Grow, Shell, and Eat! Habikino City Elementary Students Hold Food Education Exchange with Local 'Usui Peas'

In Habikino City, Osaka Prefecture, a city-wide food education program involves all elementary schools, early stages of compulsory education schools, and Takawashi Minami Junior High School. The goal is to deepen students' love for their hometown and cultivate gratitude for those involved in food production.

In this program, children grow local specialty 'Usui peas'—using seeds provided by the Usui Pea Preservation Society—on their school grounds and consume them as part of their school lunches.

As part of these activities, an exchange event was held on May 14 at Furuichi Minami Elementary School, involving 50 students from Nishiura-higashi Elementary (3rd grade), Komagatani Elementary (2nd grade), Furuichi Minami Elementary (3rd grade), and a Nishiura Elementary special needs class. Following school introductions, the students worked in groups to shell the harvested Usui peas.

Children were enthusiastically engaged, with comments like, "The color is so vibrant!" and "Look, the peas inside are huge! I can't wait for lunch!"

In the school lunch the following day, "Usui pea rice" made with the harvested peas was served. Future plans include providing "Usui pea croquettes" as a lunch menu item on July 3.