Open Collections

Ogura, Saori

University of British Columbia

Small grains cultivation historically contributed to humanity’s survival in different parts of the world, and has endured neglect as a viable crop in modern times, particularly as the emergence of modern industrial agricultural methods. While there has been reported decreased interest in small grains cultivation and a threat to the loss of traditional knowledge and the heirloom seeds, small grains cultivation has a key role in this time of uncertainty, given the small grains’ climate resilience, high nutritional value, and contribution to food security and food sovereignty. Using ethnography and an occupational perspective, this dissertation explores the meanings of small grains cultivation to older cultivators and younger community members in three communities in Japan. First, I use an integrative review method to understand what has been studied on traditional occupations and meaning in the existing occupational science literature. Second, I explore the meaning of small grains cultivation for 10 cultivators, to discover the reasons they continued the cultivation practice despite the laborious work and disdain by mainstream society. Third, I take a deep dive into exploring the meaning of small grains to a dedicated cultivator, presenting an individual case study that delineates how the traditional rotational farming contributes to maintaining biodiversity and forest restoration. Fourth, the meanings of small grains and related activities are explored for 10 younger community members whose involvement in small grains cultivation are transient, and outline important characteristics for how the traditional cultivation could be passed to younger generations. Fifth, using an arts-based method, I document the 20 community members’ responses to the documentary film that was created through interviews and participant observation of this study, allowing the research findings to return to the communities in an artistic, approachable format. This study supports the bridging of generational gaps and creates an unanticipated bond among the communities. This study highlights the important meanings neglected in this modern era and uncovers potential pathways to sustain the cultivation practice into the future, which would support land and community well-being. Importantly, this work provided a renewed sense of pride in community members’ engagement in the occupation of small grains cultivation.

Text; Moving Image

2024-09-05

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89171

Rehabilitation Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/