The "Antlers Food Education Caravan" is aimed at elementary school students in the five hometown cities. Its purpose is to give back to the community the knowledge of diet and exercise cultivated by a professional soccer club and to promote the healthy development and growth of children. It started as a project of the Antlers Hometown Council with the support of Showa Sangyo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kazuhiko Niitsuma), our official partner.
So far, we have visited elementary schools in the five hometown cities, conducting a total of 88 lectures over seven years, with 8,000 participating children. The pamphlets used in the lectures feature top team players every year, raising awareness about breakfast and the five major nutrients, introducing local ingredients from the five hometown cities, showing meal menus from the Antlers youth player dormitory, and demonstrating proper eating posture and how to hold chopsticks. In 2021, players such as Yu Funahashi, a youth academy graduate, Naoki Suto, and Yusuke Ogawa appear in the pamphlet.
This year's program will target nine elementary schools in Itako City and Namegata City starting in June, and classes are scheduled to be held online to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection.
■Achievements of the initiative (Number of schools / Number of participating children)
・2014: Kashima City (12 schools / 1,880 children)
・2015: Kashima City (12 schools / 1,078 children) Namegata City (6 schools / 880 children)
・2016: Hokota City (16 schools / 1,057 children)
・2017: Kamisu City (15 schools / 1,371 children)
・2018: Itako City (6 schools / 394 children)
・2019: Kashima City (12 schools / 911 children)
・2020: Hokota City (9 schools / 536 children)
・Total: 8,107 children
■Target schools for fiscal year 2021
・9 elementary schools in Itako City (5 schools) and Namegata City (4 schools)
■Implementation period
・June 29, 2021 - Late September 2021 (varies by school)
■This year's pamphlet
＜Itako City＞
Click here for the pamphlet
＜Namegata City＞
