Co-op members and their families have several opportunities each year to take part in the various phases of rice cultivation, from planting seedlings in spring to harvesting in fall.

On May 7 2016, Co-op Mie in cooperation with JA Tsuage held a “rice-transplanting” exchange meeting with the participation of 90 people consisting of 26 families, producers and staff of the co-op.

This exchange meeting is an initiative to promote food education through rice planting while valuing the connection with producers.

After listening to instructions regarding planting of the seedlings from JA staff, the participants worked side by side with them planting the seedlings of “Koshihikari” (brand name of Japanese rice) with great care.

In addition, along with the rice planting “bucket rice cultivation” was also done and each participating family took home a bucket of seedlings to observe the growth at home. The rice will be harvested in September.

After the planting, participants joined the farming community for a fresh-cooked rice balls of Koshihikari. 

Since it was the first experience of rice planting by the children, there was a feeling of excitement among them.