Seed to Plate Tour Japan

The Seed to Plate Tour Japan is an annual agriculture, culinary and cultural exchange program founded in 2013 by Stacey Givens of Portland’s Side Yard Farm & Kitchen. Over the years after the farm season comes to an end, Stacey heads to Japan with small groups of Pacific Northwest chefs, farmers, and makers to visit organic farms, meet local producers, and collaborate on special pop-up dinners and events. Their mission is to bridge the agricultural and culinary communities of Portland and Japan. These special events are often hosted at unique Japanese venues, such as a traditional house (Tsubomi no Ie) in Kamakura, the middle of a farmers market in Kobe, or a renovated indigo dyeing factory in Kyoto. The crew cooks “Portland-style” seed to plate menus utilizing the freshly sourced Japanese ingredients.

This year the Seed to Plate Tour Japan is celebrating 10 years and we are going big! We have an amazing lineup of chefs to represent Portland‘s food culture. We will be hosting a collaborative meal called  ‘PORTLAND WILD TABLE’. Think campy meets farm to table. Most of our produce will be sourced from an urban farm in Tokyo called Fuku Fuku Farm and local proteins like wild boar & deer will make it to the plate. The meal will be paired with Oregon wines by Kohji of Quench Wine.  

Agriculture in Japan

Stacey also speaks about making the most of small acreage, farming among urban residents, how her work as a chef and her event space is key to her success, and what it means to be a woman farmer. All the Portland makers involved have a chance to speak about what they do, how community is everything and inspire young folks to farm. Every bit of this is directly relevant in Japan, where many farms are shoulder to shoulder with urban housing, and where the average age of a farmer is even older than in the United States—at 65.9 to our 58.3. There’s a desperate need for new blood. Japanese folks from all walks of life visit The Side Yard Farm every season to discuss the importance of organic urban farming and how to develop more urban farms in Japan. Over the years, these trips have paid off and more and more young folks in Japan are getting into agriculture. The connections, the friendships and what we learn on these trips are life changing.