Goodbye Seoul

And that is that. The 4th Regional La Via Campesina Youth Assembly is over, and we all had an amazing experience.

I immersed myself for 4 days with about 20 amazing people working in numerous activist means towards food sovereignty in the South-East Asia region.

We acknowledged the tremendous societal, economic, scientific, political and ideological barriers that exist in the region and the world that are delaying sustainable agricultural and national food sovereignty. This, however, has been going on since LVCs inception in 1993, and not once have they stopped and said that their goal is unachievable.

The last 4 days are a true representation of what young people involved in the food and activism sector can do for the future of this world. They are all leaders, they are all great thinkers, they are all great learners, they are all amazing people, they are all global citizens. Together they came together and discussed their progress in the last year, and suggested an action plan for the year to come.

We all acknowledge the difficulties farmers with less than 1HA of land may have when trying to acquire more land. Exploitative neo liberal policies that have plagued countries since the end of WW2 have made it virtually impossible to legally reclaim land from the large private owners. This is, however, changing, as we saw from one of the groups who was able to legally obtain land titles back for a farmer group.

Groups are also encouraging the optimal use of that 1HA of land. Numerous scientific and social projects are being developed to facilitate peasant farmer's knowledge of agroecology. Transition takes time, it has proven to be a highly more cost  effective, ecologically and socially clever way of farming in certain regions of SE Asia.

This years LVC Youth Assembly opened my eyes and mind. I rapidly built close relationships with food sovereignty thinkers and activist from the region, all of who I plan to email upon my return to Australia to maintain the contact. This group of young people are truly inspirational and I wish I was able to give back to society at least 10% of what these groups do. Respect, in every possible way.

And with this, I say goodbye.

This blog was great for me (was it for you?). It was fun and serious. It gave me an excuse to use my laptop. It created an avenue for reflection on the activities and ideas that came up throughout the assembly.

I sincerely hope my work here has planted a seed in what will be future relationships between Reciprocity and SE Asia food sovereignty networks.

Thank you so much to all those that read, I owe you all beers.

Blog will be quiet for a while as I go back to work and craziness on Monday.

But who knows.... I am constantly ranting inside my head.... why not just add it on blogger ;)?

FD

the after-party!!!!

In true Korean style, the hosts threw us an unbelievable after-party.    

        

About 40 people (see photo). We had an amazing banquet of Korean food – it just kept coming, hats off to the Chefs who spent the last 3 days cooking for us.

There was so much happiness in the room. Despite the depressing topic of food sovereignty and neo-liberal global dominance, not once did the participants feel they could not achieve what they are fighting for. 

The atmosphere for the entire 3 days was incredibly optimistic, and the after-party clearly showed how happy everyone is to be doing this for a living.

Had rice wine and then the beer came out.

And this is what happened……………… : )!

    (Banquet)

     (Koren beer)

    The International Delegation

  (I think this photo encapsulates everything that I am!)

FD

Day 5: Birthday party and facilitations!

Got thrown a surprise brithday party last night: ice cream, fruit and beer provided. So good!

Gave my presentation today, had good responses; people seemed interested.

Discussed how to further engage youth in the coming year. All existing activities will be maintained, but I liked these two other proposals:

1. Promote agriculture as a job rather than a burden... build an understanding of how it can be an 8 hour work day like everyone else in the cities has (yes, it is difficult, however a lot of people own only small farms and projects can encourage young people to manage time effectively)
2. Engage further with the university sector, as they can provide training and knowledge on alternative farming methods

I suggested establishing yearly Facebook or Blog sites for the Youth Assemblies so that the outcomes can be shared with the other LVC assemblies in other regions.

Spent the afternoon facilitating :)! Small group with representatives from Japan, Thailand and Philippines.

 
Everyone is pretty worn out; been sitting in discussions and presentations for the last 2 days.

Off to Seoul tomorrow morning.

FD

Afternoon session, day reflections

Afternoon sessions

Had presentations on the international context of agriculture, Indonesia, Cambodia, more updates on proposed changes in Japanese society in a post-nuclear world, Women's involvement in Korean farming systems, and a youth leader from Thailand.

