I had a wonderful time this morning with small people.  These small people were from the Kyoto International School and Pamela, one of our interns, and I went to talk to them because they wanted to find out just what Kozmoz did and why.

I love small people and let me tell you why. Small people have only begun the socialization process. The process that robs many of us of creativity, the sense of wonder about the world around us, and that wonderful notion that dreams can come true. It seems that societies need for obedient workers that won't make too many waves replaces all that wonder with the seeming need for the latest fashions, cars, houses, consumer gadgets…. 

I love it when small people ask me why I founded Kozmoz. I love the look of quandry when I tell that we founded Kozmoz to do things that just were not being done to help those in need. I can see the wheels turning behind those bright and shiney eyes in those small heads…

"Mom and dad and teacher said to share and share alike, to help the other kids that fell down, to rush to the police when someone was hurt…" And when I tell them that one out of 7 of the people they see on the streets about them are not sharing in the economic and technological miracle driving our modern societies, they can't help but ask "why?" 

They cant process the fact that when our food bank delievery truck pulls up to the public housing complex that hundreds of people are lined up, excitingly awaiting fresh fruits and vegetables at no charge to add nutrition to their overly starchy nutrition deficient diets… After all, they just assume that it is natural that when someone falls down, that everyone stops to help them, just like their moms, dads and teachers told them to do. They think about the teacher telling them, "don't bring treats to school unless you bring some for everyone!" In fact I can remember helping my mom bake dozens of cookies when I was a small person myself to take and share with my classmates. And I remember the joy of sharing those chocolate chip cookies with my smiling classmates to this day.

But somewhere along the process to becoming a big person, other ideas supplant those egalatarian ideas. We learn about competition, survival of the fittest, the idea that those people that fall down are holding us back. We learn to betray each other, the climb the ladder on the back of those who were once our friends yet only to become the person we are competing with in order to obtain the limited number of brass rings. We learn to think that the disadvanted are lazy, stupid, and the cost of sharing with them is what is keeping us from having the shiny things that the advertising agencies have convinced us that we can't live without…

We also learn to categorize people in order to marginalize them. All we have to do is fail to see the person and in their place see them as a category to make it easy to dismiss them from the ideals we learned were right and good when we were small. Now we understand that we dont need to include, Muslims, Right Wingers, Left Wingers, Christians, Underachievers, etc… in our ideas of sharing, caring and enabling. The worst thing is that this same notion that keeps the less fortunate down, is also what robs us from the feeling of horror and disgust as our leaders send drones to dispach of those that are seen as only obstructions in our paths…. conveniently known not as people put only some obscure name that marginalizes them and makes it so easy to dismiss them.

And that is why I love small people. Because when they asked how they could help us pick up the ones that have fallen during the race, their eyes are full of compassion, their hearts are open, and they are ready to help RIGHT NOW! And everytime it brings healing to my cynical heart, and gives me hope for the future. Because these small people are the big people of tomorrow. And I beleive that when they become big people of position, who have resource, knowlege and talents that can make the world a world that included the weak in the miracles that the strong enjoy, that they will feel the joy in doing just that. 

I find myself believing that those future big people will be a new breed of big people. Big people that when faced with the needs of the less fortunate will not answer with, "I would love to help but I am just too busy", "I just can't afford to help right now", "you know, those people are the cause of their own problems", "that's not my job, that is the government's job"…. and all those excuses that I hear that keep the weak disenfranchised and rob our communities of the role that they could play if only included….

Today, I am blessed and full of hope and continue to believe that all will someday have a cookies of their own to share!

On the Big Screen in the 3rd floor movie theater at the Kyoto Kozmoz Center will be playing a classic Christmas Movie from 8:00 on the 26th. Free Popcorn n drinks and anyone can enjoy the night with us! Don’t miss it!

We will be serving Christmas Dinner to the Homeless, this year near Tennoji Osaka.

Would love to have you help. We will be making Meals at the Kyoto Kozmoz Center from 11:00 and delivering the meals in the evening so drop us a line if you can help!

All day on the 24th, we will be enjoying and sharing the Christmas spirit here in Kyoto.

11:00~ open house with lots of Christmas goodies☆

6:00- kids party

7:00 Kozmoz Kids Choir

7:30 Christmas Message

8:00 Christmas Party

Hope to see you!

