Even though this year’s domestic potato harvest is a bumper crop, it’s come to light that Japan is considering lifting its ban on importing potatoes from the United States. Growers are pushing back hard, with one saying, “As a producer, I absolutely cannot accept this when it comes to imports.” On 5channel, users traded views on the risk of nematodes (cyst nematodes, a destructive soil pest) spreading to Japanese farmland, the fact that fast-food chains already serve some US-grown fries, and Japan’s recent easing of rules on fungicides and pesticides used on imported produce.
This year’s potato harvest is excellent. So why is Japan considering lifting the ban on US imports right now? What will it do to prices?
■ Ban on US Potato Imports to Be Lifted?
Potato farmer: “As a producer, I absolutely cannot accept this when it comes to imports.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article
Isn't that just as true of the processed potatoes we already import?
Basically, what gets imported is already processed.
Some unprocessed potatoes do come in too, but anything with soil still on it is strictly off-limits.
McDonald's long fries are American, but I thought KFC's and Mos Burger's were domestic?
There was a KFC fry shortage a while back, and the reason was that shipments from America weren't coming in.
Huh, is that right — anyway, what's with calling it 'Kenchiki' lol
I think just 'Kenta' works fine (both are just nicknames for KFC).
KFC's fries aren't even that good, so I wouldn't miss them.
Just a bunch of leftists ('payoku,' a derisive online slang for left-leaning commentators) stoking fear over stuff like that.
We've genuinely been burned by cyst nematodes before.
If we end up with the pale cyst nematode on top of it, we'd have to start breeding resistant varieties from scratch again — that's seriously bad news.
Worrying about your food is just common sense.
Remember all the fuss about oranges…
Does anyone even eat oranges at home anymore?
Feels like I haven't touched one in maybe 10 years.
Watch out for fungicides and herbicides — Japan is loosening its rules against the global trend.
Imported produce sometimes carries harmful pesticides that aren't approved for domestic use. Take the 'fungicide' applied to lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and other citrus imported from the US. These are so-called 'post-harvest pesticides,' sprayed after picking to keep mold from forming during the sea voyage from America to Japan.
https://www.news-postseven.com/archives/20181126_807466.html?DETAIL
That article's from 2018, but apparently the regulations really were loosened since then.
No wonder they're drenching this stuff in chemicals before sending it our way.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Newsflash+) thread “Ban on US Potato Imports Set to Lift! Why Now, With Such a Bumper Harvest?“
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