Future Prescriptions from Urban Farms: How 'Food is Medicine' is Changing Daily Life
Hello. This is Matsumoto from Square Roots Japan.
Our theme this time is health.
As Japan faces a super-aging society, our perception of health is changing. Medical costs are rising, there is a shortage of caregivers, and securing a stable supply of raw materials for medicine is becoming increasingly difficult.
While life expectancy is increasing, the burden of nursing care and medical treatment weighs heavily on both individuals and their families. That is why the real question today is not 'how long we live,' but
'how healthily we can live'. How we extend our healthy life expectancy is not just an individual issue, but a challenge for society as a whole. At the same time,
how we create health
is also beginning to change. Knowing your body's condition through data and choosing the nutrition you need right now for yourself—such an environment is becoming a reality through technology.
So, how can we deliver that 'necessary nutrition' as part of our daily meals without difficulty? We are trying to answer that question from the production site.
1. Reclaiming Lost Nutrition in Daily Life
What we are aiming for is not to increase new health habits. It is to bring
'original nutrition' that has been naturally nurtured in local lives back into our daily routines once again.
Okinawa, once known for its longevity, has now fallen to 45th place for men and 46th for women (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare 'Abridged Life Tables for Prefectures').
What supported health in Okinawa was not a special diet, but the continuation of a food culture rooted in the land. However, due to
changes in dietary habits and unequal access to food ingredients (food deserts), the necessary nutrition has gradually drifted away from daily life.
That is why we decided to reconnect that way of eating in a form that fits modern life.
On the SQR platform, we precisely reproduce the climate and environment of Okinawa and develop cultivation recipes for crops such as mizuna and fuchiba (mugwort). By reproducing the environment, we draw out the inherent power of the crops once again.
We are naturally integrating the rich nutrition of the past into modern life.
2. Designing Nutrition and Delivering it to Daily Life
In our busy modern lives, it is inevitable that we tend to lack vegetables. That is why we want to increase the amount of nutrition that can be chosen naturally without effort.
The strength of SQR lies in our ability to finely tune the cultivation environment and control specific nutritional components. This is how we grow SQR functional vegetables.
Data obtained in cooperation with the USDA has confirmed cases where the content of 'glucosinolates', which are attracting attention in research on reducing cancer risk, is more than double that of common vegetables of the same type in some items.
Data is not meant to determine a conclusion. It is a guide to help increase better options.
Increasing the intake of nutrients that can be chosen effortlessly in daily life, tailored to one's lifestyle and physical condition.
That is how we envision creating health.
3. Medicine and Food are No Longer Separate
As perspectives on treatment and care are integrated into meals, the food itself becomes a part of that care.The boundary between medicine and food has already begun to dissolve.
In the U.S., SQR is partnering with the Story Point Group, which operates care facilities for the elderly, todevelop menus that infuse medical perspectives into everyday deliciousness.
Kale finished to be easy to chew with a softened bitterness.
Sorrel desserts that stimulate the appetite with their color and acidity.
Thesefunction as part of care programs that support dementia prevention and physical function.
And it is not just nutrition that is essential for health.
A sense of security and a sense of purposeare equally important.
There is an SQR farm near the facility, and residents can see for themselves how the vegetables are grown.
Knowing 'who grew it, where, and how'.
That transparency leads to trust in food.
4. Making 'Delicious' and 'Healthy' Part of Daily Infrastructure
Japan has a food culture that has naturally balanced 'delicious' and 'healthy' in daily life.
While cherishing that sensibility, we want to implement preventive options into society that can be continued effortlessly, starting from the daily gateway of food.
Restore original nutrition, starting from how it is grown.
Use data as a guide to further refine it.
Make it a form that can be naturally chosen as part of daily meals.
Making 'necessary nutrition' an option that can be continued as part of daily meals rather than something special.
That is what we consider 'Food Is Medicine'.
Turning daily 'deliciousness' intoa prescription for your future self.We are steadily building the mechanisms to achieve this.
[Next Issue Preview]
The next 'SQUARE ROOTS magazine' is scheduled to be updated on Friday, February 27th.
The theme is 'Artisan Skills' that SQRJ wants to connect to the future.
We will visit Kumehara Farm, the producer of the 'Amarin' strawberry, which is attracting attention in Saitama, and get up close to the passion and craftsmanship poured into a single exquisite berry. Please look forward to it.
■ Recruitment Information
We are looking for members to create the future of agriculture together.
At 'Agri Tech Lab Tokyo,' which will be born in the heart of Tokyo, we are sincerely waiting for applications from those who have the ambition to create a new standard for food and technology together.