食べ物は人間にとって、まさに「いのちの糧」。農業は「いのちの産業」と小林芳正氏（農協職員）は唱え、昭和55年（1980年）熱塩加納村で有機農業が始まった。まもなく、地元の有機野菜と米で、子供たちを育てたいという住民と赴任してきた栄養士、そして小林芳正氏の働きで「まごころ野菜」の学校給食が生まれた。その取り組みは「熱塩加納方式」の学校給食として話題になり全国から取材や視察が殺到した。しかし少子高齢化の波はここ「有機の里」にも及び中学校は閉校し、二つの小学校は一つになった。「限界集落」を危惧するなか、学校給食の存続も危ぶまれる。 地産地消率ほぼ100%の学校給食と村の自然環境を意識した暮らしに有機農業の原点をみる。
Food is truly the 'staff of life' for humans. Agriculture is the 'industry of life,' as proclaimed by Mr. Yoshimasa Kobayashi (a agricultural cooperative employee). In 1980, organic agriculture began in Atsushio Kano Village. Soon, through the efforts of residents who wanted to raise their children on local organic vegetables and rice, a newly assigned nutritionist, and Mr. Kobayashi, school lunches using 'Magokoro Vegetables' (heartfelt vegetables) were born. This initiative, known as the 'Atsushio Kano Method' of school lunches, became a topic of discussion, drawing a flood of media coverage and study visits from across the country. However, the wave of declining birthrates and an aging population reached this 'Organic Village,' leading to the closure of the junior high school and the merger of two elementary schools. Amid concerns about becoming a 'marginal settlement,' the very continuation of the school lunch program is threatened. This film explores the origins of organic agriculture through school lunches with a nearly 100% local consumption rate and a lifestyle attuned to the village's natural environment.
Source: cinematokyo.com · Tokyo mini-theater & independent cinema showtimes.