Many people outside of Japan regard the country as a very healthy place. However, a new report has the Japanese government chastising its citizens that they need to eat more greens. The admonition has sparked a minor backlash online among Japanese people who say they’d love to eat more veggies – if they could afford them.
The report from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW) shows that the daily intake of vegetables in Japan is currently around 262.2 grams/day for men and 250.6 grams/day for women. That’s based on survey data from around 5,300 men and women across Japan.
That number’s fallen about 10 percent within a five-year period. It puts Japanese consumption of vegetables around 100 grams below the MHLW’s recommended daily amount of 350 grams. Men and women in their 20s are doing even worse, with 20-something men only eating 230.9 grams and women only eating around 211.8 grams.
MHLW said in a statement: “Given that eating vegetables defends against stroke and heart disease, we hope to see people increase their intake as much as possible.”
The comments, published in an NHK News article, drew fire on social media network X. In a tweet liked over 50,000 times, user @nichinichibou said, “It’s because we can’t buy them even if we want to; they’re expensive…We know. We know!!! Healthy living has become a luxury. Most people can’t swing it economically, even if the desire’s there.”
Other users echoed that comment in retweets. “That’s why we’re telling you to lower health care fees,” said one commenter – a reference to repeated calls to stop fee increases related to Japan’s social programs, such as health care, elderly care, pension, and disaster recovery.
The posters have a point. Ironically, NHK published their article around nine days after they published another article on the rising cost of eggs and vegetables. Cabbage and tomatoes have gone up due to crop shortages; cucumber and pepper prices are continuing to climb due to a lack of sunlight this year in Kyushu.
Meanwhile, egg prices – which saw a huge spike due to the Avian flu late last year – continue to go up. In November 2024, they hit 281 yen ($1.87) for 1 kilo of medium-sized eggs. That’s the fourth consecutive month egg prices have increased.
Eggs are a big part of Japanese cuisine – both in “Western food” such as omuraisu as well as used raw in various Japanese dishes.
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Sources
1日に摂取する野菜の量 過去最少に 平均250gあまり 厚労省調査. NHK News
野菜・卵の高値 いつまで続く？NHK News
