool.

เช่ือมระหวา่งแปลงและโตะ๊กบัขา้วเชอมระหวางแปลงและโตะกบขาว

์ ( ื่ )จอภาพและลูกบาศก ์ (สือ) ไดติ้ดตั้งท่ีโรงอาหาร่ ่เพื่อแนะนาํ ป๋วยเลง้ท่ีผลิตจากเชียงใหม่

Thank you for your !attention!

This experiment is organized by;Mizo Lab, University of Tokyo;

Tokyo Business Association of University Co-operatives;University of Tokyo Co-operative;

Swift Co. Ltd; Fujitsu Design; GK Tech; elab experience andH d L b A i I tit t f T h lHonda Lab, Asian Institute of Technology

Contact: F2TE@iai.ga.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp