Naritoshi Takayama, right, agriculture counselor at the Japan Embassy, welcomes Islam Siddiqui, the former U.S. chief agriculture negotiator who is now a senior adviser on the Global Food Security project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Cathleen Enright, who recently left the Biotechnology Industry Organization, to become president of the Pet Food Institute. (Jerry Hagstrom/The Hagstrom Report)

The annual Japan Embassy food reception on July 9 featured Zen-Noh Waygyu beef from cattle which small-scale Japanese farmers wash, dry and brush daily to improve blood circulation

Each farmer feeds the cattle a recipe of rice straw, barley, corn and soybeans but no hormones.

Zen-Noh is Japan’s National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Association, which markets and supplies agricultural and livestock products of members, including Wagyu beef, for domestic and overseas consumption.