豊富過ぎる食品 Too Much Food

 豊富過ぎる食品　

昭和１８年生まれの私は、昭和２０年代、３０年代は貧しい生活を送った。豆腐やコロッケや、せいぜい煮魚が食卓に出た。麦飯に味噌を付けて食べたり、味噌汁とか醤油をかけて食べたものである。菓子はなく、芋やトウモロコシを食べた。給食に出たハムがびっくりするぐらい美味しくて、こんなものが世の中にあるのかと思った。バナナも滅多に食べることができなかった。

今のスーパー食料品売場には驚かされる。豆腐も納豆も、それぞれ２０種ぐらいある。パン売場では、ありとあらゆる菓子パンが山積みである。菓子の棚に行くと、チョコレートだけでも２０種以上並べられ、あられだけでも二段か三段に並んでいる。冷凍ものは餃子やシュウマイ、チャーハン、ハムバーグなどこれも滅茶滅茶に品が多い。狂ってはいないか。

戦後育ちの私にとっては夢のような豊富な食糧である。こんなに豊富な食糧が手に入るなんて、罰が当たるのではないかと思う。

今の子供たちは不幸だ。これ以上食糧が豊富になることはないだろう。豊かな食物に囲まれて育って来ているから、食糧の供給や種類が減少した時にどう思うだろうか。

Too Much Food

I was born in 1943, two years before the end of World War II. Therefore, I had to live a very poor life during my childhood (during 1940’s and1950’s).

Our family’s main dish was tasteless mugimeshi (rice cooked with barley). Side dish was cheap tofu or croquette (deep fried mashed potatoes covered with bread crumbs). Roasted or boiled fish was rarely served, because fish was expensive. I poured miso soup or dropped shoyu (soy sauce) on mugimeshi and forced it to drop through the throat. I and my siblings ate sweet potatoes and corns for snacks. I still remember the surprisingly delicious ham served at the school lunch. It was a dreamlike food. Bananas were expensive and served only for sick people.

Today, I am surprised to see so many kinds of food at supermarkets. There are more than 20 kinds of tofu or natto (fermented soybeans). Countless kinds of bread and sweet buns are piled up like mountains at bakery corners. There are too many kinds of chocolate to choose from. There are shelves after shelves of arare (cubic rice crackers). Frozen food section is flooded with gyoza (meat dumplings), nikuman (pork buns), shumai (raviolis a la vapeur), chahan (fried rice), hamburgers, etc. Mountains of foods will ruin the Japanese, I am afraid.

For me, who was brought up immediately after the war, today’s foods are too abundant. Heaven will punish us, Japanese, in the near future.

Today’s children are unfortunate. I think the amount of food supply has hit the limit. The time won’t come when food is more abundant than today. What will happen to today’s children who were born and brought up in the abundance of food. How do they live when food supply decreases?