Monday, April 5, 2010
Organic Farmers fight Injustice in Paldang and a visit to Slow Food Korea
Posted by Hilary D at 1:13 AMA Field Trip for Big Kids
Last week I came across the Seoul Study Group , a discussion group that seeks to inform itself on global issues. It meets once a month, and luck had it they were focusing their discussion this month on issues related to organic agriculture in Korea. We were a group of over 20 students and two professors: Layne Hartsell (school of global studies at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul) and Dean of Liberal Arts and Chul-Kyoo Kim (Vice dean of Liberal Arts at Korea University) who facilitated the day's discussion.
We took the train to Paldang, an area to the West of Seoul. There Kim Byun Su, an organic farmer of the region met us and guided us around the area. He took us to a place he called "Yangsu" or the meeting point of the Bukhangang and Hamhangang River. Here come together in Paldang Lake and become one great river, which is the Han river. It flows from this point through the middle of Seoul, and empties into the Yellow Sea. It is of particular importance because it is the main source of tap water for 20 million people of the greater metropolitan area of Seoul. When Government Policy Clashes with Farmers...
The land around Paldang Lake, called Namyangju, was a very interesting history. Dating back to the Neolithic age, it as been used primarily for agriculture, ideal due to its fertility and mild weather. Even until this day, agriculture is the dominant trade. In 1975, the farming community received a great shock. Korean government enforced regulations designed to protect the water by means of restrictions regarding activities on land along the river. The regulations caused great hardship on the people living there, unable to carry out seemingly benign projects such as house repair, or construction of additional farm buildings. For 20 years, the government labeled this situation the "Sacrifice of the Minority for the Greater Good of the Majority." In 1995 however, an exciting solution was created by means of the establishment of a farming co-op which would provide support to farmers who agreed to grow organic crops. It was perfect: growing safe food that supported a healthy biosphere and protected the water quality. Korea's greatest organic farming community was born, and is the source of 70% of the organic produce sold in Seoul. An additional sign of success is the fact that this area was chosen to host the upcoming 2011 World Organic Conference. One of the primary reason for its selection, was Korea's internationally recognized use of greenhouses to maximize sunlight.
Unfortunately for this tight-knit community of farmers, their political hardships are not over. Abruptly in 2009, the Korean national government announced its $18 billion dollar Four Rivers Restoration Project. The goal of this policy to enhance water security, support ecosystem health, introduce enhanced flood control, and create spaces for eco-friendly tourism. This is a proactive project in reaction to concerns about global warming and the potential of water scarcity. On the surface it appears to be a very responsible, and forward-thinking government policy. However, in order to carry out the details of this complex project, the government has sent eviction notices to all the farmers living the Namyangju area. The reason? To convert the farmland into a city park. There was no time for disbelief, as surveyors came to assess the land, followed by demolition crews. Section by section, farming land has been taken, and the last area remaining intact is the area of Paldang. The only reason for its survival is due to the vigilant activism and farmer protests.
Kim Byun Su is one of the organic farmers of this community. He has been fasting to protest the planned developments of the region. He is also a Christian religious leader. Religious leaders and farmers have come together to protect the land. If you ask them, they say "We all support life. All we ask is to let us continue doing as we have been, protecting life." Legally, Kim told us, they only have a few more months to stand their ground. He explained that the general Korean public wasn't informed or didn't understand about this conflict, and that the farmers' voices were not being heard. To add international pressure, the organizers of International Organic Conference (scheduled to be hosted here in 2011) wrote to the governor of Seoul, informing him that if he does not stop this measure, they will move the conference elsewhere.In May of 2009 there was physical conflict with police when surveyors' attempts to measure the land were blocked by farmers. A similar confrontation in November of 2009 led to the arrests of eleven farmers. They spent one day in jail and were subsequently released: there was no legal base for their arrests. Kim says, that very soon, the only option will be to lie down in front of the machines coming to demolish the farms.
Slow Food KoreaWe took our leave of Kim Byun Su, and traveled to Slow Food Culture Center of Korea. For those of you unfamiliar with Slow Food, this is a movement started in the 1980s in Italy in reaction to the harmful affects of fastfood production not only on the health of our bodies, but our land, biodiversity, community, and culture. Its aim is to re-establish the connection between those who grow food, and those who consume it.
During our tour of the museum, our guide asked us if we knew what season grapes were ripe. He explained that in Korea, the season was September, but when school children were asked the same question, they never can answer correctly. Like most other countries in the world, Koreans are becoming detached from the natural food cycles, as international food markets allow for the same food to be "in season" year round. Our guide touched on the mysteries of industrial food, such as its miraculous ability to stay fresh (or not spoil) for absurd amounts of time, the miraculously short time required to grow food these days, and the mystification of ingredients by the difficult names assigned to them. We were told that in Korea, if you eat three typical meals in Korean restaurants, you are probably consuming on average 250 added chemicals that keep food cheap and delicious.
