Surin Farmers Support Editor Profile

Thanks for visiting our blog - Surin Farmers Support (SFS) has now registered as a foundation in Thailand and has been renamed the Community for Agroecology Foundation (CAE). With generous support from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) and the Embassy of Japan, CAE has greatly expanded both it's work with urban consumers in Surin and farmer-to-farmer training programs throughout the Isaan region.

To contact the CAE coordinator, Thanya Sangubon, or for more information about our work, please e-mail - thanya_sangubon@yahoo.co.th or caesurin@gmail.com

Your interest and support is greatly appreciated, together we can work for a global, sustainable food system! Below is a short history of this blog:

Surin Farmers Support (SFS) has always sought to create international relationships through solidarity and support. However, English language skills have always been a limitation for creating these kinds of connections. From Summer 2008-2009, SFS hired Bennett Haynes to work on their local food campaign, organic farming education program and develop the SFS blog/website. This site serves as an up-to-date record of SFS programs, but is also a tool for promoting SFS to an English speaking audience. Thailand’s organic farmers may not yet be skilled Internet users, but SFS believes their voices must be heard and their experiences are an important example of where sustainable agriculture is headed in Southeast Asia.

The story behind this blog represents the unique relationships that SFS has formed over the years. Over the last 5 years, SFS has worked with CIEE Khon Kaen, an exchange-based study abroad program aimed at engaging students with social and environmental issues in Northeast Thailand (called the Isaan region). Food systems are a focus of the program, and CIEE works with Thailand’s Alternative Agriculture Network (AAN) – of which SFS is a member – to exchange directly with small-scale producers pursuing sustainable agriculture and Fair Trade. CIEE alumni make up the backbone of a grassroots network for social change, called ENGAGE - which seeks to build connections across borders and support the efforts of young community activists and organizers. Via CIEE and the AAN, the relationship between SFS and ENGAGE has grown over the past 6 years – ENGAGE members have organized 7 different speaking tours in the U.S. focusing on Fair Trade, trade justice and sustainable agriculture. The reciprocal relationships within our network help to create opportunities for education and hands-on work.

A graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in the spring of 2008, Bennett (above, threshing rice) has set out to support both the local and international efforts of Surin Farmers Support, as well as Thailand’s larger Alternative Agriculture Network (AAN). Having spent time working with small-scale organic farmers in the U.S. and Thailand, he is currently working to create stronger, more long-term networks between the sustainable agriculture movement in Thailand and abroad. Bennett is now working with the AAN based in nearby Yasothon province - please visit our new blog/website at aanesan.wordpress.com

For more information about SFS or would like to support our work, please contact - bennett.haynes@gmail.com or sfsfarmer@hotmail.com