Name says it all, dont know if the Mayans were right but it sounded like a great excuse to for all the Kozmoz family and friends to gather for some good food n make some memories. Drop a line if you are able to come!

We talk alot about Food Security here. That is the ability for everyone to procure the base required amount of calories and nutrients daily. But there is another looming threat to Food Security that has become increasingly widespread. It is called the Gene Revolution in which scientists are modifying the genetic structure of plants and animals with the goal of producing new strains that resist disease, agrochemicals, and pests or even thrive in areas watered with sea water. It sounds wonderful, but is it playing out that way?

Right now in the State of California after a groundswell of citizens concerned with the safety of Genetically Modified Food (GMO) were able to gather enough petitions, a bill known as Proposition 37 is on the November state ballot and residents will decide some important issues about what they think is the responsibility of food manufacturers. The response from manufacturers of GMOs such as Monsanto, DuPont, Dow and even the makers of Americas favorite Heinz Ketchup has been to spend nearly 40 million dollars US to defeat this bill. What could be so threatening to these companies? The bill simply states that food containing GMOs be labeled. Of course there are numerous loop holes that would allow a measure of GMOS to be sold and used but it still has these companies running about like Chicken Little. Why does that seem unreasonable to the tune of 40,000,000 dollars US? And how does that affect us and the disadvantaged that Kozmoz works to help get a leg up?

All of this really started in 1798, when a British scholar named Thomas Malthus published an essay called, 'And Essay on the Principle of Population'. This dooms day publication stated that at some time in the not too distant future that population would overwhelm the nation's ability to feed them causing disaster and widespread mortality bringing the population into check..

I am sure that many of us remember a school experiment in which we were instructed to put a cotton ball soaked in sugar water into the bottom of a test tube and add a few fruit flies after which the tube was capped creating a closed environment. Upon observation, the number of flies multiplied quickly and then as fast as they multiplied, they died of an apparent lack of food and disease. And that was our introduction to Malthusianism and the overwhelming importance of the availability of food.

Well, thank God he was wrong and technology and many other factors conspired to put his theory to rest. Furthermore, the Green Revolution of the 40's, led by giants of science such as Norman Borlaug, brought amazing increases of crop production. They did this by developing hybrids crops such as rice and wheat which were dwarfed… stubby little plants with more kernels and less stock. And low and behold, the crop yields increased enormously making Dr. Borlaug a hero and the Green Revolution was off n running.

Which led to the Gene Revolution… but not all things that seem good are good… kind of like eating too many prunes… Super high in nutrition they are but a few too many and you will be skipping from bathroom to bathroom seeing your life quite negatively affected… Well, so too were things in the Green Revolution and the wonderful agricultural advances. It seems that the dwarf rice and wheat, though they produced more grain, they also were much more dependent on agrochemicals which led to research to genetically modify crops to be more resistant to pests and pesticides in order to create ever increasing crop yields.

However, though it is a maturing field, crop yields are not up. In many cases, conventional farming techniques are out preforming agriculture based on agrochemicals and engineered seeds. Overall, today the use of agrochemicals has skyrocketed meaning even higher dependency on oil. Obviously, the growing use of these chemicals are of enormous concern to our environment and result in higher potential health risks for consumers.  Yet the biggest unknown is the affect on the consumers from consuming the GMO (genetically modified organism) foods stocks themselves.

What exactly are GMO crops? These are plants and animals that have been genetically modified. They have had genes added, or genes removed with the objective of changing the characteristics of the organism. One startling success of gene engineering is the Blue Rose that was created in collaboration between the Japanese superpower Suntory Corp. and the Australian research company Florigene. This technology is much different than the technology that has given us traditional hybrids by carefully cross pollinating and grafting giving us familiar plants such as peppermint, grapefruit, most modern wheat varieties, and delicious Fuji apples. GMOs are most commonly created by isolating genes that are suspected of being the cause of certain characteristics of living organisms and then inserting them into the genetic structure to add characteristics or interfere with naturally occurring characteristics.

How extensive is this technology used in the food we eat? Various countries have various regulations concerning inclusion and marketing of GMOs, but one example is soybeans of which 93% US and 77% worldwide sales are of genetically modified varieties. This is in spite of bans on cultivation or importation of one way or another in US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, France, Austria, Greece, Hungary, Switzerland, India, Thailand… This sounds pretty inclusive but the loopholes in regulations make the US, India, Germany large producers. Bottom line is that the food you eat today, if you dont grow it yourself and make sure the seeds are not GMO, are heavily laden with GMOs.

