Non-market food provisioning services via homegardens and communal sharing in satoyama socio-ecological production landscapes on Japan’s Noto peninsula

Abstract

A quantitative understanding of relations between ecosystems and human well-being is critical to a range of decisions and to communities. This study examined home food production and the sharing of food with non-market transactions and its implications for physical functioning and social relations. To characterize the quantity and varieties of non-market food consumed per household at the community level and to discover how food is shared in social relations within and beyond communities, we conducted face-to-face interviews in three communities with varying socio-geographic attributes in Japan’s Noto peninsula. We found that rural households in inland and coastal communities consume greater varieties and quantities of food grown at home and/or received from others than households in semi-urban community. The varieties and quantities correlated positively with the number of sharing partners, indicating that households with more connections to other households consume greater food varieties and quantities. Rural households primarily share food within their communities. Among semi-urban households, social connections beyond their communities, particularly connections to rural communities, enhance non-market food consumption. Urbanization has weakened these personal connections and sharing mechanisms. Balancing market and non-market food provisioning and connecting rural and urban areas will be key to building localized models of sustainable societies.