Standardizing or Normalizing Social Farming? National Regulation and Consumers’ Cooperatives Frontiers in Japan

Currently, social farming, which mobilizes agricultural resources to generate social services and care (e.g., therapy, rehabilitation, social inclusion, and education), is being promoted and has gained popularity in many countries and regions. Among them, Japan serves as a pertinent case, as the government released its official standard, “Japan Agricultural Standards for Agriculture and Wellbeing” (Nou-Fuku JAS), in 2019, for a third-party certification to promote cooperation between the farming sector, which requires labor, and the welfare sector, which requires earning opportunities, especially for persons with disabilities. While this new standard is based on the growing awareness of the intangible social values of agri-food products among consumers, the market-based solution that distinguishes and brands these labeled products has been criticized because of its neoliberal tenets. However, even before the creation of Nou-Fuku JAS, several Japanese consumers’ cooperatives established farming activities with persons with disabilities in their respective regions, based on solidarity and participative guarantee systems. Employing the theory of the sociology of agriculture, food, and political economy, the author conducted a literature review, statistical analyses, and semi-structured interviews with several consumer cooperatives and their farms between 2022 and 2024. The findings suggest that (a) a limited but growing number of entities, social welfare corporations, NGOs, and private corporations are engaging in social farming with varying objectives and outcomes; (b) the National Standard, Nou-Fuku JAS, on the one hand, contributes to increasing awareness and ensuring the national minimum of social farming, and on the other hand, promotes its commercial value; (c) without relying on the national standard, consumers’ cooperatives are successfully providing opportunities for persons with disabilities to receive relatively higher earnings and collaborate with local residents, and are contributing to preserving farmland as a productive asset, realizing a circular economy, and even increasing their membership.