In 2010 I visited urban agricultural sites in Vancouver, Canada. The sight of the farmers pulling trailers with bicycles was especially memorable. They were proud of not emitting any carbon when commuting or moving farming materials. The food waste produced by the neighboring restaurants was being used as compost. The locals purchased the food produced by these farms without question.
Urban agriculture in South Korea has expanded remarkably. In terms of scale, it is no less than that of fully developed countries. Evoking elderly people’s instinct for farming, vegetable gardens have been created in patches of dirt in between slabs of concrete. Urban agriculture is clearly evolving in South Korea, and its 2.0 era has begun.
In the concrete jungle of Seoul’s Sangam neighborhood, a 2300m2 vegetable garden is located behind the local middle school. Located in the middle of the apartment complex, the garden stands out from its surroundings. Park Ssang-ae, 60, one of the oldest of the farmers is tending the garden as usual with her hoe. Her home is right in front of the garden. “It’s so good, so convenient. My apartment is right across the road. I don’t have to use a car that emits carbon. This garden really stands for local food production”.
Park, resident representative of the Sangam vegetable garden, tends to various types of vegetables in a 5 pyeong (about 16 ㎡) patch of land. “This garden is a community effort by 63 residents. We take turns tending the garden in groups of five. If a passing elderly person says ‘it looks delicious’, we give them vegetables, because we are all neighbors”.
Ahn Byung-soo, 48, who was picking over the lettuce said, “I enjoy meeting the people in my group and discussing farming with them. There is happiness in living with these people”. Lee Ho-joong, 75, and Yoo Myung-ja, 60, are also local residents. The Grandpa and Grandma both said, “We are happy to walk to the garden from our homes”.
In the fall of the previous year, during kimchi-making season, they opened a ‘one-day Sangam vegetable farmers’ market. The farmers’ market provided organic white radishes and napa cabbages to the local residents at one-third of the market price. They wanted to share the effort with the residents who were not able to participate in farming. The 649,000 won (US$583) in profits were donated to a nearby Samdong youth detention center. This year, two farmers’ market days will be held, one during kimchi-making season in the autumn and one during the June harvest of leafy green vegetables.
The land where the garden sits was originally intended for a parking lot, but was never used for that. Park, a 20-year veteran of urban agriculture, wasn’t going to let the land go to waste. He began ‘guerilla farming’ in 2009. “I began to plant vegetables in small gardens on unused patches of land when I used to live across the river in the Sinjeong neighborhood. On the surface the land was intended for a parking lot, but was full of trash and tall grass. It was a waste of land. I just started to cultivate the land without permission by removing the trash and rocks. Then people came together”.
After three years of ‘guerilla farming’ they succeeded in receiving support from the district office last year. With the help of an ordinance passed by the Mapo Urban Agriculture Network and the district council promoting urban agriculture, the Sangam vegetable garden has become a great success. The Sangam vegetable garden is different from commercial ‘weekend farms’ that are set up with the help of funding and machinery. The residents helped in building fences and roads using rocks, and used dead tree branches they picked up to set up a billboard and shed. The garden was shaped around a patch of unused land without changing anything beyond it. They have also set strict rules: no pesticides and no chemical fertilizers. They also decided to donate half of the produce to needy people. Like Park, more members are making their own compost to use in the garden.
“We are living in an area that is unaffected by the soaring price of produce. I am still eating the kimchi made from napa cabbages and white radishes that were harvested here last year”. Park spoke of the fun in farming and his philosophy of 20 years of urban agriculture. “The lettuce from our garden can be stored in a refrigerator for a month and still be fresh. It doesn’t wilt like lettuce from supermarkets. It is because the vegetables in our garden are cultivated with genuine quality. The more I farm, the more I’m certain that the consumers have to change. We have to change our habit of buying agricultural produce based on appearance. It is because consumers won’t buy lettuce that has holes in it that the farmers use more pesticides”.
Park is dreaming of changing the Sangam vegetable garden into a sustainable community. “In order to change into a more cohesive community, the rotating people have to pass along their membership. That’s my worry. There are many people who want to join our garden. The competition rate this year was six to one. Our garden is especially popular because it is located next to the apartment complex. I wish there was a way to give a fair chance to all of the residents who want to join and keep the community going”.
Koo Eun-kyung, managing chairman of the Mapo Urban Agriculture Network said, “This year, half of the members are new. Although the Sangam vegetable garden has become a community, I am worried how this can continue”.
