Probably for the same reason strategically placed tea reserves all around china just incase someone wants to steal it "all"...the idea of Japan having a massive underground cave complex for rice is amusing to me for some reason. I know its not how it works but the next big earthquake could open up a lava flow and produce a giant rice krispy field and then we'd just have to lure the stay-puff marshmallow man into that field...
Is there a list of food reserves that each country maintains? I feel like that would be an interesting/funny cultural insight. Like the US Cheese Stockpile or the Canada Maple Syrup Reserve.
Gotta include the at-home stocks which is going to be harder/more variable to measure.
Though if you have diversity in your crop production, usually when one thing does badly, something else does better, especially if your country is big.
When COVID first hit, I did an estimate of how much food I had on hand (without even intentionally trying to stockpile) and I figure I could live 6-8 months without leaving.
