27 November 2008
25 November 2008
The Food Justice Tour Interview with P Nok
Below we've included an abbreviated version of the tour de-briefing interview with P Nok. It's still a long post, but she's got a lot of important things to say about her experiences during the tour and where the work of ENGAGE currently stands. She also shares her opinions about food and agriculture in the U.S. Please feel free to post comments!
What does fair food mean right now in the U.S.?
I think that America - or at least the things that I got to see - hasn't yet spoken that clearly about fair food. There are three parts: organic, fair trade and local. I think that fair food and local are from the same line of thinking. Speaking about Fair Trade is speaking about trade between countries, or domestically, or an alternative market. Fair food, local food, comes from a way of thinking about what isn't fair - for example, if food comes from far away – maybe it doesn't have to come that far, or we can know the producers and know they definitely benefit. This is what distinguishes fair food... but fair food is still a big issue, we've got fair trade, organic and local food, all together, and maybe this is fair food.
Fair Trade and Fair Trade Organizations speak about trade, but not fair food. Fair food means more than Fair Trade; it is a bigger issue. First, consumers know the Fair Trade label, they know the organic label, and local, you know where it comes from, but organizations who work on these issues, they don't speak that much about fair food. But it is an issue they are starting to talk about more, same as our work here, we've talked about Fair Trade, but the biggest issue is the fairness of food, we've got consumers and producers, but we've also got laborers, management, but Fair Trade speaks only about farmers and producers. Fair food is more than this; there is more energy to this. We didn't speak about this that much. USFT [United Students for Fair Trade] spoke about fairness in trade, but not too much about fair food.
But the food crisis, this is an important issue to people in America, they are very interested in the prices that farmers are receiving, for example, maybe they want to know how cooperatives are doing, what their price situation is like, they don't know all the information about the market…
But USFT didn't talk about prices, USFT sought to create understanding among students - how do they understand Fair Trade, not trying solve the problems of farmers.
So maybe the students don't yet fully understand the meaning of Fair Trade?
The main idea was to give information to students about Fair Trade. On the tour, it wasn't clear to me that USFT was interested in this. They work on creating a relationship between students and understanding Fair Trade. There were producers groups from Rwanda, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Thailand that have problems with fair trade, but USFT didn’t give us an opportunity to speak about these. (Below, P Nok exchanges with USFT students about "making connections" in the trade system)
Returning to local food and this way of thinking, a lot of people are thinking, local food means regional food. For example, in January, we don’t have to eat bananas from Ecuador; it isn’t something we can plant here, so we shouldn't eat bananas from Ecuador. Maybe you couldn't eat the food in South Carolina ["soul food"], but that food is local. Do you agree with this?
Consumers need to work on 2 issues - support local food and support food from outside their area. Local food, maybe it’s not a lot, so you need to have food from outside come in, but here you need to use Fair Trade. I had Allyn check where the rice we ate came from - it was from California and came to South Carolina, but it came from a big farm that uses Mexican laborers - but Thai rice or Indian rice, there is an opportunity for it to come to South Carolina and connect with local food, it isn't something they don't have locally, but its fair food.
Ok, so you might decide to eat only foods that are grown locally, but this is hard, and maybe 30% is from outside your area, so you need to decide between fair food that is international and un-fair food that is domestic. Maybe the Fair Trade rice is from pretty far away, but you need to decide between these two options. I spoke about this at most events. With bananas, you don't have bananas in South Carolina, you might think, where else do we have bananas? In a lot of places…but where are they fair? Then they can support this option.
Thinking about local food as food that is the basis for our food culture...
America doesn't have a food culture – I concluded this with Shin, Stephanie and Amanda.
Really?
We talked about it, why do Americans eat Indian food, eat vegetarian, eat everything and eat it easily? Eat everything! We exchanged about this and decided that America doesn't have a food culture in terms of the flavor of foods, the culture about food. Thailand or Asia, has a culture about food production - its not like, Americans eat bread, so this is America's food culture, its not like that, culture is about the process of production and community connected to culture, more than what you eat, more than the flavors or food.
But about ENGAGE, what is the network like right now? Members of ENGAGE are working locally, in a lot of areas - is this good? Do you like this? Or, do you feel like the work of ENGAGE is reaching its goals?
Maybe ENGAGE has been working for the past 5 years, speaking about Fair Trade and organic farming. It’s the same here in Surin, for the past 10 years, but now we're speaking more about local food and fair food. ENGAGE still talks about Fair Trade and organic farming and isn't yet talking about fair food that much. I talked to Cash about this a lot, we met with PCUN [Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste] and other people in Portland - they eat food from farms that use 5,000 Mexican laborers. Cash understands Fair Trade and organic farming already, but she needs to connect with PCUN also. Help tell other people - maybe you don’t need to buy Fair Trade and organic food, but people need to know that food comes from farms that abuse Mexican laborers and ask themselves: will I buy this food? (Below, P Nok with a PCUN leader)
This is about food justice, right? Mexican laborers can work on these farms, but they need to earn fair wages.
