It is quite a change. I could bang about all the problems in the UK (and give Nev good reason to call me a whingeing pom) I guess no where is perfect.
Having been made redundant twice - through mergers and corporate greed and for a number of other reasons, I decided on my wifes home country.
I do miss my four P's...
Pies
Pints
Parents
Payday
I live in the middle of a city (150,000 peeps) and despite a very large number of veg gardens, not really seen much else in the way of self sufficiency. I'm sure it is a different case in the villages. It's common practise to grow veg and that's what a lot of people do once they retire. We have a number of irrigation canals running through the city to supply the rice fields around the city and those which are sandwiched between apartment blocks. Both my uncle-in-laws? have a patch. The harvest was done two/three weeks ago.
Although part of some large conglomerate, the JA chain of stores provide a place for the small scale farmer to sell their wares. Usual for ladies in their eighties to load they car up with tofu they've made and head off to the local shop to sell it. I guess a bit like a farmers market?
The food in the big supermarkets usually has on the label the farm (and family it came from). There is a reasonable amount of imported food, although sometimes much cheaper, a lot of people steer clear of it.
Garlic is a good example...
Japanese one head ¥300 (£1.50)
Chinese three heads ¥100 (50p) (had the Jesus sprayed out of it)
I hope to investigate more once the winter is finished. I think I'm beginning to ramble