Again, all inspiring and interesting. These activists truly devote their lives to changing the food production system.

What has amazed me the most is the way they have framed their activism: they have all clearly identified a particular issue, what the root problems are, and are suggesting changes.


Day's reflection:

There key issues that kept coming up:

• land grabbing
• lack of property rights
• young people are leaving the country
• Neo-liberal government policies
• Loss of culture, tradition and environmental health due to free trade agreements
• Government does not encourage non-industrial agriculture

Positive achievements:

• in Thailand, groups have manage to legally reclaim land that belongs to peasants.
• Students in Indonesia and Cambodia are expressing interest in non-chemical based agriculture
• Numerous workshops and filed trips have been successfully attended

Main 2 ideas that drive change:

• Technological Education (that is, cutting dependency from multinational corporations and researching ecosystem based farming methods)
• Political education: empowering rural youth and women to have the capacity to communicate and create a political dialogue can build a more equitable and long lasting food system

It was good to see a shared understanding of alternative and positive futures:

Presentations suggested lifestyle and social change is essential for a better future. In Japan, they are encouraging non-energy incentive lifestyles to cut dependency from nuclear reactors for energy. So, rather than directly targeting the energy producers, they are targeting the people that drive that industry.

The same was mentioned about food consumption. A number of groups are encouraging local consumption to preserve cultural connection to the land as well as human health.

And most importantly every single group has acknowledged that the change they are achieving is not immediate and will take years to build; everyone has been positive about achieving it.

Overall, it was a very positive day, even though it is clouded by anger and hate towards WTO and FAO policies, Monsanto, Neo-liberal economics and unjust land policies, no one expressed angry in their speeches. Rather, the outlined their achievements and encouraged a shared building of food activism int he South East Asia Region.

OH, AND...!

I didn't present, as it is 6pm and everyone is tired :). I am on tomorrow morning.

Time to try find a beer (or rice wine?) in this village to let brain shut down.

FD

Morning session update

9am-1.30 PM

Had a series of 20-30 minute presentations from: Thailand Assembly of the Poor, East Timor Peasant Movement leader, Philippines Peasant Movement representative and Korean Peasant league representative.

Each presented the current status of their countries social movement, as well as the politics of the country.

Fact learnt: 47% of Philippines is agricultural land, but most of it is owned by ultra-rich families in very colonial style properties. There is serious exploitation of farmers who do not have property rights over any land. (note, no reference provided)

Fact learnt: over60% of South Korean farmers are 65 years or older - putting a big question mark on the future of food production in the country. Hence the state is turning into the global market and an import based food system

Like everywhere in the world, one of the biggest problems is young people moving to the city and not returning to the land. A series if skill building and agricultural promotion activities are being carried out to try and get more young people involved in farming.

There seems to be very little incentive to convert to more sustainble modes of production just due to the large difficulties in being a small scale farmer - idea is to cut ties from multi-national coorporations and change government policies through time. With this, new agricultural mechanisms which are more ecologically friendly will grow.

Quotes I liked: 

"More than worsening our environment, we are just worsening our common sense. We must change this"

"Agriculture is not just food production: it creates culture, cares for the environment, preserves society in a region - it is fundamental to us"

FD

·         

 

·        

Beginning of day 4 (my birthday and that..!)

8.50 am: Getting ready for presentations (9-6pm).

Each member from each country will give a 20 minute presentation on what they have achieved this year and what they have planned for the next one.

I am the very last presenter; will discuss the Venezuela model and the Reciprocity project.

Like always, its very hot.

FD

Day 3: Field Trips

This is only an executive summary of my day’s learning’s. 

Executive Summary

• Morning spent talking to an Agent Orange Activist Group. Their overall goal is simple: To get the US and SK Governments to acknowledge of the damage they have done to the area due to the burying of AO. 250 drums, each 55gallons, have been buried in one specific site near prime agricultural and urban areas. Although not many effects have been noticed yet, the drums are likely to leak and pollute soil and waterways

• There is a huge US military presence in SK. Enough said.