PCUN is campaigning about the rights of laborers on these farms. Cash needs to connect with PCUN to strengthen the movement for fair food. Fair Trade - we've focused on producers and consumers, who are students. Yes, we've got farmers, but we've also got laborers. So before food reaches the hands of consumers, it's connected to a lot of issues. I want to suggest to ENGAGE, which has worked with farmers and students - not consumers, not a "consumer movement,” it’s working to connecting farmers with students - but this isn't enough, we should be working with laborers. Is that confusing?
If you asked ENGAGE - this is the success, to establish a network - like [Thai] NGOs in local areas throughout the U.S. - maybe we don't know how many people's ways of thinking we've changed, but we know that our experiences in Thailand changed our thinking and we’ve continued working for social change.
Right, students change their way of thinking and work for change in America. But for those who you speak with on tours, have you checked if you've changed their way of thinking? The process of changing other people's thinking needs to be organized - not just putting together tours - I don't know if this is really the perfect way of organizing. First, about tours, how much success have you had? Where is the connection to your work? When P Yae went on a tour with ENGAGE, how many universities did he speak with? University-by-university, have you checked where you've been successful? I spoke with 5 or 6 universities, I want to ask them: what's changed? Allyn's work is really good, working about food. I'm happy about this; I think he's successful. (Below, P Nok with Allyn Steele, students and members of the Glendale, South Carolina community)
His group is small, but they're definitely going to keep working. And this is connected to your tour as well.
This is a success. But other places - what's going on there? With Cash, how's it going? (Below, Cash and P Nok with Eric Scott and students from the Pangaea Project, which visited SFS in July)
If you went to San Francisco for 2 days and maybe one day, beside a speaking event at a university event, you sat and talked with Ellen, Beth, Alisa, Amanda and maybe 2 or 3 more people in the area and talked, exchanged - would it be beneficial?
You'd need to answer this: what does the movement need in San Francisco? I don't need to just go look at sustainable agriculture in the U.S.; I already did this in Japan. But it’s also a speaking tour, so when I speak it needs to help the movement in the local area. This has been the way of thinking for the 5 tours we've done. How do these experiences help the movement, locally? But, speakers on these tours are one part of the movement, it's really ENGAGE's movement. Once we're done with our speaking, those who are there, locally, what will they do next? It's not just drama, performance - we don't know if people like it or not - How do people benefit?
There should be a way to gather information from people in each area and know what their work is focusing on and how can we help their work? Where can we increase their work? I'm like a supplement to their work, not the basis. The people who are doing real work, they are the basis. It's like the seminar we hosted about climate change, we invited researchers and academics to speak - they spoke and then they moved on - but the people who kept working we're SFS staff and villagers. I want to explain that I'm like the academic at our climate change seminar, the people who keep working are ENGAGErs in that local area, whether its with NGOs or students, it doesn't matter.
If we don't work locally, why go?
I feel like, at Hidden Villa - we had just an hour and a half - and Amanda worked really hard and Hidden Villa hosted us well. But Amanda gave them a donation for the tour, and that's not a problem, but I didn't see the relationship between Hidden Villa and ENGAGE. When CIEE students come to Surin, they see the relationship between SFS and villagers. We work hard to show our relationship with villagers, show how we work with villagers. If you tell me that some students don't see the relationship, it's a problem.
But it's their problem, not ours. They look at SFS and think, what do they actually do? How do they do development? These students don't change their way of thinking about development. SFS "officers" are really facilitators, not an officer who comes and spends money, does projects in the village. Villagers are doing this themselves.
This is the commitment of NGOs, though for some NGOs, their image for their work is clear, but villagers have no role. We've learned from our experiences that villagers are the basis of our work. That you mention some students don't realize that SFS work with villagers is troubling to me.
Maybe after they visit SFS, they'll understand. But when they come to Surin, it's their first experience in Thailand and they don't understand how Thai NGOs work.
Back to the tour - This year, last year, SFS has been campaigning about local food a lot more. The campaign is SFS, the Alternative Agriculture Network [AAN], all the NGOs and villagers all together. The same is happening in the U.S. with local food. But maybe it’s also a situation where there already were local products in the market, but they weren't yet labeled as such. The movement has made supermarkets designate local products; this is one kind of movement. I think a lot of people are focusing on this kind of movement.
The lessons that you gained from the tour, from your experiences - how will you use them in your work? You've already said that the tour had benefits for you, but specifically, what information or experiences will you use here in Surin?
