【Suzuki Farms】Restaurant FoodCamp, End-of-the-Year Party!

FoodCamp first started as a monitor tour in 2016. This year we reached our 8th year, closing in on the 10th. That we made it this far is all thanks to the farmers and producers, and of course, all the guests we were able to welcome on our tours. We had guests from in- and outside of the prefecture, from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and even from abroad. Thank you all so much!

The raison d’etre for FoodCamp was always the desire to help Fukushima recover from the damage of the 2011 disaster, through food. One other such project was the Kaisei Marche farmer’s market, started by the Culinary Arts Academy of Nippon (CAAN), part of the  Japan Cooking Art Academy (Nitcho)

This year, with the last Kaisei Marche and FoodCamp coinciding, it was the perfect opportunity for the guests, producers and farmers of both project to meet and mingle, in what we called Farmer’s Table 2023 at BestTable.

Producer meets Consumer: Kaisei Marche

The day started with at Kaisei Marche, held every 4th Saturday between May and December, behind Kashiwaya Kaisei. Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather, it was booming even from the early morning. Kaisei Marche is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. In that time, the market has gained in popularity quite significantly. For consumers, it’s a great place to get to know the farmers, about their products, and the best ways to prepare them. For producers, it’s an opportunity to get direct feedback from the consumer. It leads to a great kind of synergy that sparks new ties and friendships.

　

This edition, we at Magonote Travel also occupied one of the stalls, selling flowers and mochi from the 12 towns most affected by the 2011 disaster. The most popular item was eucalyptus from the Mr and Mrs Watanabe from the town of Tomioka. They came all the way from Tomioka to join the market, to the delight of the guests who got to know them and purchased their beautiful flowers.

One of the ways to enjoy the market is to sit down on the benches in the center of the market and enjoy the food you bought right there and then. The most popular dish is a TKG (tamago-kake-gohan, raw egg on rice), with freshly steamed Asakamai-rice from Koriyama, eggs from Yamasuke Farms (Aizu), topped with soy sauce from Suzuki Shoyuten (Ten’ei). Many of the FoodCamp guests who visited the market before joining the tour said they tried it that very day!

Fun at Suzuki Farms with the FoodCamp bus tour

Next was a visit by bus to Suzuki Farms, in the middle of the winter-vegetable season. The bus left from Koriyama City Hall, and was welcomed at the farm by farmer and owner Koichi Suzuki.

During your usual edition of FoodCamp, this would be the dining location, but because of the cold winter season, we decided to organize the dinner at BestTable instead. For Suzuki Farms, this is when their veggies are at their peak. The cold wind coming from Mt. Bandai is said to make these vegetables extra delicious. The idea of ‘Restaurant FoodCamp’ came about as the result of wanting our guests to enjoy Suzuki Farms’ products at their very best.

　

All the guests were given their own vegetable crate and Suzuki gave them a tour of the farm to try all the different in-season vegetables. After trying the Fuyukanna-cabbage that Suzuki casually pulled out of the soil, the guests got to harvest their own cabbbages to bring home. Next up was daikon (Japanese large raddish) which could also be eaten raw, on-the-spot. Finally, the guests got carrots, raddish and napa cabbage to try right there, and to take home. The vegetables, made all the sweeter by the cold, were absolutely exquisite.

Suzuki kept adding more and more vegetables, meaning the guests got more souvenirs than they bargained for! That is Suzuki’s kind of hospitality, that makes him so beloved by the guests and us alike.

　

After a tour of the farm, Suzuki gave us a look and said “Should we do that, too?,” before starting to roll out a plastic sheet over the freshly plowed soil. That’s right, despite it being december, it was warm enough to do one of the biggest attractions of Suzuki Farms: Yasai no Kimochi (feeling like a vegetable). The plowed soil is very soft, and with a layer of plastic, it becomes a soft, warm bed to lay down and watch the skies. Until the sun vanished behind the mountains, it was a wonderful way to experience the sun, wind, and soil of Suzuki Farms.

The next destination was Suzuki Farms’ farm shop, where all the different veggies from Suzuki Farms were available for purchase. Even after the wealth of veggies the guests were able to harvest themselves, there was still room for more. There was another attraction on-site. The guests enjoyed roasted sweet potato (Koriyama Brand Vegetable Mengei-imo), as well as his wife’s homemade pickles, while taking a little break after the hard work of harvesting. It was a great way to relax and get to know Suzuki even better.

　

Farmer’s Table 2023: a party with the farmers

Finally, it was time to get to BestTable. The farmers and producers from Kaisei Marche, as well as collaborators of FoodCamp all got together for a big dinner party. While showing photos of the market and FoodCamp on a big screen, there was time for all the producers to introduce themselves, and share their thoughts on the experience working with Kaisei Marche and FoodCamp.

Some of the most memorable quotes were “I learned so much about my own products by talking to the guests at the market” and “Seeing how much fun the FoodCamp guests had, made me reappreciate our work and lifestyle as farmers,” which we feel is the biggest compliment we could get.

After the toast, it was time for the guests to enjoy the wonderful buffet dinner prepared by BestTable’s head chef Serizawa, featuring a wealth of veggies from Suzuki Farms.

At BestTable, the aim is to find Fukushima Prefecture’s best ingredients, visit the locations themselves, and convey the desires and efforts of the producers as purely as possible, with a local-production, local-consumption philosophy. The menu’s special is adjusted according to the old 24-season calendar, which has long been used in Japan’s agriculture.

For many of the guests it was also a way to reunite with guests they met during previous tours, and share memories. For first timers, it was a chance to get to know the regulars and producers in a relaxed, inviting atmosphere.

As a final surprise, staff member Joost prepared an original game, called Fukushima Producer Sugoroku, a dice-baseda board game on the big screen. The participants rolled a dice, and if they landed on the spot of a producer, they would get that producers special prize. The players, divided into groups, really gave it their all to collect the best prizes.

Every team managed to collect prizes to divide amongst themselves. As an extra participation prize, the players got to take home some eucalyptus flowers and mochi as well, before it was time to end the prize-packed Restaurant FoodCamp.

This Farmer’s Table 2023 event was aimed at fostering ties between Kaisei Marche, FoodCamp, BestTable, and their respective guests. We hope to continue this collaboration, and movement towards recovery through food, together.

This marks the end of this FoodCamp season.  We wholeheartedly thank all the guests who joined us.
We are looking forward to sharing many fun, interesting and delicious tours with you again next year.