[Global to Local] Urban Farmer Jon Walsh: Growing a Legacy in Tokyo

Kiwi Jon Walsh is the director of Business Grow, a Tokyo-based urban farming and sustainability consultancy. The long-term resident of Japan started out in the publishing industry, before becoming interested in urban farming a decade ago. He now works with international schools, businesses, and individuals, helping others to discover how easy it is to grow their own food – and to learn why this can create lasting change for the wider community.

What does urban farming mean to you?

Urban farming is about raising awareness of and encouraging good health, improving self-sufficiency, boosting disaster preparedness, and helping protect the environment. The ability to pass on these skills has been fundamental to fueling my move into the field. My motivation is coming from a strong desire to do something positive for the environment beyond simply talking about it and recycling plastic bottles.

Did you have any gardening experience growing up?

I had only grown a fern as a teenager; that was the extent of my gardening experience.

What was the catalyst for your interest in growing food?

My perception of food underwent a seismic change (pun intended!) when the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami hit in March 2011, which was about two weeks after a deadly quake hit Christchurch in New Zealand. I quickly realized that food sources should be sustainable and local, not in some distant warehouse or being trucked in from a farm. It was then that I decided to focus on food and creating more sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyles.

Sowing the Seeds of the Future

What was your first step?

I sowed spinach seeds at home in a pot and a plant grew. I quickly created a home garden, then began renting a plot in a local community garden – for just ¥5,000 yen per year. By the end of the summer of 2012, I had grown over 1,000 tomatoes and 200 cucumbers, as well as loads of other vegetables and herbs. I was blown away!

How did this develop into your current business?

I first had the idea of teaching children when I showed my four-year-old daughter how to sow seeds in 2012. I contacted the head of Tokyo International School (TIS) and offered to set up 10 planter boxes and start growing food for free. I was hired to teach urban farming virtually on the spot. Accepting this challenge totally changed my life.

What challenges did you face in turning your vision into a concrete program?

The biggest challenge was that I had absolutely no resources to teach with. I needed some and quickly, so over the next three months I created 10 urban farming lessons, ranging from how to sow seeds and transplant seedlings, to upcycling thrown-away items into planting containers, and vertical farming (growing food on surfaces such as fences and walls).

So you pivoted from a writing career to urban farming?

I’m still very much involved in writing and publishing, as well as in urban farming. In fact, I’m running two careers side-by-side, and the former has now unofficially become the PR arm of the latter.

Future Gardeners Unite

Where does urban farming fit into the school curriculum?

Urban farming isn’t a mainstream subject at most international schools. I’ve introduced programs and workshops from scratch at 14 schools now. Some have integrated it into their science curriculum, while other schools have run it as a community support activity.

How do you curate your programs for a wide range of students?

I have taught students ranging from kindergarteners to university students. I specifically tailor my lessons to the age group I am teaching. Lessons for younger students will be mainly instructor-directed, whereas I will give older students more choices and flexibility in terms of what plants they want to plant where, garden design, and so on.

Where are you at now with your programs?

Demand for my urban farming training is going through the roof! I’ve taken on an instructor who is now co-teaching with me and helping me expand into other schools.

How can starting young with this knowledge benefit students later on in life?

Every bite matters, especially in terms of where the food we eat comes from and how it is grown. I am fully aware that many students will not immediately start a garden and grow food. What I am doing, however, is teaching them skills, giving them confidence, and sowing seeds in their minds of what is possible at some point in the future.

Community Connections through Urban Farming

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your work?

The pandemic has been a blessing and a curse. School restrictions meant I had to put a hold on all my urban farming programs for nearly two years, while at the same time, the pandemic was driving a massive global spike in interest in urban farming.

Many companies have incorporated SDGs and sustainability into their mission statements and CSR activities. How can they ensure they are meeting targets, and not just greenwashing?

Talk is cheap; anyone can do that and greenwashing is negatively impacting peoples’ faith in “going green.” Making a business more sustainable is a real challenge, I think. Besides promoting internal changes, they could throw their support behind one of the many emerging startups that have great ideas but perhaps insufficient funds to realize and bring them to market.

Speaking of finances, how are the programs at your schools funded?

As urban farming is not a mainstream subject in international schools, there is no funding for it. This usually means that schools have to juggle funds between budgets to pay for my programs. There may also be funding and timing issues based on when school financial years start and finish. However, if urban farming programs are to succeed, they should be launched in tune with Mother Nature’s growing seasons, not school calendar years.

You’ve had some exciting developments recently, haven’t you?

Yes! In 2019, I decided to try to jump all these hurdles by asking my Facebook network for funding so that I could at least partially broach school budget barriers. It worked, but it was only small-scale funding. Fast forward to 2022, and I heard from the founder of QUEST Tokyo  (a company providing families with a range of educational  services). She wanted to sponsor my school programs. This led to substantial sponsorship that has completely changed the game. I am hoping more businesses will get involved, as supporting school urban farming programs is a fantastic way to create positive publicity.

For more information on Jon's activities, visit Business Grow.

Louise George Kittaka is a bilingual writer and content creator from New Zealand. She writes for numerous media platforms and also lectures at Shirayuri Women’s University in Tokyo.