The first thing, I've realized its really important for me, and our work here, to use the phrase "fair food" more. Fair Trade is about rice, but fair food is more. The way Americans eat - they eat too much and then waste it. I was at the airport with Amanda, and they didn't have a small portion, only big portions and we couldn't eat all of it. We couldn't take it on the plane because the plane company wouldn't let us. We really didn't want to throw it away, so I put it what was left on the top of a garbage can. Then a black woman, who was a janitor at the airport, she walked up and asked, “Why are you putting the food here like this? I answered, “I can't throw it away because there’s so much left over.” Then she replied, "Do you know there are people outside of the airport that don’t have money to buy food? But the airport company exploits them, won't let them have the food. People who work at the airport want to take it home, but they aren't allowed to.” They have to throw away what they can't eat. This isn't fair, and there isn't an alternative. They only have large portions: we don't have a choice. The food companies need to earn a certain amount of money per portion. This American consumption problem is already in Thailand. (Below, beef and poultry at the food cooperative in North Carolina)
I think that Fair Trade is something we have to do, but fair food is something we have to talk about more. But, Bennett, you have to understand, we can't just change people's habits tomorrow, right? Maybe you have issues with 7-11 or Styrofoam packaging, but the truth is that you have to give people the opportunity to change. Our work regarding fair food with consumers, we can't just tell them, "don't do this, don't do that," it won't create any new participation. If we give them information, and explain, “the way that things are isn't fair, but this is what we need to do” - I gained this from my experience in America. I met with PCUN - this changed my way of thinking about these issues – it’s a situation where Americans are getting food through Mexican laborers. This doesn't come from my experiences in Thailand - this comes from America. Do people know about the problems Mexican laborers experience? This is the kind of experience that raised my understanding of fair food. (Below, peppers at the Portland farmers' market)
The second thing, it made the image of my work clearer. I saw the farmers' market in Portland, the cooperative in North Carolina; these experiences supplement my work here. Learning about work with college students, I gained new experience there. I've never spoken with students directly like this before, so as an NGO, this was a very new experience. Maybe I'll start thinking more about how we can work with students here. But they are only in school for four years, and this isn't a lot of time.
Speaking with producers and FLO [Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International], this made the noise of the unfairness in Fair Trade louder: I saw that, in the countries that came to USFT [Rwanda, Costa Rica, Nicaragua], they are interested in Fair Trade, but they don't understand Fair Trade. It’s the same in Thailand, a lot of groups get certified Fair Trade, but they don't understand, what does Fair Trade mean? This generated one problem I have with USFT - regarding these issues USFT isn't doing anything. (Below, P Nok with another producer at the USFT Convergence)
I'm going to write a letter to FLO about these issues. We have the right to tell FLO where things aren't fair. Producers tell students about the problems they encounter, but students don't tell FLO. I asked students, “Are you going to tell FLO?” They responded by asking producers, “Can students be on the FLO committee?” This isn't possible! They asked the producers from these four countries, “Can you suggest to FLO that students be on the committee?” This isn't possible! Is this really possible? Can students be on the FLO committee?
It’s not possible. But they don't need to be on the committee, they can examine things themselves.
They can examine things and continue to work with FLO. ENGAGE got 80 names of students to tell FLO that they need to solve these issues with producers. I suggested in the last part of the conference: these four countries, they all experience the same problems - Rice fund is fine, we know that we can consult with FLO if we have issues, and we can make our own choices. If Alter Eco isn't fair, we can tell them [Alter Eco], we have more power than producers in these four countries – but these other countries [Rwanda, Costa Rica, Nicaragua], they don't know where to go, and they just told students, “Fair Trade is bad, Fair Trade is bad!” I told them, “This doesn't solve any problems!” This was an experience that brought us [producers] together and realized we need to help each other to solve issues in the Fair Trade system. Together we are going to write a letter to FLO.
I’m looking forward to helping with this letter. Thanks for your time, P’ Nok!
No problem, I hope my words will be of use to ENGAGE.
P Nok with ENGAGErs at the USFT Convergence
What does fair food mean right now in the U.S.?
I think that America - or at least the things that I got to see - hasn't yet spoken that clearly about fair food. There are three parts: organic, fair trade and local. I think that fair food and local are from the same line of thinking. Speaking about Fair Trade is speaking about trade between countries, or domestically, or an alternative market. Fair food, local food, comes from a way of thinking about what isn't fair - for example, if food comes from far away – maybe it doesn't have to come that far, or we can know the producers and know they definitely benefit. This is what distinguishes fair food... but fair food is still a big issue, we've got fair trade, organic and local food, all together, and maybe this is fair food.
Fair Trade and Fair Trade Organizations speak about trade, but not fair food. Fair food means more than Fair Trade; it is a bigger issue. First, consumers know the Fair Trade label, they know the organic label, and local, you know where it comes from, but organizations who work on these issues, they don't speak that much about fair food. But it is an issue they are starting to talk about more, same as our work here, we've talked about Fair Trade, but the biggest issue is the fairness of food, we've got consumers and producers, but we've also got laborers, management, but Fair Trade speaks only about farmers and producers. Fair food is more than this; there is more energy to this. We didn't speak about this that much. USFT [United Students for Fair Trade] spoke about fairness in trade, but not too much about fair food.
But the food crisis, this is an important issue to people in America, they are very interested in the prices that farmers are receiving, for example, maybe they want to know how cooperatives are doing, what their price situation is like, they don't know all the information about the market…
But USFT didn't talk about prices, USFT sought to create understanding among students - how do they understand Fair Trade, not trying solve the problems of farmers.
