Slow Food comes to Roi Et Province

With the support of Thailand's Sustainable Agriculture Foundation and Biothai, members from the Alternative Agriculture Network (AAN) have been fortunate enough to attend Slow Food's Terra Madre Food Communities Network events in 2006 and more recently, in October 2008. Though cheese and red wine may be a gastronomical adventure for Thai farmers, the event is a valuable opportunity for Thailand's small-scale farmers and NGOs to exchange and network with other food communities from around the world.

Connecting with a range of people connected to food and food production is not only a great educational experience; it is also a reaffirmation of Thailand's efforts to build a local, sustainable food system. As a concept, Slow Food is also proving to be a useful outlet to connect with urban consumers in Thailand, who increasingly concerned about health, food safety and environmental issues like waste and climate change. This past year, two farmer-community leaders from Roi Et Province (which borders Surin to the north) attended Terra Madre with a larger group of Thai representatives.

In order to create a strong network of food communities, more information about artisans, chefs and producers around the world must be available and freely shared. This is where Davide Delladonna of Torino, Italy comes in. With support from Slow Food and Surin Farmers Support, Davide (below) was able to visit with our representatives in Roi Et Province. A non-professional writer and photographer, Davide wanted to connect his home town of Torino - where Terra Madre is held - with Thailand, where he has enjoyed traveling and volunteering.
Our first visit and exchange was with Put Boontem - a leader in Baan Don Jik village who practices small-scale organic rice farming (photo, top of the page, with Terra Madre bag), growing mostly sticky rice. He is also an important part of the protest and struggle against the Rasi Salai dam, a Department of Energy Development and Promotion (DEDP) project aimed at diverting water for agricultural irrigation (below, irrigation pumps from the dam). The dam was originally built without any public consultation. The public was also given misinformation regarding it's size and scope. Villagers were told it was to be a 4.5 meter "rubber weir" but in fact, it was a 9 meter concrete dam that flooded over 100 square km of farmland and community swamp land. Over 3,000 families have lost their land due to the reservoir created by the dam and there has only been 50% compensation. The swamp forest that was destroyed was the largest of it's kind in the Mun river basin.
While walking through the communities' rice paddies and forest, P' Put explained the communities' experience to Davide and talked about his groups' next steps. Supported by the Tam Mun Project, the villagers continue to organize in order to demand their rights for independent community resource management, a proper Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and full compensation for lands lost. Below, a short video of the community swamp and a photo from the community center, which features a map of the forest. With the information gathered by Davide, the community hopes that their Terra Madre profile will be updated to include information about their struggle for community rights and sustainable resource management.

After spending a night in P' Put's home, we continued on to Ban Kukasing village, in Gaseat Wisai district, in what is called the Toongoola Rong Hai region of Roi Et Province. Here we met with Then and Suria Jaengsanam, a young couple who farm about 10 acres of rice paddies and 2 acres of integrated vegetable plots. I would have to say their organic vegetables are among the most impressive in the region. They grow at least 25 different varieties of vegetables and six types of rice, and save all the seeds themselves. When we visited, a number of their plots were already going to seed (see the photo slideshow below).

P' Then (below) traveled to Terra Madre this past year and found the experience very exciting and interesting. She had such a good time that she wants to go back in 2010 and bring silk cloth that her village produces and give it to all the other producers that she has met. Davide was able to interview her about their production techniques and the challenges that they face. P Then's family is the only one in their village of over 1,000 families that produces rice and vegetables organically, so their farmers' group is made up of members from other nearby villages. At the end of the year, they sell their rice with Rice Fund Surin, our Fair Trade cooperative.
The Toongoola Rong Hai region was originally a large lake in prehistoric times. When it was first settled, it was a massive, tree-less region with fertile soils, but very difficult to navigate. The first settlers - the Goola people - were stranded there during a severe draught and could not find their way out and started crying, hence their name in Thai: rong hai.

Though it has long produced high quality Jasmine rice and a number of local varieties, eucalyptus plantations have increasingly taken over the landscape, lowering the water table and generating negative impacts on soil ecology. Farmers receive very low prices for their woodlots and are forced to use pesticides to manage termites. Further, the past years' drought brought major crop losses for Toongoola Rong Hai rice farmers, contributing to the move to start eucalyptus plantations. Cash crop production in northeastern Thailand is risky business for small-scale farmers, threatening not only their livelihoods, but access to community food sources. As the region increasingly moves towards this corporate-controlled approach to production, P' Then and her farmers' group continue to practice sustainable methods and preserve food security for their family.

Above, the Italian tomato and lettuce varieties that P Then brought back from Terra Madre. This year, though they were dissatisfied with the quality of their produce, they will save the seeds and plant again next winter (the season here that is suitable for tomatoes and lettuces). Next year, having saved the best plants' seeds, they believe they will be more successful. After seeing the scope and beauty of their garden, Davide definitely believed them. Saving and exchanging seeds is a symbol of the international relationships created by Terra Madre and Slow Food.

SFS and the AAN looks forward to future Slow Food events and invite anyone who is interested in learning more about our movement for food sovereignty and sustainable food communities to come to Isaan and exchange further with us. Thanks again to Davide for a fun few days of eating delicious local foods, organic vegetables and interesting conversation with Roi Et's Slow Food communities. To see more photos from our Slow Food exchange, please see the slideshow below. For more information about Slow Food, please visit their website.