Aiming for zero food waste! "Mamoru Cafe" contributes to solving environmental problems

 

Nomura Seminar, which studies environmental business from a financial perspective, has been working on the food waste reduction project "Mamoru Cafe" for the past six years. In 2023, for the first time, a "Mamoru Cafe" mock store was set up at the Soka University Festival to promote the importance of food waste reduction and resource circulation both inside and outside the university. We spoke with Oyama Misato of Nomura Seminar, who tackles environmental issues from both academic and practical perspectives, about the activities and results of "Mamoru Cafe".

 

What kind of activity is the "Mamoru Cafe" run by the Nomura seminar?

"Mamoru Cafe" is a project that aims to reduce food waste by having seminar students bring food from home that is nearing its expiration date and cook and eat meals using only the ingredients collected. Food waste refers to "food that is edible but is thrown away," and occurs when food has passed its expiration date, food is left over, or vegetable peels are removed more than necessary.

In an effort to reduce the amount of food that is thrown away untouched, six years ago, senior students from Nomura's seminar started the "Mamoru Cafe," and currently, seminar students meet about once a month to participate in activities. "Mamoru" (protection) is meant to protect the earth and the future of food.

I heard that you set up a "Mamoru Cafe" stall at last year's Soudai Festival and it was well received. Could you please tell us about the "Mamoru Cafe" at the Soudai Festival?

At the usual "Mamoru Cafe," people bring food that they would otherwise throw away and eat it themselves, but at the Soka University Festival's "Mamoru Cafe," while keeping with the theme of reducing food waste, they also tried selling environmentally friendly coffee.

There are two points we focused on in terms of environmental consideration. The first is to use environmentally friendly products for the coffee beans and cups we serve. The second is to reuse the grounds that remain after brewing the coffee.

For the first item, we used organic coffee beans and sugar, paper cups made from sugarcane pomace, and FSC-certified stirrers, which are given to products that promote forest sustainability. We chose coffee beans sold at coffee shops in Hachioji City, with the intention of contributing to the local community. We also provided the coffee pomace as fertilizer material to farmers in Hachioji City who have been helping us with our seminar activities for some time, and were able to contribute to reducing food waste by 5.7 kg.

Did you encounter any difficulties or have to come up with any creative solutions during the "Mamoru Cafe" activities at the Soka University Festival? Also, what results did you achieve or learn from them?

Since it was our first attempt to set up a stall at the Souda Festival, we proceeded with preparations while feeling our way around. What we found particularly difficult was choosing environmentally friendly products. For example, even if a paper cup advertises in the product description that it is made from sugarcane pomace, there are cases in which only a small amount of the product is actually used.

In order to be able to confidently serve "environmentally friendly coffee," all the seminar students conducted thorough research into the ratio of eco-friendly ingredients used and whether there were any products that contained higher amounts of them.

Using environmentally friendly products incurs costs, so we used the financial knowledge we learned in class to conduct a profit and loss analysis and set the prices a little higher to avoid incurring a loss. However, by targeting alumni and their parents as our main customers, we were able to meet our sales target.

The original bioplastic tumblers sold in the store were designed with the university building in mind, and were also well received by the graduates. We feel that this initiative has enabled them to make use of their learning in business and marketing, as well as environmental issues.

The farmers who provided the coffee grounds composted them, and used them as fertilizer for their fields, turning them into delicious vegetables. I think it was a great success that we were able to achieve our goal of zero food waste and to recycle resources starting from the university.

I understand that you also exhibit every year at EcoPro, an environmental exhibition attended by many companies and organizations.

Every year, EcoPro promotes the activities of Nomura Seminar's practical projects. At last year's EcoPro, they created a card game that simulated the experience of "Mamoru Cafe" and had the children who visited try it out.

The game involves preparing around 10 different ingredient cards and having players use all of them to come up with three dishes. The key point of this game is that the combinations of cards mean that players don't have all the ingredients needed to make common dishes; for example, if you want to make curry, you might not have a potato card.

At first, everyone was worried, but we gave them advice on substitute ingredients and worked together to come up with ideas for using up ingredients efficiently.

What do you usually focus on in your activities at Mamoru Cafe?

Rather than deciding on a menu and bringing in ingredients, we value sharing ideas to cook with the ingredients we have gathered. We also think that the appeal of "Mamoru Cafe" is that by thinking, cooking, and eating together in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere, we can ultimately contribute to reducing food waste.

With the EcoPro card game, we worked with the hope that we could convey at least some of the ideas that we hold dear, and we were happy that so many children were able to learn while having fun.

Through your studies in the Nomura seminar and your involvement in the "Mamoru Cafe", is there anything you have realized or feel you have grown as a person?

While researching various things in preparation for the "Mamoru Cafe" at the Soka University Festival, I realized that there are many initiatives in the world that can contribute to environmental issues that I did not know about yet. I was able to learn once again the importance of having an attitude of wanting to learn for myself.

I was not good at speaking in front of people, but after participating in the Soka University Festival and EcoPro, I feel that I have grown as a person by being able to explain things in my own words to suit the audience. I was able to do this because I put into practice and experienced the knowledge I learned in the seminar. I think this growth was possible only because Nomura Seminar provides an environment where knowledge can be put into practice.

How do you want to use what you have learned in Nomura Seminar and at Soka University in the future?

What I learned in Nomura's seminar made me want to be involved in environmental issues in my work, so I decided to work for a company involved in automobile recycling.

I would like to contribute to the realization of a sustainable world by utilizing the knowledge I gained from practical experience at university about resource recycling systems and environmental business. There is still a lot I don't know about automobile recycling, so I intend to actively learn more through my graduation thesis before joining the company.

Finally, please give a message to your juniors who are aiming to enter Soka University.

Soka University offers many opportunities to help you decide your future path.

Before I joined Nomura's seminar, I wasn't very aware of environmental issues, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do in the future. However, by learning about the seriousness of environmental issues in the seminar, learning the knowledge to solve them, and putting it into practice at events such as "Mamoru Cafe," I was able to realize my own growth and find the path I wanted to follow.

Please come to Soka University and enjoy learning with your peers while finding your own path.