So maybe the students don't yet fully understand the meaning of Fair Trade?
The main idea was to give information to students about Fair Trade. On the tour, it wasn't clear to me that USFT was interested in this. They work on creating a relationship between students and understanding Fair Trade. There were producers groups from Rwanda, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Thailand that have problems with fair trade, but USFT didn’t give us an opportunity to speak about these. (Below, P Nok exchanges with USFT students about "making connections" in the trade system)
Returning to local food and this way of thinking, a lot of people are thinking, local food means regional food. For example, in January, we don’t have to eat bananas from Ecuador; it isn’t something we can plant here, so we shouldn't eat bananas from Ecuador. Maybe you couldn't eat the food in South Carolina ["soul food"], but that food is local. Do you agree with this?Consumers need to work on 2 issues - support local food and support food from outside their area. Local food, maybe it’s not a lot, so you need to have food from outside come in, but here you need to use Fair Trade. I had Allyn check where the rice we ate came from - it was from California and came to South Carolina, but it came from a big farm that uses Mexican laborers - but Thai rice or Indian rice, there is an opportunity for it to come to South Carolina and connect with local food, it isn't something they don't have locally, but its fair food.
Ok, so you might decide to eat only foods that are grown locally, but this is hard, and maybe 30% is from outside your area, so you need to decide between fair food that is international and un-fair food that is domestic. Maybe the Fair Trade rice is from pretty far away, but you need to decide between these two options. I spoke about this at most events. With bananas, you don't have bananas in South Carolina, you might think, where else do we have bananas? In a lot of places…but where are they fair? Then they can support this option.
Thinking about local food as food that is the basis for our food culture...
America doesn't have a food culture – I concluded this with Shin, Stephanie and Amanda.
Really?
We talked about it, why do Americans eat Indian food, eat vegetarian, eat everything and eat it easily? Eat everything! We exchanged about this and decided that America doesn't have a food culture in terms of the flavor of foods, the culture about food. Thailand or Asia, has a culture about food production - its not like, Americans eat bread, so this is America's food culture, its not like that, culture is about the process of production and community connected to culture, more than what you eat, more than the flavors or food.
But about ENGAGE, what is the network like right now? Members of ENGAGE are working locally, in a lot of areas - is this good? Do you like this? Or, do you feel like the work of ENGAGE is reaching its goals?
Maybe ENGAGE has been working for the past 5 years, speaking about Fair Trade and organic farming. It’s the same here in Surin, for the past 10 years, but now we're speaking more about local food and fair food. ENGAGE still talks about Fair Trade and organic farming and isn't yet talking about fair food that much. I talked to Cash about this a lot, we met with PCUN [Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste] and other people in Portland - they eat food from farms that use 5,000 Mexican laborers. Cash understands Fair Trade and organic farming already, but she needs to connect with PCUN also. Help tell other people - maybe you don’t need to buy Fair Trade and organic food, but people need to know that food comes from farms that abuse Mexican laborers and ask themselves: will I buy this food? (Below, P Nok with a PCUN leader)
This is about food justice, right? Mexican laborers can work on these farms, but they need to earn fair wages.PCUN is campaigning about the rights of laborers on these farms. Cash needs to connect with PCUN to strengthen the movement for fair food. Fair Trade - we've focused on producers and consumers, who are students. Yes, we've got farmers, but we've also got laborers. So before food reaches the hands of consumers, it's connected to a lot of issues. I want to suggest to ENGAGE, which has worked with farmers and students - not consumers, not a "consumer movement,” it’s working to connecting farmers with students - but this isn't enough, we should be working with laborers. Is that confusing?
If you asked ENGAGE - this is the success, to establish a network - like [Thai] NGOs in local areas throughout the U.S. - maybe we don't know how many people's ways of thinking we've changed, but we know that our experiences in Thailand changed our thinking and we’ve continued working for social change.
Right, students change their way of thinking and work for change in America. But for those who you speak with on tours, have you checked if you've changed their way of thinking? The process of changing other people's thinking needs to be organized - not just putting together tours - I don't know if this is really the perfect way of organizing. First, about tours, how much success have you had? Where is the connection to your work? When P Yae went on a tour with ENGAGE, how many universities did he speak with? University-by-university, have you checked where you've been successful? I spoke with 5 or 6 universities, I want to ask them: what's changed? Allyn's work is really good, working about food. I'm happy about this; I think he's successful. (Below, P Nok with Allyn Steele, students and members of the Glendale, South Carolina community)
His group is small, but they're definitely going to keep working. And this is connected to your tour as well.
This is a success. But other places - what's going on there? With Cash, how's it going? (Below, Cash and P Nok with Eric Scott and students from the Pangaea Project, which visited SFS in July)
If you went to San Francisco for 2 days and maybe one day, beside a speaking event at a university event, you sat and talked with Ellen, Beth, Alisa, Amanda and maybe 2 or 3 more people in the area and talked, exchanged - would it be beneficial?
