活動記録

第13回全国高等学校英語スピーチコンテスト出場

　第13回全国高等学校英語スピーチコンテスト（2月9日　国立オリンピック記念青少年総合センター　主催：全国英語教育研究団体連合会）に、四国ブロック代表として、寺尾琳子さん（農業生産科３年）が出場しました。
　先進国の中で特に低い日本の食料自給率を上げる一つの方法として、本校で学んだことや農業のアメリカ短期留学で学んだことをもとに、都市型小規模農業や、自分が取り組みたい農業について、四国ブロック代表選考会のスピーチにさらに磨きをかけて、ジェスチャーやアイコンタクトを効果的に用いて、英語で熱弁しました。残念ながら、４位までの入賞はできませんでしたが、スピーチコンテスト後のレセプションで、審査委員長の先生から「スピーチすばらしかったですよ」と声をかけていただき、いままで一生懸命に取り組んできた努力が報われる気がしました。
　本大会は、高校の英語スピーチコンテストにおいて、最もレベルの高い大会であり、全国大会に出場した18名のスピーチはどれもすばらしいものでした。

【結果】　
１位　文部科学大臣賞・文部科学大臣杯…田園調布雙葉高等学校2年（東京）
２位　読売新聞社賞…伊勢崎市立四ツ葉学園中等教育学校5年（関東甲信越）
３位　全英蓮会長賞…沖縄尚学高等学校2年（九州）

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 　　　　　　　　　　　（出場者と審査委員　集合写真）

                                     (大会後に記念撮影）

                          （大会後のレセプションの様子）

英語スピーチ原稿

63 %

TERAO Rinko

Nogyo KeieiSenior High School

Do you look at the food labels when you buy groceries at thesupermarket?  I always do.  Of course, I care about the prices, but Icare more whether the food is domestic or foreign.  I try to buy domestic products wheneverpossible.

My dream is to make Japan a sustainable agricultural country with a highfood self-sufficiency rate.

I am interested in food and agriculture.  My mom and I started a kitchen garden when Iwas twelve.  We grew tomatoes, cucumbers,okra, peppers, and more.  Of course, itdidn't work out in the first year, but I eventually grew delicious vegetablesby searching the Internet and getting advice from farmers.  The organic vegetables that my mom and I producedwere sweet and delicious, and I loved them.

I currently attend a high school that specializes in agriculture.  As my studies have progressed, I have becomeconcerned about the fact that Japan's food self-sufficiency rate issignificantly lower than that of other developed countries.  Last year, the calorie-based Japanese foodself-sufficiency rate was 37%.  In otherwords, 63% of Japan's food products depend on foreign imports.  63%.  Morethan half.  Japan's food self-sufficiencyrate has been around 40% for the past 20 years.  This is thought tobe a result of the westernization of meals and the decrease in the number ofagricultural workers in Japan.

So what's wrong with this low food self-sufficiency rate?

According to the United Nations, the current world population will soon increasefrom 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion.  The Africanpopulation is expected to double.  The wholeworld is expected to face food shortages.  Although Japan's population is decreasing,there is no guarantee that the country will be able to continue to depend onforeign imports at the current level in the future.

In their 2015 basic plan, the government set the food self-sufficiencyrate target at 45% by 2025.  To achievethis goal, they called for five actions, including eating “seasonal” food, usinglocal ingredients, and eating lots of vegetables.  However, it will be difficult to achieve thisgoal only with a government-led approach.

I went to Ohio, America, for a month to observe farming in a developedcountry with a high food self-sufficiency rate.  My host father there teaches Japanese atuniversity.  My host mother grows pesticide-freevegetables and fruits such as carrots, radishes, leafy vegetables, peaches, andblackberries.  I had a great time helpingher.  During my time with them, I becamemore interested in food and agriculture. I remember my host mother saying to me, “Rinko, I don’t want to be aconsumer who just buys something in the supermarket, cooks it and eats it.  I want to be a producer who makes some ofwhat I eat.  That's why I'm proud to liveby eating the vegetables I make. ''

In the future, I want to help to change Japan’s 63% foreign fooddependency rate.  I will study“next-generation agriculture,” which produces high-quality products in anenvironmentally friendly manner, at university. After graduating, I will work on promoting and improving agriculture inKagawa Prefecture, focusing especially on small-scale agriculture.  I would like to gain certification as an eco-farmer,and thus help to reduce the level of chemical fertilizer and pesticideuse.  I want to gain support through subsidiesand self-funding.  I would like to supplyvegetables which are chosen for their taste even if they are a little more expensivethan foreign ones.  And I want to sell themto local restaurants.  Raising the foodself-sufficiency level won’t be easy, but small-scale farming is one way to achieve it.

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