• 2^nd site was in a river near Wae Kwan. 8 mini dams have been built to prevent flooding, improve water quality (unsure what science the government used there..) and ensure water security. Flooding has still happened, and a number of bridges have collapsed due to a change in water flows. Financial fail. Ecologically, large amount of disturbance has occurred in the sandy bottom, as large quantities of sand has been removed.

• 3^rd field trip was by far the most inspiring. Certified organic WWOOF Farmer. Pears, peaches and rice. 20 years as a farmer, 10 as organic. Although he sees it as a challenging industry, particularly as there is not a huge organic market in Korea and he deeply relies on his loyal customers, he was very well off. He encouraged all participants to learn about more ecologically sound farming methods.

• Food is still good; however I must admit I am not a fan of fish for breakfast.

• Had my 1^st beer in 2 days – relief when you’ve been outdoors in 32 degree weather.

PHOTOS

FD

Day 2: Sangju City and Village

Got picked up by organizers and went to bus terminal. Bus was 2.5 hours, very smooth trip

Read a paper by Miguel Altieri on the bus. Learnt about the phenomenal achievements Cuba has had in absolutely slashing their dependency on foreign chemicals and technology for agriculture.  

Overall a get to know each other day. Swapped some business cards. Sightseeing around Sangju.

The region is one of the prime agricultural areas of South Korea, mainly rice.

FACT LEARNT: Korea produces sufficient rice to feed itself; however due to WTO regulations they are forced to open up to the global market and they must import rice. Korean people are therefore eating both local and imported rice. Seems crazy to me. 

The representatives from Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Cambodia and East Timor are all here. 

All them are full time workers and volunteers in various organisations that promote small scale farming and local production.

The one from the Philippines was interesting: they are using art, music, songs and culture to encourage the next generation of children from farming families to stay on the land rather than move to the cities.

All the food for the next 4 days will be local: produced from the farmers in the village and adjacent vicinities. Should be great.

Time to sleep.

FD

Day 1 in Seoul

Had Korean breakfast - fish soup and vegetables.

Spent the morning at a cafe (nice coffee!) using the city-wide free wi-fi and preparing the presentation.

Replied to emails.

THEN I explored Seoul a bit. Hundreds of things to do. Went to the epic Namdamum Market, huge. Had a fried bread thing with vegetables in it. Cheap and yum; but don't know what its called.

Spend the afternoon in Yongsan Park, very nice walk, and then went to the National Museum of Korea.

Rest of afternoon: Mango smoothie and internet.

Assembly starts tomorrow - looking forward to it. People have already expressed their interest in Reciprocity and want to learn about Venezuela - hope I can do it justice!

The underground system is amazing!!

FD

Arrival in Seoul!

Finally arrived. 4am wakeup in Sydney, 9pm arrival in Seoul. Cathay Pacific airlines treated me very nicely.

Had drink and dinner in Sydney with 2 uni friends - good to see everyone is already doing great things in the sustainability field!

Read some great papers and book chapters to get my brain in food sovereignty mood.

Thoroughly recommend the following:

• Wittman, H. Desmarais, A. Wiebe, N. (Eds). 2010. Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community. Fernwood Publishing
• Desmarais, A. 2008. The Power of Peasants: Reflections on the Meanings of La Via Campesina. Journal of Rural Studies. Issue 24: 1380149
• Altieri, M. Toledo, VM. 2011. The Agroecological revolution in Latin America: Rescuing nature, enrusing food sovereignty and empowering peasants. Journal of Peasant Studies. 38:3, 587-612

 Very interestng reads on the potential of smal farmer movements accross the globe of achieving a more local and sustainable food system.

Watched Source Code, Predators, X-Men Origins and Inception on the plane
In Seoul:

After a 15 hour flight, I got picked up at the airport. They dropped me off in my hotel room at 10pm, and then we immediatly went out for some Korean garlic chicken (SO MUCH GARLIC), and... yes, you know it: beer! 3 litre jugs here - amazing

Exploring Seoul and preparing presentation today.

FD