The Globe and Mail
When Takashi Takemoto goes shopping for groceries, he looks for two things: freshness, and proof that the produce came from nowhere near Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Like many Japanese, Mr. Takemoto says he can't trust government assurances that the produce from the region around Fukushima Daiichi is safe. So he boycotts rice and vegetables grown in Fukushima prefecture and the surrounding provinces. He avoids all Japanese meat and seafood, concerned that even livestock from elsewhere in Japan might have been fed contaminated grains. Fish, too, in case they were pulled from waters too close to the crippled nuclear reactors.
"We rely now on Moroccan octopus and Chilean salmon," the 60-year-old business consultant says, chuckling. "It's not too expensive, and it's good enough."
The Fukushima fallout has now spread well beyond what can be measured with a Geiger counter. In the minds of many consumers, Fukushima prefecture – which, at almost 14,000 square kilometres is bigger than Lebanon or Jamaica – and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are one and the same. Though the Japanese government has evacuated only a 20-kilometre radius around the plant, many inside and outside Japan treat the entire region as though it's contaminated, unsure of what to make of shifting official assess [...]
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Like many Japanese, Mr. Takemoto says he can't trust government assurances that the produce from the region around Fukushima Daiichi is safe. So he boycotts rice and vegetables grown in Fukushima prefecture and the surrounding provinces. He avoids all Japanese meat and seafood, concerned that even livestock from elsewhere in Japan might have been fed contaminated grains. Fish, too, in case they were pulled from waters too close to the crippled nuclear reactors.
"We rely now on Moroccan octopus and Chilean salmon," the 60-year-old business consultant says, chuckling. "It's not too expensive, and it's good enough."
The Fukushima fallout has now spread well beyond what can be measured with a Geiger counter. In the minds of many consumers, Fukushima prefecture – which, at almost 14,000 square kilometres is bigger than Lebanon or Jamaica – and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are one and the same. Though the Japanese government has evacuated only a 20-kilometre radius around the plant, many inside and outside Japan treat the entire region as though it's contaminated, unsure of what to make of shifting official assess [...]
Submit your suggestion / comments / complaints / Takedown request on lookyp.com@gmail.com
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