News from Japan has dropped off the radar as more important stories have moved up the USA headline list. I was texting with an acquaintance in Japan as he continued to beat me in Words With Friends. He is an American who lives and teaches in the center of Japan. Roughly 12 hours before there had been another 7.3 earhtqualke, which is not unusual. The nuclear plant was unaffected and most citizen’s took it in stride.
I asked him for an update on the average citizen’s situation after the tsunami and nuclear accident.
He’s worried about radiation exposure in the food his kids are eating. The Japanese government assures their citizen’s of the food supply’s safety. But, as any thinking person would, he doubts the official word. Kids in the Fukushima prefecture have already been found to have radiation exposure. He doesn’t know how far the radiation has spread.
His wish is for a Geiger counter. What?
That caught me a little off guard. Like most people I have a mental list of things I’d like to buy. Like an iPad2 or a bigger Big Screen TV. Geiger counter hasn’t made my list. Has it made yours? His comment made me feel a little guilty for letting the problems of our Japanese friends drop off my personal radar. If you’re feeling content with your life wherever you happen to live around the globe, just remember that in an instant everything could change. I frankly don’t have any answers about what we can do for these folks. If you do, share your thoughts in the comments section at the end of the article.
But I do know I’m at least going to keep them in mind and search the news for what’s going on there. I’ll send some more money to the American Red Cross to supplement their work there in conjunction with the Japanese Red Cross.
Here are a couple of interesting stories I’ve found. Click on the photos to read from the source…
Demand for personal Geiger counters soars in Japan
Oregon Advertising Studio Tracks Fukushima Radiation. Establishes website which collects information from multiple sources.
Three months on from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan’s northeast coastline on March 11, 2011, the Red Cross remains focused on helping to improve living conditions for many of the 98,000 people remaining in evacuation centers - most of which are situated in the hardest hit prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate.
For updates on what’s happening today in Japan try JAPAN TODAY or News On Japan
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Off The Mainstream 
I do a lot of shopping in Asian food markets here in my U.S. area. It had started occuring to me recently that the food chain surely is contaminated now. I dont want to eat contaminated imported food so…. I guesse Ill have to refrain from shopping asian groceries.
In a way, your post just confirmed my suspisions.
The food safety of imports is a valid concern. However, Asia is a big place and Japan is only a tiny part of it. The primary concern is for the food that is produced and consumed within the island. I would be sad to see Asian markets in the US negatively impacted by concerns of food safety. That being said I can sympathize with your concerns. I’m not a big fan of the efficacy of the FDA but you might want to check the link below and also do some searches of import food safety. I’m sure not an expert. I don’t even play one on TV.
http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/publichealthfocus/ucm247403.htm
hey thanks for the link! I bookmarked it for later. (its a lot to read)
I would say that even within Japan there is only a small area that has really been affected, and who’s food you might want to be concerned about. That would be food from the Tohoku region (and even only a small part of that area), and I have never known food from this area to be sold around where I am from in North America… Although who knows? It may be there.
In any case, just because you’re shopping at an ‘Asian market’ doesn’t mean that the food being sold there is from ‘Asia’ anymore than an ‘American’ supermarket sells food exclusively grown, assembled or produced in ‘America.’ It might be a better idea to take a look at the individual products and their ingredients. 🙂
In the meantime, the Red Cross seems to be a good route for anyone wanting to help out with donations.
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