What are the concerns? Though genes are inserted or nullified based on what they appear to do, the overall function of individual genes is not known. Many genes not only affect simple characteristics but do so in a complex relations with many many other genes and the alteration of these relationships through trial and error can produce visible and measurable results that are seemingly positive but the entirety of the affect on the organism and long term health affects of the ingestion of these foods is unknown. It seems so positive and altruistic but there have been both a lack of long term studies on these affects, and disturbing problems arising both socially and health wise that have borne wide spread suspicion and opposition to the production and use of GMOs.

A peer reviewed study undertaken as a collaboration between scientists at the University of Caen in France and the University of Verona in Italy has caused tremendous stir around the world resulting in Russia immediately suspending all imports AND use of Monsanto branded genetically modified corn and France has launched research into to the issue based on the study. The combination image of two pictures on the right features rats with tumors after they were fed a diet of genetically modified (GM) maize produced by US chemical giant Monsanto (AFP Photo / Criigen)

What was so unique about this study is that number 1, the study is the longest term study available on the subject. And number 2, the trials were not conducted by the manufacturers such as Monsanto, Dow, and DuPont. This independent action has these companies up in arms claiming FOUL. However very few of the studies regarding safety of consumption have been more than 90 days and length and the vast majority have been sponsored and conducted by the manufacturers in request by various countries regarding the issue of safety of consumption. Of course as Mark Twain said, 'Liars figure and figures lie' but many nations and municipalities are taking this latest study serious enough to immediately suspend import and use of R-tolerant NK603 (Monsanto Corp., USA).

At Kozmoz, we have been following these developments for years feeling as if playing 'God' with our food was one of the worst ideas we have ever heard in the long history of bad ideas. Though the data has been inconclusive and sparse, the fact that the manufacturers have long histories of criminal action and a wake of egregious health issues resulting from their business activities that range from a recent case of a class action suit brought by residents of Nitro West Virginia to the suit brought by the Foundation on Economic Trends and the National Family Farm Coalition in which according to the plaintiffs' complaint, a 1996 internal Monsanto document known as the "Maize Protection Business Plan" describes how Monsanto, DuPont, Dow Chemical, Novartis and AstraZeneca amongst others, formed a global cartel to monopolise and restrain trade in the GM seed market, effectively precluding additional competitors from entering the marketplace.

One thing that we can do is to become informed and 'vote with our wallets'. Orginizations like the Non GMO Project are working to help us all be able to choose food products free of GMOs for our families. Should enough people make use of this information, we can directly influence even giant corporations by hitting their pocketbooks.

Given the importance that food plays in our lives and in the fabric of the future that is being woven today, erring on the side of safety is the only rational choice that we as rational members of our communities can make. We support and immediate ban on all sales and use of GMOs and at the very least a requirement of labeling for ALL food products that indicates whether the food stock is GM, whether it includes any GM ingredients, and in the case of livestock if any of the feed consumed by animals was GM or if the animal itself was Genetically Modified without exception. There is simply no more fundamental right than to know what we are consuming.

And with him goes his monthly paycheck… This happens all too often, and it happened to Mrs. N,  one of the working moms that the Kozmoz Kansai food bank supports. For months, she received no word from her estranged husband, no monetary support, no help getting their 5 kids up, dresssed, make bentos, meet with their teacher, cook dinner, wash the clothes, clean the house, wash the dishes…. all while the phone rings with people wondering why you did not pay your bills last month and you try to earn enough money to maintain a minimum standard of living and not make the kids suffer during an emotionally disturbing time…

If this has not happened to you, you may not realize that though various city and national programs can be applied to for assistance, it takes time. Sometimes months to receive aid. Just what would you do in the meantime after 50 to 70 percent of your household income had just vanished? IF there is a food bank, And IF the community is supporting it, at least you could receive assistance in feeding your children quickly. 

One of Mrs. N's friends called and alerted us to her plight and we arranged to have packages of fresh fruits, vegetables and bread dropped off as we deliver weekly to an orphange close to her house. As you can imagine, it has been a hard time for her and her 5 children. Unable to make the payments on their house loan on her salary alone, she lost her house. But she was lucky to have great kids, her oldest daughter got a part time job to help, her other kids have pitched in doing houshold chores and cooking, she found an inexpensive apartment close by to move into, it is a bit crowded with a 6 person family and the kids beloved cat but and with the help of food assistance from the Kozmoz Kansai Food Bank, they are eating nutritious meals. A happy ending… kind of…

How can you help Mrs. N and the many like her suffering from loss of jobs, relational emontional difficulties, and unexpected difficulties?

