Kagome, National Association of Agricultural Cooperative Tourism, and ABC Cooking Studio Jointly Organize 'Kids Love Vegetables! Parent-Child Food Education Experience Tour.' Touch the soil, harvest vegetables, and make pizza on the spot!

Kagome Co., Ltd. (President and Representative Director: Harunobu Okutani, Headquarters: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, hereinafter Kagome), the National Association of Agricultural Cooperative Tourism (hereinafter, National Association of Agricultural Cooperative Tourism), and ABC Cooking Studio Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, ABC) jointly planned a food education experience tour that allows participants to experience everything from farm work to cooking, with the desire for people to love vegetables and cooking more. On Saturday, April 25th, the 'Vegetable Harvesting & Pizza Making Experience Tour' was held at 'Hachioji Momo Experience Farm,' operated by Hatakai General Incorporated Association (*) in Hachioji City, Tokyo, with 13 families (37 parents and children) participating.

* Hatakai General Incorporated Association Official Website: https://hatakai.com/

ABC participates in the 'Vegetable Intake Promotion Project' launched by Kagome in 2020. This project was planned as part of vegetable intake promotion activities, based on Kagome's research results (*) that experiences involving vegetable cultivation and harvesting in childhood lead to fostering a 'love for vegetables' in the future. Moving forward, we will continue to raise momentum for 'Let's Eat Vegetables' by providing opportunities to interact with vegetables, aiming to improve the societal issue of 'vegetable deficiency.' *From 'Kagome Vegetable Fixed-Point Survey 2022'

The National Association of Agricultural Cooperative Tourism, throughout the year, collaborates with JAs and producers in various regions to promote interaction between urban and rural areas. Through nature and agricultural experiences, they provide opportunities to re-recognize 'spiritual richness' and 'important human values' that tend to be forgotten in modern society, such as gratitude for nature's blessings and agricultural products, the importance of direct communication between people, and the joy of tilling the land with sweat.

1. Event Overview
On the day of the event, adults and children alike experienced the charm of vegetables in a rich natural environment. After experiencing harvesting vegetables grown in the fields managed by Hatakai, they also challenged themselves to make original pizzas using the freshly harvested fresh vegetables.
Furthermore, to help them feel closer to vegetables even after returning home, they received harvested vegetables and Kagome tomato seedlings as souvenirs. The content was designed to allow families to feel the 'joy of growing and eating vegetables' even after the experience.

2. Number of Participants
13 families with children (total 37 people)

3. Main Event Report
1) Vegetable Harvesting Experience
For the 18 children and their families, a total of 37 participants, the operators of Hatakai supported the harvesting. They harvested six types of vegetables: spinach, komatsuna, garland chrysanthemum, radish, mixed greens, and arugula.

2) Freshly Harvested Vegetable Topping Pizza Making Experience
Participants cut the freshly harvested vegetables as they were, topped them with cheese and bacon, and challenged themselves to make pizzas. Kagome's 'Gudakusan Pizza Sauce' was used for the pizza sauce. They enjoyed the freshly baked vegetable pizza along with Kagome's vegetable drink 'Kagome Yasai Seikatsu 100 Original' in nature. Children who participated were heard saying, 'Do you have more vegetables? I want seconds!' and were seen happily munching on vegetables. Parents also looked happy seeing their children enjoying vegetables.

Scenes from the pizza making experience

3) Mini-Lecture on Vegetables
A mini-lecture was held to teach the importance of vegetable intake through vegetable quizzes such as 'How much is the daily target vegetable intake?' Adults and children alike enjoyed the quizzes, which sparked conversations between parents and children and provided an opportunity to become interested in vegetables. Participants commented, 'I learned something new!'

Scenes from the vegetable quiz

4) Vegicheck® Experience
Participants experienced 'Vegicheck®,' a device that estimates vegetable intake by simply placing a palm over a sensor, providing an opportunity to review their own vegetable intake.

5) Ranch Tour at Isonuma Milk Farm near the field
On the day, in addition to interacting with vegetables, as part of the food education experience, a ranch tour was also conducted at Isonuma Milk Farm near the field. They went to the cowshed, touched cows, and watched them eat up close, providing a refreshing time for both mind and body through interaction with nature and animals that they usually don't get to experience.

[Reference] Vegetable Intake Promotion Project
National surveys show that many people living in Japan have not achieved the target vegetable intake of 350g/day *1 for the past 10 years *2. To achieve this major goal, Kagome has been working daily since 2020 with the slogan 'Let's Eat Vegetables' to change individuals' 'awareness and behavior regarding vegetable intake.' We will continue to propose positive and enjoyable ways to consume vegetables, not limited to traditional methods, to as many people as possible.

URL: Kagome | Let's Eat Vegetables