You'd need to answer this: what does the movement need in San Francisco? I don't need to just go look at sustainable agriculture in the U.S.; I already did this in Japan. But it’s also a speaking tour, so when I speak it needs to help the movement in the local area. This has been the way of thinking for the 5 tours we've done. How do these experiences help the movement, locally? But, speakers on these tours are one part of the movement, it's really ENGAGE's movement. Once we're done with our speaking, those who are there, locally, what will they do next? It's not just drama, performance - we don't know if people like it or not - How do people benefit?
There should be a way to gather information from people in each area and know what their work is focusing on and how can we help their work? Where can we increase their work? I'm like a supplement to their work, not the basis. The people who are doing real work, they are the basis. It's like the seminar we hosted about climate change, we invited researchers and academics to speak - they spoke and then they moved on - but the people who kept working we're SFS staff and villagers. I want to explain that I'm like the academic at our climate change seminar, the people who keep working are ENGAGErs in that local area, whether its with NGOs or students, it doesn't matter.
If we don't work locally, why go?
I feel like, at Hidden Villa - we had just an hour and a half - and Amanda worked really hard and Hidden Villa hosted us well. But Amanda gave them a donation for the tour, and that's not a problem, but I didn't see the relationship between Hidden Villa and ENGAGE. When CIEE students come to Surin, they see the relationship between SFS and villagers. We work hard to show our relationship with villagers, show how we work with villagers. If you tell me that some students don't see the relationship, it's a problem.
But it's their problem, not ours. They look at SFS and think, what do they actually do? How do they do development? These students don't change their way of thinking about development. SFS "officers" are really facilitators, not an officer who comes and spends money, does projects in the village. Villagers are doing this themselves.
This is the commitment of NGOs, though for some NGOs, their image for their work is clear, but villagers have no role. We've learned from our experiences that villagers are the basis of our work. That you mention some students don't realize that SFS work with villagers is troubling to me.
Maybe after they visit SFS, they'll understand. But when they come to Surin, it's their first experience in Thailand and they don't understand how Thai NGOs work.
Back to the tour - This year, last year, SFS has been campaigning about local food a lot more. The campaign is SFS, the Alternative Agriculture Network [AAN], all the NGOs and villagers all together. The same is happening in the U.S. with local food. But maybe it’s also a situation where there already were local products in the market, but they weren't yet labeled as such. The movement has made supermarkets designate local products; this is one kind of movement. I think a lot of people are focusing on this kind of movement.
The lessons that you gained from the tour, from your experiences - how will you use them in your work? You've already said that the tour had benefits for you, but specifically, what information or experiences will you use here in Surin?
The first thing, I've realized its really important for me, and our work here, to use the phrase "fair food" more. Fair Trade is about rice, but fair food is more. The way Americans eat - they eat too much and then waste it. I was at the airport with Amanda, and they didn't have a small portion, only big portions and we couldn't eat all of it. We couldn't take it on the plane because the plane company wouldn't let us. We really didn't want to throw it away, so I put it what was left on the top of a garbage can. Then a black woman, who was a janitor at the airport, she walked up and asked, “Why are you putting the food here like this? I answered, “I can't throw it away because there’s so much left over.” Then she replied, "Do you know there are people outside of the airport that don’t have money to buy food? But the airport company exploits them, won't let them have the food. People who work at the airport want to take it home, but they aren't allowed to.” They have to throw away what they can't eat. This isn't fair, and there isn't an alternative. They only have large portions: we don't have a choice. The food companies need to earn a certain amount of money per portion. This American consumption problem is already in Thailand. (Below, beef and poultry at the food cooperative in North Carolina)
I think that Fair Trade is something we have to do, but fair food is something we have to talk about more. But, Bennett, you have to understand, we can't just change people's habits tomorrow, right? Maybe you have issues with 7-11 or Styrofoam packaging, but the truth is that you have to give people the opportunity to change. Our work regarding fair food with consumers, we can't just tell them, "don't do this, don't do that," it won't create any new participation. If we give them information, and explain, “the way that things are isn't fair, but this is what we need to do” - I gained this from my experience in America. I met with PCUN - this changed my way of thinking about these issues – it’s a situation where Americans are getting food through Mexican laborers. This doesn't come from my experiences in Thailand - this comes from America. Do people know about the problems Mexican laborers experience? This is the kind of experience that raised my understanding of fair food. (Below, peppers at the Portland farmers' market)
The second thing, it made the image of my work clearer. I saw the farmers' market in Portland, the cooperative in North Carolina; these experiences supplement my work here. Learning about work with college students, I gained new experience there. I've never spoken with students directly like this before, so as an NGO, this was a very new experience. Maybe I'll start thinking more about how we can work with students here. But they are only in school for four years, and this isn't a lot of time.Speaking with producers and FLO [Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International], this made the noise of the unfairness in Fair Trade louder: I saw that, in the countries that came to USFT [Rwanda, Costa Rica, Nicaragua], they are interested in Fair Trade, but they don't understand Fair Trade. It’s the same in Thailand, a lot of groups get certified Fair Trade, but they don't understand, what does Fair Trade mean? This generated one problem I have with USFT - regarding these issues USFT isn't doing anything. (Below, P Nok with another producer at the USFT Convergence)
I'm going to write a letter to FLO about these issues. We have the right to tell FLO where things aren't fair. Producers tell students about the problems they encounter, but students don't tell FLO. I asked students, “Are you going to tell FLO?” They responded by asking producers, “Can students be on the FLO committee?” This isn't possible! They asked the producers from these four countries, “Can you suggest to FLO that students be on the committee?” This isn't possible! Is this really possible? Can students be on the FLO committee?It’s not possible. But they don't need to be on the committee, they can examine things themselves.
