The company has “coexistence with the global environment” as one of the guiding principles for its business operations, and contributing to “removal of threats of environmental destruction in the Arctic and conservation of the environment of the Arctic region that greatly impacts global warming” is consistent with the objectives of its business activities. The

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## Food Bank Activities

In recent years, “food bank” activities are spreading. A food bank is a system under which it receives food and food materials that are deemed not good enough to go through regular distribution channels but have no food quality problems from food manufacturers and retailers, etc. and donates them to welfare facilities and other organizations in need of support free of charge, supported by many volunteers. The United States has a history of about 40 years of food bank activities (with 220 organizations involved across the country and 2 million tons of food handled annually), and there is also an international organization for food bank activities with the membership of 18 countries across the world. In Japan, Second Harvest Japan (a specified nonprofit corporation established in 2002 in Taito Ward, Tokyo) has the largest scale of food bank activities and is a member of the international organization. In 2008, it handled 8.5 million tons of food with the monetary equivalent of about ¥510 million, and companies that provide it

Performance of Food Bank Activities

Year	Amount handled (ton)	Welfare contributions (¥10,000)	Donation multiplier	Corporate contributions (¥10,000)
2006	255	15,300	10.0	2,766
2007	370	22,200	8.0	3,900
2008	850	51,000	14.0	9,200
2009	560	33,000	11.4	5,600

Source: Second Harvest Japan Secretariat

company’s support is extended mainly in the form of financial assistance, and assistance of 470,000 euros is planned over a three-year period. The company and the WWF are cooperating in efforts on environmental analyses and surveys as well as on support for the continued wellbeing of Arctic ecosystems, including the polar bear.

with food are estimated to have been able to reduce food disposal expenses by about ¥92 million.

Supporting companies that provide food to Second Harvest Japan have reached a cumulative total of some 500 firms, and the circle of support is now widening, including cooperation of distribution companies, apparently as part of corporate CSR activities. Foods handled are wide-ranging, from staple food (rice, bread, noodles, etc.), supplementary dishes, articles of taste (sweets, beverages) and seasonings, perishable food, chilled and frozen food, instant food and food stocks in case of natural disasters. About a dozen food banks have been established in recent years, with their activities spreading from cities to rural areas. Since the food bank mechanism is beneficial to both supporting companies and aid-receiving welfare facilities and other organizations, and also in light of the original objective of taking good care of food, it is hoped that food bank activities will spread further widely.

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## Utilization of Abandoned Farmland

As of FY 2005, there were about 390,000 hectares of abandoned farmland. Abandoned farmland is “farmland where no crops were grown at least in a past year with no clear intentions indicated for cultivation resumption over the coming few years.” Abandoned farmland stood at 135,000 hectares in 1985, and increased nearly 2.5 times in the past 20 years. Amid expectations of tightening global food supply and demand in the medium and long-term, the objectives of recovering and utilizing abandoned farmland include the need to ensure the stable supply of food and the need to secure various functions including the preservation of national land, cultivation of water sources, prevention of disease and disease and pest damage and bird and animal damage, and conservation of biodiversity through appropriate

## Changes in Area of Abandoned Farmland

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "Agroforestry Census"

management of hillside and mountainous areas.