All children create.

Drawing pictures. Building castles in the sandpit. Building secret hideouts. Wanting to help with the cooking. Stacking building blocks, knocking them down, and stacking them again. The urge to create something takes root naturally from childhood.

Even as adults, we don’t change. We take a keen interest in cooking. We make our own furniture. We knit. We write. Human beings have a fundamental desire to give shape to their own ideas.

But as we grow up, many of us become specialists in buying. We choose and buy things that someone else has made. That gradually becomes the norm.

Somehow, the perception has taken hold that only people in a very limited number of professions can be on the creative side.

Why is that?

In the past, if you wanted to bring music to the public, you needed a record company. If you wanted to broadcast video, you needed a television station. If you wanted to publish a book, you needed a publishing house.

Even if people wanted to create something, there were major obstacles to actually doing so. They needed equipment. They needed distribution channels. They needed money. That is why so many people could only ever be on the receiving end.

But things are different now.

With just one smartphone, you can stream music. You can publish videos. You can even write a book and share it with the world. There’s YouTube. There’s note. There’s Spotify.

What is happening all over the world is an increase in the number of people participating in fields that were once the exclusive preserve of professionals. Creation is no longer the preserve of just a select few.

I’d always wondered about that.

‘Why is it that food is the only exception?’

The current trends in the food industry are like a long river.

Agricultural produce grown by farmers is delivered to processing manufacturers, passes through distributors and wholesalers, is placed on retailers’ shelves, and finally reaches consumers.

In the distribution and retail sectors, a ‘good product’ is one that sells well. There is a demand for standardised products that can be mass-produced. Items that can only be produced in small batches, rare regional ingredients, and one-off items born of an individual’s imagination—these do not fit the mould.

In the world of food, the right to produce it has long been the preserve of a select few companies.

When I first launched FARM8, I tried to change this structure but failed.

At the time, I believed that farmers should process their own produce, create their own brands, handle sales themselves, and reap the profits. I felt that by cutting out the middlemen and pursuing ‘sixth-sector industrialisation’, farmers should be able to earn more.By taking on not only primary production but also secondary processing and tertiary sales, farmers could retain the added value for themselves. This way of thinking was also in line with the prevailing trends in agricultural policy at the time.

Back then, I used to think that farmers could become entrepreneurs too.

The concept of a ‘food-based company’, as mentioned earlier, also stemmed from that idea.

However, when I spoke to the farmers, we simply couldn’t see eye to eye.

Perhaps what the farmers were looking for was not to start a business, but an environment in which they could concentrate on farming.

It was at the time of this failure that I realised I had misunderstood the meaning of ‘democratisation’.

Democratisation did not mean that everyone would be able to do the same things.

It was not about turning farmers into entrepreneurs. Nor was it about turning processors into farmers. It was not about everyone becoming capable of doing everything.

The key was to increase the number of people who could take part.

Farmers can focus on farming. Processors can focus on processing. And a space is created where consumers can bring their own ideas to life, even if only to a small extent.

The democratisation of music did not turn everyone into professional musicians. It simply created a platform where amateurs could share their music. The democratisation of publishing did not turn everyone into professional writers. It simply meant that anyone who wanted to write could do so.

It is also important to note that the democratisation of music has not rendered professional musicians redundant. Professionals can continue to pursue their craft at a deeper level, whilst amateurs can participate as amateurs. The roles of each group have been preserved, whilst the number of participants has increased.

The same should apply to the democratisation of food.

Farmers practise better farming. Processors carry out better processing. In between, we create a space where those who were once merely recipients can gradually become participants. Participants become creators, just a little bit. Not everyone needs to become a professional. What matters is that the scope for participation is broadened.

These days, the barriers to producing food are gradually being lowered.

We can make use of spare capacity at local factories. We have access to rare local materials. We can produce goods in small batches. We can deliver directly via the internet.

In the past, producing food required large factories, substantial capital and a distribution network. That’s why ordinary people couldn’t get involved in the production side of things. But things are different now.

Farmers can focus on farming. Factories can make use of their spare capacity. Consumers can bring their ideas to life, even on a small scale. Not everyone needs to become an entrepreneur.

For example, you choose the ingredients, select a processing method, and pick the packaging. Just by doing that, you’re increasingly able to create your very own food products. You can eat them yourself. You can give them as gifts. Or you can sell them on a small scale. When local ingredients, small local factories and the ideas of local people come together, products that didn’t exist before are born.

This is not the dismantling of roles. It is the interconnection of roles.

Users become creators.

Farmers remain farmers. Processors remain processors. Designers remain designers. But now, just a little more than before, they can get involved in each other’s work.

I believe that the more opportunities for engagement there are, the more prosperous the local community will become.

ATSUSHI KABASAWA

FARM8 Co Ltd,

Next chapter: ‘Regions That Become Constellations’ – Chapter 19: The World, Too, Has Regions