They can examine things and continue to work with FLO. ENGAGE got 80 names of students to tell FLO that they need to solve these issues with producers. I suggested in the last part of the conference: these four countries, they all experience the same problems - Rice fund is fine, we know that we can consult with FLO if we have issues, and we can make our own choices. If Alter Eco isn't fair, we can tell them [Alter Eco], we have more power than producers in these four countries – but these other countries [Rwanda, Costa Rica, Nicaragua], they don't know where to go, and they just told students, “Fair Trade is bad, Fair Trade is bad!” I told them, “This doesn't solve any problems!” This was an experience that brought us [producers] together and realized we need to help each other to solve issues in the Fair Trade system. Together we are going to write a letter to FLO.
I’m looking forward to helping with this letter. Thanks for your time, P’ Nok!
No problem, I hope my words will be of use to ENGAGE.
P Nok with ENGAGErs at the USFT ConvergenceTo see more photos from the tour, check out: the engage.national flikr photo set
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
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.comFor more information about SFS or would like to support our work, please contact - bennett.haynes@gmail.com or sfsfarmer@hotmail.com
23 November 2008
"Jalurn Suk Rice Seed Research Center"
This past Thursday afternoon, the 4th, 5th and 6th graders at Jalurn Suk School transformed their classroom into a "Rice Seed Research Center." P Jansri led our young research teams to his fields in Tabthai village and after a short introduction to the six varieties of rice we'd be harvesting and recording their characteristics, everyone got right into it. As children of rice farmers, all the students have plenty of experience helping with the harvest, but these varieties were one's they have never seen before. The vast majority of Surin rice farmers grow only Jasmine 105, as it demands the highest price and is the only grain that the mills can process. Yet farmers like Jansri (below, showing the students how to tie up their samples) are growing a diversity of rice varieties to increase the biodiversity in their fields, preserve local seed varieties and, simply enough, to eat themselves.
The students recorded characteristics of Black Sticky rice, Basmati, Red Jasmine (heavy variety), Tamarind and Fragrant Jasmine . They split into small teams to each focus on one type of rice and then came together afterward to compare results. Each group had a special form that recorded plant height, color, grains per cluster, length of leaves, width of stem, and other distinguishing traits.
Black Sticky Rice
Red Jasmine (heavy variety) and close-up, below
Tamarind Rice
BasmatiThe students had a lot of fun out in the fields, harvesting the samples and jotting down information. Below are some shots from Thursday:
The Tamarind research team
Group photo!
At the end of the day, everyone got to take a sample of each variety home. P Jansri encouraged everyone to ask their parents if they were interested in any of the varieties for next season - the Tamor farmers' group is hoping to expand their community seed saving initiative and need more farmers to plant these "new varieties" (have been around for a long time, but no longer planted). By getting the students out into the fields and taking a closer look at these varieties, we hope they gain a new appreciation for the diversity of rice seeds that farmers can plant.
17 November 2008
Bayer's "hybrid" seed development in Suphanburi and other thoughts on Food Safety
Bayer CropScience has recently announced it's plans for a "second Green Revolution" for Asia. In a recent article they've stated, "We are convinced that the development and commercialization of seed with a higher yield potential is a major option for making rice production sustainably more efficient." (also on their website). Coming from a company with 5.8 Billion Euros in annual sales - they must be poised to benefit the most from "development and commercialization" of their chatchy (and registered) "Arize" rice in Suphanburi. Developing Jasmine 105 and distributing it around Isaan has already been problematic enough, and given what has already happened in India I'd say there is reason to be concerned about intentions to develop GM rice in Thailand as well. GM contamination is a major threat to the biodiversity and ecology of Thailand's rural environments - its not enough that Thai farmers continue to deal with the lasting impacts of the "first Green Revolution"?
Yet this situation also raises questions about the global, export-oriented agricultural system and it's recent food safety failures. Bayer claims that developing these new seeds in Thailand will help address the 30 % increase in global demand for rice in the next 15 to 20 years and China continues to present new reasons to be concerned, especially given the opposition to GM foods from European consumers and contamination of rice in 2006.
But as James E. McWilliams points out in a recent Nytimes Op-Ed, food importing countries in the Global North need to re-examine their own agricultural production systems - this includes the presence of Melamine (and, in our opinion, GM crops) - in order to create new policies regarding chemical use and agricultural technologies. Food safety can be strengthened by consumer demand or protest, as has been shown in Europe, but it also need to be strengthened by reforming trade policies and promoting sustainable agriculture domestically.