Can you make time to help sort food? Can you make time to deliver care packages to families and institutions? Can you make time to hand out food at a soup kitchen? Do you have a van, truck, or computer that you do not need? Can you make time to answer phones or emails? Can you make time to serve a cup of coffee and a muffin?

Kozmoz Kansai Food Bank is self supported and solicits no funds from the government or corporations. We are supported by men and women just like you volunteering their time for all the little jobs necessary to keep the care packages going out. Over 90 percent of the operating budget is provided by foreign volunteers teaching English at the Kozmoz Family English Schools, Japanese college students teaching Cram School classes at the Kozmoz Juku, housewives helping out in the Kozmoz  NY Cafe, and families donating vehicles, computers, and household items to make all of this work.

Life does not always go like we planned, and sometimes it just gets too big for us to handle on our own. And the heavy beauracracy of our municiple governents does not allow them to move quickly enough to help many in very difficult and unexpected situations. Thankfully, the dedicated staff of the Kozmoz Kansai Food Bank have made their time and resource available to catch as many Mrs. Ns falling though the cracks as possible. With your help, we can do just that much more! 

Raising kids and working can really take up your day, but Alan takes busy to a new level, heading up the new Japanese soccer magazine JSoccer, is a staff writer for the Gamba Osaka professional soccer team, and can be found DJ'ing evenings around the Kobe area. In spite of having such a demanding personal and business schedule, he was moved to make time for the needs of the less fortunate in his community upon finding out about the needs and the opportunity for him to make a difference.

There are many reasons for poverty in our communites,

and the last couple of years has seen a dramatic downturn in the economy. Though our local and federal governments work in many ways to improve emplyoment and living conditions, many people can find themselves in untenable situations. Some of these people need ongoing help to allevieate their problems and some just need a hand because of temporary unemployment or unusual circumstances.

The Food Bank is a tremendous resource for our communities offering assistance in many cases where it would be difficult to get more formal assistance and this can be a valuable saftey net for the children that find themselves caught up in unfortunate situations. Many of the recipients of food donations are caught between jobs and many are working families just barely making ends meet. The Food Bank can make a dramatic difference in the lives of the children of these families.

However, the Food Bank can only provide these services if we have the manpower to pickup, sort, count, pack, cook, prepare, deliver, and hand out donations. As well, if we dont have manpower to answer phones and emails as well as all the little clerical things that goes along with providing these services then everything stops in it's tracks. So if you can make some time once a week or even once a month here in Kansai or in Spokane WA,  please let us know. Your community will be just a little better place because of it!

Hey guys, hope all is well!!

Just wanted to inform everyone this Saturday we are having our monthly party this Saturday!

Sep. 1st Saturday 19:30~

@Fushimi Kozmoz Center(5 min. walk from Keihan Fushimimomoyama station)

¥1000- All you can eat, Beer ¥400, Cocktails ¥100

We are bringing back Cocktail Night!! All cocktails are ¥100 hope to see everyone there!

The people are real, the needs are real, and the needs wont go away until there are some fundamental changes made in our society. These people are not homeless, they are hard working mothers, fathers and elderly trying to stretch their bugets to make it through to the next month. An everly large number are elderly, their fixed budgets decimated by inflation.

As real as this need is, the needs around us go completely unnoticed by so many of us…

I had a call the other day highlighting this point quite well. As a manager of a department in a food company, this fellah is articulate, educated, intelligent, personable, and at the same time completely disconnected from a great contingient of the community in which he lives. The call was to express concern about where the donations from his company was going.

We had a nice discussion and I explained to him the nature of our PANTRY project and the value of supporting not only homeless and orphans but being a support to young families and disenfranchised elderly and how this serves to make them better citizens for better communities. 

The plight of the working poor is still something a large percentage of the population really doesnt understand, and the rate of growth and the societal risks of this growing segment of the population poses for the future is something that needs to be on everybodies radar.

Until these problems are addressed and this skyrocketing share of the population begins to shrink, we will be there daily, bringing hope through fresh fruits, vegetables and bread products.