SUSTAINABILITY OF BEAN SPROUT, CABBAGE, ONION AND WHEAT

In order for farming, harvesting and producing to be sustainable, many methods need to be taken into consideration. If the soil happens to be damaged, no more crops can be grown on that soil, which will eventually will lead to the high financial loss. In addition, a soil area left unusable may even affect other soil areas such as pest migrating into the neighbouring area, which cause more financial problem in the community.

 

First of all, in the same crop all plants should be planted either together in the same season or planted differently in each growing season. This would reduce monoculture, the planting of only one plant in the same crop. Monoculture could lead to the lack of genetic diversity of the crop, which eventually make the other plants lack of their essential nutrients for growth. Monoculture also makes the soil of the crop more easily susceptible to soil erosion, which could end up in the water sources and thus contaminate it. In addition to that, monoculture could easily lead to the crop being susceptible to pest and diseases. In this case, cabbage is grown in cool weather, which is autumn while onion can be grown in both cool and cold weather, so it is best to grow both the crops in the same time.

 

The second method is to reduce the use of machinery for harvesting because this could easily damage the soil. In addition, the fossil fuel used in machinery is released into the air, causing air pollution. Another reason for not using machinery is because purchasing machinery can be financially difficult for some people.

 

The third method is to reduce the use of pesticide and all chemical methods. Constant use of pesticide can lead to the birth of a new pesticide-resistant pests as well as the degrade of the crops and soil  in terms of quality and food safety. A person could become seriously ill if he or she eats a food made of crop that includes heavy pesticide. Methods of non-chemical farming is organic farming: using of crop rotation, replacing nutrients in the soil, using crop-friendly insects and birds to reduce pests, manually removing grass.

 

The fourth method is to use drip irrigation. Over-irrigated soil needs to undergo salinization in which soil undergoes water-logged and there will be a layer of salt on the soil after it has been dried out, leading to land degradation. In drip irrigation, each crop receives the necessary amount of water, which is delivered directly to the roots of the crop.

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The ingredients we are using are local, which means they were never transported from a distant place. This prevents food mile, which is energy generated from transportation of foods, which contributes to global warming.

Most of the Japanese crops need to be certified as organic before being distributed to consumers. This means the food today contained no or low pesticides level, which means that it is not only sustainable for the crop but also the soil and surrounding water. 

We are also making vegetarian okonomiyaki, which not only is suitable for vegetarian but also reduces the consumption of pork in order to prevent CO2 submission. However, should pork be consumed, then to make pork sustainable, several pig farming methods should be taken into consideration. As pig’s manure contains methane and nitrous oxide, which are both greenhouse gases, farmers should consider installing fan filters to stop odor and dust. In addition, the community in which many farms dwell should also plant windbreaks such as trees and shrub around the pigs and their manure storing area to prevent wind from traveling with the wind.