After the tour of the museum, we were served a savory lunch, cooked by the resident chef of Slowfood. Everything we ate was not only organically grown, but locally as well. In keeping with the attention to detail and quality spent on growing the food, the meal was prepared in such a way that you could appreciate the individual flavors each component provided. We ate fresh salad greens, two kinds of kimchi, mandu (dumpling) soup, and washed it down with a special herb tea. For desert there was a selection of treats, including cookies made with Korean flour, a rarity to find here! After lunch, we had wrap-up lecture and discussion led by our professors. Seoul Study Group Discusses:
- The failure of the free market is not simple supply and demand: Although food is a very basic need, not everybody can have food, making this a social issue in addition to an economic and environmental one. In contradiction to the promises of the free market, liberal economic policies have not been successfully applied to agriculture. Data shows that there is actually a 10% surplus of food available in the world, but due to faulty distribution, large portions of the world population go hungry, whereas a minority is growing obese. Markets are socially constructed and politically controlled exchanges, dominated by monopolies belonging to agro-food companies who hold deep ties with the pharmaceutical industry. The combination of these factors makes "free trade" impossible to attain.
- International food markets = national food insecurity: The rise of food prices in 2008 has made the issue of food and how it is produced a primary debate all over the world. When a country becomes dependent on a global food market, their population (in particular the poorest percentile) become prey to any volatility in prices. As Korea became increasingly integrated with the global food market, it resisted pressure by the WTO to allow free market competition in regards to the sale of rice. Rice is a traditional staple of Korean agriculture and diet. To this day, 100% sold in Korea is produced domestically, and this has helped insulate Korea from global food fluctuations. In comparison, only .2% of wheat is grown domestically in Korea, (which is why the cookies we were served for dessert at Slow Food were so special.) As the Korean diet changes to include more pasta, noodles, and bread, this will make the country increasingly vulnerable to price changes.
- Its about the process: There are aspects of the Four River Project mentioned earlier that are mostly beneficial, while there are others that appear to have a quite negative impact. What's important when carrying out project of this size is the process. Citizens should be able to participate in the decision process. As caretakers of the land, they have local knowledge of the area, and can provide beneficial knowledge that will allow policy makers to arrive at the best possible solution for all the actors (both human and non-human) involved.
- Individual decisions become political and ecological acts: Although most of us identify ourselves as simple consumers, we are in the words of Slow Food, "co-producers". It is in our power to connect directly with producers of our food, and support the farming practices we believe in. In addition to making personal contacts with farms (through organisations such as Slow Food and WWOOF) we should try to eat local food. Ask where your food comes from, and choose domestic product over international ones. If you are not sure, research the seasonal foods, and buy according to the plants that should naturally be available in that climate. When possible In Korea, there are farmers co-ops that are becoming increasingly popular. Look and join one servicing your area. Below are examples of what to keep an eye-out for when looking for Korean organic produce. Ask for "요기농" (yo-gi-nong):
Food for Thought
Organic farming is the complete opposite of industrial food production. Its goal isn't to make money, but to support life and allow natural relationships between interacting organisms grow and nurture each other. The conflict in Paldang is an unfortunate and preventable destruction of these delicate relationships. Communities must be educated about how their food decisions affect not only their stomachs, but their water, their neighbors, their community, and even national and international politics. Growing and consuming food is not a one-way relationship, but a complex web of inter-relationships. To demonstrate this, one anecdote told by our Slow Food museum guide, sticks with me. It is a story about Korean farming long ago. Before, he said, the Korean farmers would plant beans. They would make a hole in the ground, and not put one seed inside, but three. One was for the birds, one was for the worm, and the last one was for the farmer. In today's world filled with increasingly conflicting interests, we should remember this lesson that supporting other systems of life is ultimately supporting ourselves.
Organic farming is the complete opposite of industrial food production. Its goal isn't to make money, but to support life and allow natural relationships between interacting organisms grow and nurture each other. The conflict in Paldang is an unfortunate and preventable destruction of these delicate relationships. Communities must be educated about how their food decisions affect not only their stomachs, but their water, their neighbors, their community, and even national and international politics. Growing and consuming food is not a one-way relationship, but a complex web of inter-relationships. To demonstrate this, one anecdote told by our Slow Food museum guide, sticks with me. It is a story about Korean farming long ago. Before, he said, the Korean farmers would plant beans. They would make a hole in the ground, and not put one seed inside, but three. One was for the birds, one was for the worm, and the last one was for the farmer. In today's world filled with increasingly conflicting interests, we should remember this lesson that supporting other systems of life is ultimately supporting ourselves.
2 Comments:
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February 1, 2012 at 4:39 PM
I've learned a lot of things with this field trip and discuss some facts regarding agricultural business.May 25, 2012 at 3:24 PMAre you still blogging?
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