Shokuiku (

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

: 食育) is the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

term for " food

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

". The law defines it as the "acquisition of knowledge about food and

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient ...

, as well as the ability to make appropriate decisions through practical experience with food, with the aim of developing people's ability to live on a

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

". It was initiated by

Sagen Ishizuka was a doctor in the Imperial Japanese Army who pioneered the concepts of ''shokuiku'' (food education) and the macrobiotic diet. He was one of the first to investigate the nutritional value of whole grains as well as sea vegetables, daikon, and k ...

, a famous military doctor and pioneer of the

macrobiotic diet A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is a fad diet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed yin and yang elements of food and cookware. Major principles of macrobiotic diets are to reduce ...

. Following the introduction of Western fast food in the late 20th century, the Japanese government mandated education in nutrition and food origins, starting with the Basic Law of Shokuiku in 2005, and followed with the School Health Law in 2008. Universities have established programs to teach shokuiku in public schools, as well as investigating its effectiveness through academic study. Major concerns that led to the development of shokuiku law include schoolchildren skipping breakfast, children purchasing meals at a convenience store instead of eating with their parents, and families not eating meals together. Classes in shokuiku study the processes of making food like

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

and fermentation, how

additives Additive may refer to: Mathematics * Additive function, a function in number theory * Additive map, a function that preserves the addition operation * Additive set-functionn see Sigma additivity * Additive category, a preadditive category with fi ...

create flavor, and where food comes from.Mark Frank.
Food and Education II : The Shokuiku in English Project
. ''Bulletin of Keiwa College'' 15 (2006).

References

External links

Japanese Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
*
Explanation of Shokuiku at BentoMexico
{{Authority control Nutritional education Education in Japan