SFS just spent the past few days hosting ciee students in Tamor subistrict as they research the environmental health impacts from pesticide/herbicide misuse and the current situation regarding indigenous seed varieties. The students plan to write a Human Rights report using the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Covenant (ESCR) to document violations of villagers' rights. On a recent morning, while I returned from Samrat Thong-Iam's fields after loading his tractor with part of this season's harvest, we talked about an article he read in the paper about Bayer's current green-washing efforts, specifically a program that supports environmental studies for Thai youth. Even as a small-scale organic rice farmer from Surin, Samrat knew that this corporation was basically gaan saang paap - creating an image - for itself, but it is one that we can see right through.
Yet this situation also raises questions about the global, export-oriented agricultural system and it's recent food safety failures. Bayer claims that developing these new seeds in Thailand will help address the 30 % increase in global demand for rice in the next 15 to 20 years and China continues to present new reasons to be concerned, especially given the opposition to GM foods from European consumers and contamination of rice in 2006.
But as James E. McWilliams points out in a recent Nytimes Op-Ed, food importing countries in the Global North need to re-examine their own agricultural production systems - this includes the presence of Melamine (and, in our opinion, GM crops) - in order to create new policies regarding chemical use and agricultural technologies. Food safety can be strengthened by consumer demand or protest, as has been shown in Europe, but it also need to be strengthened by reforming trade policies and promoting sustainable agriculture domestically.
SFS just spent the past few days hosting ciee students in Tamor subistrict as they research the environmental health impacts from pesticide/herbicide misuse and the current situation regarding indigenous seed varieties. The students plan to write a Human Rights report using the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Covenant (ESCR) to document violations of villagers' rights. On a recent morning, while I returned from Samrat Thong-Iam's fields after loading his tractor with part of this season's harvest, we talked about an article he read in the paper about Bayer's current green-washing efforts, specifically a program that supports environmental studies for Thai youth. Even as a small-scale organic rice farmer from Surin, Samrat knew that this corporation was basically gaan saang paap - creating an image - for itself, but it is one that we can see right through.
(image taken from The New York Times)
16 November 2008
Food Justice Tour Photos
P Nok's photos from the ENGAGE Food Justice Tour are up on our picasa website.
For more photos from ENGAGE, check out the Food Justice Tour set on flikr.Look for an interview with P Nok to be posted later this week - she's got some important thoughts and reflections to share.
15 November 2008
Subtle Crisis?
Thailand's current financial crisis in the Nytimes last week:
"The poor may also benefit. Along with fuel, the price of rice has fallen sharply"
There is some irony in these words - given that more than 50% of Thailand's population works in agriculture - falling rice prices won't do much good for the rural poor. Last winter's food crisis manifested in high prices for mills and exporters, while farmers were stuck with the prices they earned before the market spiked.
Further, how will factory workers benefit from a slowdown in exports? Lower prices for consumer goods won't last forever, and the current low price for fuel is unbelievable to farmers. Perhaps the current crisis will show the problems created by export-led growth and the government will begin supporting sustainable rural economies. Or maybe we're just dreaming?
10 November 2008
Holding the Seeds in our Hands: A report from the Nan Province Seed Saving Conference
After returning yesterday from our trip to the Seed Saving Conference in Nan Province, in northern Thailand, I started reading the Oxfam Briefing Paper “Double Edged Prices,” a report focusing on the world food crisis and the actions that developing countries should take. The summary’s first page includes,“Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Foods, a major player in Asia, is forecasting revenue growth of 237 per cent this year; Nestlé’s global sales grew 8.9 per cent in the first half of 2008; Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, reported a 26 per cent increase in revenues from March to May 2008. UK supermarket Tesco has reported a record 10 per cent jump in profits from last year.”
These figures are striking, especially because of Charoen Pokphand’s (CP) forecasted revenue growth, but also because for CP, Nestle, Monsanto and Tesco, Thailand represents a growing market for their agricultural products and consumer goods. A couple of simple examples: most of the chicken consumers buy is grown by CP contract farms, and everyone drinks Nestle's "Nescafe" instant coffee (and mixes in plenty of Nestle condensed milk for extra sweetness). In the case of farmers, purchasing inputs – seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides – is already the norm (and Monstanto has got a good hold on the market here).
Paw Tongloh, a leader of the Yasothon Cooperative, said in an exchange at the conference: “Companies have made farmers slaves to the agricultural system – we invest a lot of labor and money, but what we produce isn’t sufficient to eat and we’re not able to grow for ourselves.” Further, in Yasothon province it’s estimated that more than 60 varieties of rice were lost before AAN seed saving efforts began. For the past three years of working on this project, Yasothon Cooperative members have sought to re-make farmers the owners of genetic material and make it accessible to their community. Yet farmers still agree that there isn’t enough diversity in the seed base and not enough knowledge about seed characteristics.
