On day two of the farm tours we visit one of the early ‘teikei’ farms in Japan.

Teikei is the Japanese variation of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and it has been around since 1971, when a group of women concerned about pesticides in food joined with agricultural researchers and farmers to form the Japanese Organic Agriculture Association (JOAA).

Shinji Hashimoto is one of five farmers in a coop that started in 1975. That predates the first CSAs in the U.S by over 10 years. It is exciting and moving to experience these ‘roots’ of the CSA movement and see Shinji’s farm.

Shinji and his wife Kiko cultivate about 2 acres where they raise 40-50 varieties of vegetables and keep a flock of 400-500 chickens. The coop serves 400 households in Kobe all year (though in winter, only every other week).

We learn about the coop and distribution, wander the fields that, even in winter (albeit far more mild than ours) hold crops of onions and cabbages. A hoophouse helps keep crops available in winter.

I doubt that I will think of CSA or teikei again without picturing Shinji’s face.