Food Bank Kyoto

Food Bank Kyoto was established in 2015 in Kyoto Prefecture by local resident, Ms. Yumi Takabatake. She feels that the Food Bank is an organization that is not known well enough by Kyoto residents. However, providing food for people in need should never be something so special and rare. Instead, everyone should be able to easily participate in helping or getting help when they need it. She is willing to take a small step forward, aiming for a future when getting food to those in need is expressed naturally in society. Food Bank Kyoto is a non-profit organization that is small, but growing. It is run entirely by volunteers. Food Bank Kyoto started with only four people, but now has about 30 volunteer members. It regularly collects donated food from food manufacturers, farmers, and retail stores like supermarkets and convenience stores. Staff members sort the donated food by category and then distribute it to organizations for single mothers and children, orphanages, children’s cafeterias, and other such organizations in Kyoto City, Uji City, Kameoka City, and Muko City. In addition, Food Bank Kyoto cooperates with city and ward offices to provide emergency assistance to individuals as needed. In this way, Food Bank Kyoto helps people suffering from poverty and hunger, contributes to reducing food waste in cooperation with companies and organizations, and provides volunteer opportunities to people of various ages.

Food Bank Kyoto is one of many such food bank organizations across Japan and even around the world. Originally, the food banks were in demand for single-mother families. There is a large gender pay gap in Japan, and poverty has been a particularly serious problem especially among single-mother families. At the same time, food loss is also a problem in Japan. Japan is a country known for its services and convenience. In convenience stores and supermarkets, a variety of bento boxes, rice balls, and other fresh foods are sold around the clock. To keep the food products on the shelves looking beautiful, stores will often throw away perfectly edible fruits and vegetables that don’t fit strict product standards or foods that are too close to their expiration date.

Under the slogan “Change wasteful to grateful,” Food Bank Kyoto is effectively addressing both problems. Due to the effects of the pandemic, the number of impoverished or unemployed people has increased. Furthermore, the number of people in need of food is expected to increase even more as food prices are currently rising in Japan. In response, Food Bank Kyoto moved its warehouse in July of 2022 and continues its activities to deliver food to more and more people. In 2021, it provided a total of 16,708 kg of food to 1,086 people through 443 deliveries.

There is an activity in Food Bank Kyoto called “Food Drive,” which receives food supplies from households that can be shared and distributed to others with a nonprofit purpose. Food Drives get support from various organizations in Kyoto such as schools, workplaces, festival events, and sport parks. In the future, Food Bank Kyoto aims to cooperate and connect with more supporters to make the community move forward. The food supplies that Food Bank Kyoto regularly receives from donors include rice, snacks, drinks, instant noodles, canned food, preserved foodstuffs, instant foods, beverages, seasoning products, etc. It is necessary that the food received from donors can be stored at a normal temperature so that supplies can be kept at a long time. The Food Drive process is clear and straightforward. Starting by collecting food from households, food companies, retailers, family, farmers, temples and shrines, Food Bank Kyoto then manages, sorts, and stocks the supplies. Afterwards, Food Bank Kyoto will cooperate with three sectors which are administrative organizations, The Council of Social Welfare, and various social service organizations to support the community.

Interview

Interviewees
Ms. Kuniko Tashiro (Assortment Journalizing of Food Bank Kyoto)

Q: How long have you worked at or been associated with Food Bank Kyoto?

Ms. Tashiro: I have been associated with Food Bank Kyoto for about 4 years.

Q: What is your main job/role at Kyoto Food Bank?

Ms. Tashiro: At Food Bank Kyoto, I am mainly involved in sorting and managing the various donated foodstuffs according to expiration date and type. I share and divide up the work with other staff members two to four times per month, and I work together with 15 staff members during busy periods.

Interview with Ms. Kuniko Tashiro

Q: What are some of your duties or activities at Kyoto Food Bank on a daily/weekly basis?

Ms. Tashiro: In addition to our regular support to organizations, we usually get calls from the local government 2~3 times per week and cope with emergency support to individuals. Since the pandemic, the number of unemployed and mentally ill people itself has increased. As a result, local governments have begun setting up consultation services for these individuals. These are people who had been in need for a long time but did not know where to turn for help. They began to visit local governments, who in turn became aware of hidden poverty. As a result, the rate of assistance to individuals has increased by a factor of 2.5.

Q: Can you tell us about the situation of lack of food for some people in Kyoto?

Ms. Tashiro: Actually, it is difficult to figure out how many people seek help. In 2021, we conducted food delivery to 1,086 people in Kyoto. We did our best to support as many people as possible. However, we suspect there is more hidden poverty since it is difficult for us and the local government to notice it without some kind of approach from the people themselves. It is also difficult to determine the amount of support really needed, as the cause of each case is different. The reasons why a person ends up in a tough situation vary. Since there is a limit to the amount of food we can provide, we have to figure out what the real problem is. It might be due to poverty related to another reason such as dependence, mental illness, dementia, or unemployment. Determining what kind of administrative help is needed for them with the local government staff, we focus on solving radical causes, too. Once the type and content of government assistance has been determined to some extent, we finally start working to determine and deliver the amount of food required in each case.

