Visiting organic farms: Saku City and Karuizawa Town, Nagano Prefecture
In August of this year, members of GRØN visited Saku City and Karusawa Town in Nagano Prefecture in search of new materials.
The first place we visited was Maru Cafe , a cafe restaurant run by an old friend that uses local ingredients.
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Saku City is located in the southeast of Nagano Prefecture.
This is an area that has been actively cultivating pesticide-free vegetables for a long time.
Many vegetables from Saku are used in Tokyo restaurants that promote farm to table and organic cuisine.
Chojahara, located in the Mochizuki district of Saku City, has been cultivating crops without pesticides since before the word "organic" even existed. Kasuga is famous for its vegetables grown using pure water produced by the clear air and abundant nature of the area.
There are many regions where delicious vegetables can be grown, but this time Maru Cafe's owner, Rei, took us to Karuizawa Salad Farm in Karuizawa.
Karuizawa Salad Farm is located at the top of a mountain at an altitude of 1,000m, one of the highest points in Karuizawa.
The owner, Mr. Yoda, grows vegetables without pesticides in an environment with extreme temperature differences that is hardly suitable for growing vegetables.
The system for purchasing vegetables is based on trust.
The system is that the chefs go directly into the fields, harvest the amount of vegetables they need, and put the money for it into a basket in the shed.
This place, frequented by top chefs, embodies an ideal society where business is based on trust.
The vegetables here are vibrant in colour and have a rich, delicious flavour.
I was able to once again realize that the harsher the growing environment, the more the vegetables develop color to protect themselves, and in the process, their flavor increases.
We also met again at this venue with Chef Tetsuo Ota , who is also known as an Amazonian chef.
I would like to talk again about how I met him and the Amazon cacao that he is working on.
Photos by Moeko Sawada
