In the clean-up project, CURA found out that a significant amount of pollutant come from upriver agricultural chemical fertilizers usage. In order to solve the problem from its root, CURA brought organic farming to an upriver village--安龙村。
Years later, today's 安龙村 organic project gets the most funds from an NGO, PCD-Partnership for Community Development.
In this Spring festival season, many employers organize 茶话会, where everybody sits together, eat snacks, drink tea, and the most importantly, chat. This time, CURA brought together representatives of producers, consumers, and organizers of the 安龙村project.
Urban-rural split is a major social issue in China. Especially in recent years, it seems that the gap is growing bigger and bigger. But what happened in these couple hours gave me a completely different perspective.
The meeting starts with a short film documenting
the major steps of the 安龙村project. Many among the audience find themselves on the screen and burst into laughters.
CURA staff first put up posters on the wall with some words and' photo frames'. At the beginning everybody in the room get some pictures and have to find the appropriate place for each photo. Thus everybody gets involved in learning about the stories in 安龙村project's development.
When all photos get put in their frames, someone has to introduce their stories making sure everyone is on the same page. The posters tell the stories of individual organic growers, consumers "organic trip" to the village, Chengdu organic market and the newly developed vegetable delivery.
Here the two 农民伯伯阿姨. They talked about their organic farming experience, what they sell, what has changed in the past year, and what they hope for the next year. Many times the audience[ofter consumers] pose questions and they "negotiate."
This is a farmer from another province 贵州。 He came to exchange their organic growing experiences. He lives in a minority village[侗族]and the whole village specializes in rice. Years ago, a company tried to make them grow organically and purchase their rice. However, the village refused the offer but established their own organic association. Years later, their organic rice has built up reputation. This 叔叔introduces his village with great pride. He says now many young people come back from cities and enjoy their healthy life. Later we sit together at lunch and he has strongly identifies with organic practices and sincerely loves their lifestyle. Urban life is no longer desirable. He warmly welcomes me to go visit. Well, I will~~
Here he dialogues with some customers. Last year they came to Chengdu and sold 2 tons of rice. These two customers loved it and here just jumped up and talked to him about the pricing right at the spot.
During the break, the 安龙农民叔叔阿姨们 analyzed the rice seeds from 贵州 and exchanged experiences. The 贵州rice叔叔 promised to bring more seeds the next time.
Here is a representative of the consumers. She has been on the "organic trips" organized by CURA many times. First she expressed deep thanks for the organic farmers. The funny part is she spent quite a while thanking the 贵州rice growers, --"woo!!your rice smelled sooo good!!"
Later, some other consumers talked about their worries about food safety and sincerely hope more farmers in the village can join organic farming. The growers and consumers then discussed the problems that 安龙村 project currently has. Some farmers that have not decided to grow organically also spoke about their concerns. The major difference between 安龙村 and the 贵州大米村 is that 安龙村doesn't have a strong leader from within. Thus the organic project is often in danger of collapsing.
Throughout the day, farmers were at the center spot. They each brought one dish from their garden. When someone praised their food, they came up saying "that's what I grew!那是我种的！"
I feel ashamed to say that, I've never seen such proud farmers. These few photos can't really show the atmosphere that day. Many times in the meeting I couldn't resist crying. In history 农民has never been a fashionable profession. But they should, and they can take pride in their work!
In today's China, rural development and food safety are two well-known social concerns. CURA's work in 安龙村 has shown a possible solution.
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