When Nancy Singleton Hachisu was growing up in California, vegetables came from a can and organic meant "grungy" produce in scattered, dusty shops, part of a tofu and tie-dyed universe.

Now a food-education leader for Slow Food Japan, a supporter of "more than organic," natural farming and the author of new cookbook "Japanese Farm Food," Hachisu admits, "Food has always been a part of my life, a part of my every day and my identity.