Food Bank Kyoto receiving food supplies from Costco, Japan

Q: What part do you think Food Bank Kyoto plays in the life of the local community and in the lives of its citizens?

Ms. Tashiro: We are mainly working to help facilities for single mother families and volunteer cafeterias for children. We are delivering not only a large amount of food, but also a lot of people’s hearts who desire to combat this problem through our food drives. Therefore, I believe that the Food Bank Kyoto is contributing to the community by playing a behind-the-scenes role in creating a society where people in various situations can live together in harmony.

Q: In what ways do you think you and/or Food Bank Kyoto can play a larger role in the local community in the future?

Ms. Tashiro: As the number of people in need of support increases, we are looking to expand the scale of our activities. Food Bank Kyoto started out as a small office. Thanks to the increase in food donations, we moved to a slightly larger office near Katsura station this past July (of 2022). However, we still do not have enough space or number of volunteers. We hope to gradually enlarge the scale of our operations to meet the increasing needs, so that we can deliver a larger quantity and variety of food to more people. Ultimately, our goal is to create a society where poverty and hunger are eliminated and we do not have to provide assistance. However, we feel that this is still a long way off. Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, we hope to reach and support the hidden poor households for now.

Q: How can we (as individuals) help people who are suffering from lack of food in Kyoto?

Ms. Tashiro: We can help them by first knowing the situation of hunger in our community. As a student you can use your voice to spread information to other students. Taking one step to engage the community is not difficult as you imagine. Let’s start taking action from little things that you can do, for example, donating your food. We accept food donations from even one package of juice or snack. We are especially grateful for donations of canned tuna and canned meat. Foods which have a long expiration date and contain high-protein are ideal for improving the nutritional intake of the recipient. Your small actions can help people’s lives.

Q: How do you deliver food to poor people?

Ms. Tashiro: We deliver food mainly by personal car. For distant areas, we deliver by mail. Since each recipient has a different family structure, cooking facilities and cooking abilities, we are trying to pack the food to suit their environment. For vegetables which are usually difficult to store and deliver, we also provide handmade products from our farm. Various vegetables such as asparagus, carrots, tomatoes, eggplants, pumpkins, and peppers are grown in a pesticide-free method.

Q: Are there any partner organizations or government agencies that work together with Food Bank Kyoto?

Ms. Tashiro: When there is a large volume of supplies, we partner with a transportation company to provide support. For example, when an elementary school was closed due to the coronavirus, we asked them to transport a large amount of school lunch materials such as meat and vegetables to the facility in need.
It was totally impossible to transport two tons of vegetables by private vehicle alone, so the cooperation of the transportation company was a great help.

Q: Are there any foriegn students working as volunteers in the Food Bank Kyoto?

Ms. Tashiro: There are foreign students from Indonisia, Canada, and Vietnam who are from Ritsumeikan University. There are circles in Ritsumeikan University related to food waste which are facilitated by Ms.Julia, a university professor. Most students know about our organization by participating in such circles.

Reflections

In sum, poverty and hunger actually do exist in a city like Kyoto – which most people think of as being a rich city – and Food Bank Kyoto is working to solve this problem in various ways. Through the interview, we learned that it is difficult to accurately determine how many people are in need of assistance even for food banks, which are working on the front lines against poverty. Due to the effects of the pandemic and rising living expenses, the number of suffering people is rapidly increasing, so it is necessary to efficiently distribute the limited amount of donated food to as many people as possible. Therefore, we learned that it is crucial not just to keep supplying food, but also to work with local governments to find and improve the fundamental causes of why people are in need.

We also realized that it was much easier to start participating in the activities than we had expected. Many people probably have an image that donating food would require a large quantity, but it is possible to donate even a small amount such as one package of snacks. Not only donating food, but joining as a volunteer are also welcomed. Actually, many university students and foreign students are active as volunteers. Sorting and organizing donated food needs more hands. We participated as a sorting team, and it was a great experience for us to see and learn what kind of food was being donated, how much, and how it was being donated.

Researching the problems occurring in your community is a good starting point for thinking about what community engagement activities you can do. But the important point is to actually take action to begin solving those problems and making your community a better place. We hope this report will help you learn more about issues in the local community of Kyoto and inspire you to get involved.

Researchers

Hello everyone! My name is Thanavut Prateep Na Thalang. I am a foreign student from Thailand who is studying at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. It has been 5 years since I came to Japan. I came to Japan when I was 15 years old. I was born and raised in Bangkok for 15 years and then I decided to come to study in Japan because I love Japanese culture, tradition, and lifestyle. I came to Japan when I was in high school until now. My hobby is taking photos. I love taking pictures very much because I want to keep every moment as a memory. Thank you very much for inviting me to this wonderful project!

Hello everyone! I am Haruka Miki. I was born and raised in Hyogo Prefecture and started living alone in Kyoto when I became a university student. I have many hobbies because I like to try new things and gain new knowledge. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, baking, drawing, walking, reading, and taking pictures. I recently started a Bullet Journal and have become interested in hand lettering. Since I spend more time at home, I enjoy looking up and trying foreign food recipes on YouTube and feel like I am traveling the world.