Efforts like these often stem from problems in our communities – when people are faced with the same struggles, they come together to solve them. Preserving local genetics is an issue of the small-scale farmers’ career and the culture of their community. The Yasothon Cooperative is a good example of how the problem has been addressed and they are now working to raise their members to the level of “farmer-researcher.”
The morning of day one included a visit to the fields of a local “farmer-researcher,” to the integrated fields of Wan Rangtre, who has been practicing rice plant breeding for the past 11 years. In the past year he’s been finding out how successful the use of his varieties by others has been. His work tends to focus on improving seeds for adapting to environmental changes, while maintaining characteristics of older varieties.
Though many groups were inspired by what they saw at Wan’s farm, we returned to a wake-up call from Ubon Yuwa, a leader in the AAN. During the first day’s afternoon session, P Ubon reminded us, “seeds are essential, they are the basis for our food sovereignty, but farmers have been bought by seed companies, using the knowledge of Monsanto instead of their own and using only a few varieties.”
Yet an alternative is emerging within the AAN, as was shown by presentations by P Bresong of the Surin Cooperative and P Daoreung of the Yasothon Cooperative. There are currently 35 families in Surin working on the seed expansion project (almost 10% percent of cooperative production is dedication to seed saving). The AAN Isaan also hosts an annual seed exchange, which builds from the farmers’ group level, to the province and finally, to the regional level. There are currently 103 varieties planted around the network.
Biodiversity on small-scale farms is essential, even in the face of a market-oriented system that demands surplus production of Jasmine 105 rice. The experience of AAN members from the Toongoola area of Roi Et was brought up in discussion later that afternoon – many farmers lost their crop due to a long drought during the summer months (historically the planting season, with consistent rainfall). If farmers had access to rice seeds that could survive in drought conditions, any number of “field rice” varieties, there would potentially be a substantial crop this season.Being able to sell this crop, however, is a different story. As a researcher from Ubon province reminded the group, “we have the goal of taking local rice varieties beyond farmers’ consumption and to the market, but we don’t yet know how to do it, we must work together to find ways for the to happen.” Consumers continue to demand specific products (e.g. white, Jasmine 105 rice), which is determinant in what farmers produce. Our experience in Bangkok at the Youth and Local Food Conference provided another powerful example of the shift towards Big Box stores (like Tesco, which is claiming a 10 % increase in profits from last year). A question that was raised throughout the event went something like: “how do we deal with the market?”
In a later discussion, the temple’s head monk (shown above with a temple dog that followed him everywhere, a true best friend) also spoke to the problems presented by Thailand’s consumerist society, citing how much land people have been willing to sell off in order to pay off debts or gain quick cash, as well as the fact that when we purchase goods from 7-11 the corporation earns significant profit (7-11 is owned by CP, and the monk’s claim seems well grounded, 237 % or so). In response, he gave the example of 10 baht earned by a local store-owner - this income would be spent in the community, supporting other small businesses, buying fresh, local foods or even donating to the temple – it becomes a cycle of spending local and supporting local.
Another major topic of the conference was the possibility of creating a new network of “community seed centers,” so that farmers could not only use the varieties of their local region and exchange techniques and knowledge with other local farmers, but also ally with those in the agricultural “establishment” who agree with sustainable practices (like the researcher quoted above). In this realm of research/policy-making/development budgets, villagers need to have a role and ensure their benefit from these efforts. Creating such a network of seed research is also an opportunity to create some kind of local plant registry, in turn facilitating sales or distribution of seeds with interested groups (though not for commercial expansion and profit). Below, a tree with bags of local varieties of vegetable seeds given out to participants at the end of the event.
At the policy level, there was much discussion about the need to create clear laws about chemical use, an import tax on chemicals, and warning labels about the impacts of chemicals. Biofuel crops are also an increasing concern (though there is good reason to be suspicious of their viability, especially palm oil, with prices plunging). Farmers also brainstormed about ideas to create policies to promote/support indigenous seeds and to support sustainable agriculture practices.
Paw Thongloh (above, right, of the Yasothon Cooperative) seemed to be overflowing with wisdom throughout the conference. At our final exchange, after a tour of the Joko Learning Center (images below) and a tutorial on vegetable seed saving, he concluded, “farmers are confident in the seeds they purchase in packages, but we need to be the ones who plant, expand and manage seeds, we need to be owners of the rice and plants we grow – instead of consuming foods that have been imported, that we don’t normally eat – we need to be able to plant and eat independently. Seeds are now in the package, and purchasing vegetables at the market is easier, but if we are able to hold these seeds in our hands, we can solve this crisis in Isaan.”
Director of the Love Nan Foundation, Samruay Phadphon
Working together with sustainable agriculture networks in the north will not only help us solve the biodiversity crisis in Isaan, but strengthen the farmers' movement and create new relationships in solidarity and education. We hope that farmers' groups from the north will visit with the AAN in the coming months, and help provide training in vegetable seed saving techniques for the winter planting season. Click the slideshow below to visit our gallery from the conference:
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