Takako + Phil are the founding owners of the Hive + Barrow #organicfarm and #Ploughman Cafe in Chiba - not far from Narita International Airport. Takako has a keen sense of business as she had a career as a buyer and importer of Japanese products in London where she met Phil. They came to Chiba and have been running the Hive + Barrow since 2011.

In this talk, they share their secrets of growing beautiful, unique organic veggies in their farm without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilizers (yet too difficult to be registered as organic under the JAS Japanese Agriculture System).

Watch video of this interview on YouTube

They introduce some of the wonderful dishes that they make for the cafe as well as supply to Tokyo grocery stores. Many of the dishes are #vegan #plantbased #vegetarian but they also use local fish in some of their products.

They did a great service for a local hospital during the height of the coronavirus scare by providing healthy, farm-fresh foods for the hospital staff who were suffering from stigmatization for themselves and their families as they were feared by some people who discriminated against them as they assumed they carried the disease. The Cntrl+H project was a great boost to health and morale. #communitysupport #coronavirus #cntrlHproject #stigma

Takako and Phil have a great philosophy for #organicfarming which gets them up at 3am during the summer months, collaborating with local businesses and people, and running a small cafe in #chiba "without taking themselves too seriously"

#seekingsustainabilitylive #socialequity #foodsecurity #supportlocalfarmers #hiveandbarrow

Find out more about the HIve + Barrow: https://hiveandbarrow.com/

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