食物栄養科学部 食創造科学科
本田 智巳 講師

　女性の社会進出や単身世帯の増加に伴い、食の外部化は年々進行している。国の調査によると、普段の食事において「ほとんどのものを食材から調理して食事を準備している」と回答した者の割合は、特に若い世代(20代)で低いことが明らかとなっている。

　食の外部化は調理機会の減少をもたらし、「私たちの食の選択が環境や社会に与える影響について考える機会が失われてしまう」と、本田講師は懸念する。例えば、外食により「料理が出来上がった状態」で提供される場合、食材一つ一つがどこで、どのように作られたのかについて意識が向くことは少なくなるだろう。このような状況は、現代の食生活がもたらす食品ロスや食品輸送に伴う環境への負荷といった問題に対する関心や理解を希薄にさせ、持続可能性を視野に入れた食生活を推進する上で妨げになると本田講師は指摘する。

　そこで取り組んでいるのが「持続可能な食生活について考える」をテーマとしたワークショッププログラムの開発だ。ターゲットは、高校生や大学生等の若い世代。近い将来食の自己管理が求められるようになる彼らに対して、食材が供給される背景に着目してもらい、地産地消はもちろん、食料が生産地から食卓に届くまでの環境への負荷、いわゆるフードマイレージの低下や、食料自給率の向上につなげるための「気付き」を与えるのが目的だ。

　本ワークショッププログラムのポイントは、料理の構造化とレシピ設計を通して、食の営みと社会課題とのつながりについて考える点にある。味噌汁やカレーなどの馴染み深い料理を題材として、そこに使われる食材や調理操作といった要素を因数分解しながら、食べているものの成り立ちに対する関心や食の営みと社会課題とのつながりに対する理解を深め、ワークショップの後半では学んだ知識を生かしてレシピの考案まで行うことで、どのような食材や調理方法を選択すれば「持続可能な食生活を実践できるのか」を考える。

　本ワークショップが開始されたのは2020年。これまで累計500名が受講してきた。受講生からは、「何かを食べるときでも持続可能性が関係していることが分かった」「栄養面や産地、原材料を意識するようになった」という声が上がっている。

　本田講師は語る。「大切なのは『多視点』を持つこと。『持続可能な食生活』とひとくちにいっても、経済力や調理スキルは一人ひとり違うので、実践できることも人によって異なる。『〜すべき』と押しつけるのではなく、『持続可能な食生活』を実践するための選択肢を増やすきっかけを与えたい」。直近では、農学や言語学、建築学などの専門家との共同研究に取り組んでいる。今後の目標として、「ワークショップの実践を重ねながら、ワークショップの詳細設計と受講者の生活背景を考慮した効果の検証を行い、有効性を高めていきたい」と意気込む。

Introduction of Research PR, School of Food Sciences and Nutrition, Mukogawa Women’s University

Professor
Tomomi Honda
Lecturer, Department of Innovative Food Sciences, School of Food Sciences and Nutrition
Mukogawa Women’s University
Area of Expertise: Culinary Science

Achieving sustainable food practices through structured cooking.
Holding workshops that focus on the recipe design process.

With the increase in women’s advancement into society and the rise in single-person households, reliance on external food sources has become a growing trend year by year. According to a government survey, it has become clear that the percentage of people who replied, “I prepare my meals by cooking most things from scratch” for everyday meals is particularly low, especially among those in their twenties.

The externalization of meals decreases opportunities to cook, “causing us to lose opportunities to think about how our meal choices affect the environment and society” states a concerned Ms. Honda. For example, when eating out, we are served fully prepared meals, which can make us less aware of the origins and preparation of individual ingredients. Ms. Honda points out that situations like these diminish interest and understanding for problems brought about by present-day eating habits, such as food loss and waste as well as the environmental burden associated with food transportation, and become an obstacle in promoting sustainable food practices. For this reason, Ms. Honda has developed a workshop program with “thinking about sustainable food practices” as the theme. The target is the younger generation—high school and college students—who will soon need to manage their own meal. By shedding light on the origins of food, this program aims to foster awareness among those students about sustainable food practices. This includes the importance of local consumption, reducing the environmental impact of food transportation, and increasing domestic food production.

The point of this workshop program is to think about the connection between food practices and social issues through structured cooking and recipe design. Using familiar dishes such as miso soup and curry as the subject matter, students deepen their interest in the origins of what they eat as well as their understanding of the connection between food practices and social issues by factoring out elements such as the ingredients and cooking operations. The second half of the workshop involves designing a recipe that aligns with sustainable food practices, applying the knowledge gained in the first half.

This workshop started being offered in 2020. So far, a cumulative total of 500 people have participated in these workshops. Participants have made comments such as “I now know that even when I’m eating something, sustainability is involved” and “I’m more conscious of nutritional aspects, production areas, and ingredients.”

Ms. Honda states that— “What’s important is having ‘multiple perspectives.’ Even if we simply say ‘sustainable food practices,’ the economic power and cooking skills of each person is different. So, what can be put to practice also differs for each individual. Rather than forcing what ‘should be’ done, I want to give people an opportunity to increase their options for practicing ‘sustainable food practices.’” Most recently, she has been working on joint research projects with experts in various fields including agriculture, linguistics, and architecture. As a future goal, she is committed to validating and enhancing workshop effectiveness by considering the design elements of the workshop and the participants’ lifestyles.