Various transformations of idle land into gardens
In Seoul, the urban agriculture movement is gaining momentum. Unused patches of land owned by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) are being used as community vegetable gardens.
The unused land near the Gayang Bridge will be used to teach farming techniques. LH has agreed to let 15,000㎡ of land in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, LH Heungdeok District, originally planned to be used for a high school in 2018, be used by refarm.org, a ‘return to the soil’ NGO, as a shared vegetable garden. This land was cultivated without permission in the past, using pesticides and chemical fertilizers, while also being filled with trash. The opening ceremony will take place on May 25.
The Mapo Urban Agriculture Network of Seoul and the parents of Sangam neighborhood have decided to use the 1000㎡ unused patch of land near the Gayang Bridge for educational purposes. Koo said, “The parents of district 9 and 11 have found this unused patch of land but since accessibility is difficult for residents, it is not suitable for a community garden. However, it can be used for educational purposes for surrounding schools and preschools”. The opening ceremony will be held on June 8.
Urban agriculture in South Korea has expanded remarkably. In terms of scale, it is no less than that of fully developed countries. Evoking elderly people’s instinct for farming, vegetable gardens have been created in patches of dirt in between slabs of concrete. Urban agriculture is clearly evolving in South Korea, and its 2.0 era has begun.
In the concrete jungle of Seoul’s Sangam neighborhood, a 2300m2 vegetable garden is located behind the local middle school. Located in the middle of the apartment complex, the garden stands out from its surroundings. Park Ssang-ae, 60, one of the oldest of the farmers is tending the garden as usual with her hoe. Her home is right in front of the garden. “It’s so good, so convenient. My apartment is right across the road. I don’t have to use a car that emits carbon. This garden really stands for local food production”.
Park, resident representative of the Sangam vegetable garden, tends to various types of vegetables in a 5 pyeong (about 16 ㎡) patch of land. “This garden is a community effort by 63 residents. We take turns tending the garden in groups of five. If a passing elderly person says ‘it looks delicious’, we give them vegetables, because we are all neighbors”.
Ahn Byung-soo, 48, who was picking over the lettuce said, “I enjoy meeting the people in my group and discussing farming with them. There is happiness in living with these people”. Lee Ho-joong, 75, and Yoo Myung-ja, 60, are also local residents. The Grandpa and Grandma both said, “We are happy to walk to the garden from our homes”.
In the fall of the previous year, during kimchi-making season, they opened a ‘one-day Sangam vegetable farmers’ market. The farmers’ market provided organic white radishes and napa cabbages to the local residents at one-third of the market price. They wanted to share the effort with the residents who were not able to participate in farming. The 649,000 won (US$583) in profits were donated to a nearby Samdong youth detention center. This year, two farmers’ market days will be held, one during kimchi-making season in the autumn and one during the June harvest of leafy green vegetables.
The land where the garden sits was originally intended for a parking lot, but was never used for that. Park, a 20-year veteran of urban agriculture, wasn’t going to let the land go to waste. He began ‘guerilla farming’ in 2009. “I began to plant vegetables in small gardens on unused patches of land when I used to live across the river in the Sinjeong neighborhood. On the surface the land was intended for a parking lot, but was full of trash and tall grass. It was a waste of land. I just started to cultivate the land without permission by removing the trash and rocks. Then people came together”.
After three years of ‘guerilla farming’ they succeeded in receiving support from the district office last year. With the help of an ordinance passed by the Mapo Urban Agriculture Network and the district council promoting urban agriculture, the Sangam vegetable garden has become a great success. The Sangam vegetable garden is different from commercial ‘weekend farms’ that are set up with the help of funding and machinery. The residents helped in building fences and roads using rocks, and used dead tree branches they picked up to set up a billboard and shed. The garden was shaped around a patch of unused land without changing anything beyond it. They have also set strict rules: no pesticides and no chemical fertilizers. They also decided to donate half of the produce to needy people. Like Park, more members are making their own compost to use in the garden.
“We are living in an area that is unaffected by the soaring price of produce. I am still eating the kimchi made from napa cabbages and white radishes that were harvested here last year”. Park spoke of the fun in farming and his philosophy of 20 years of urban agriculture. “The lettuce from our garden can be stored in a refrigerator for a month and still be fresh. It doesn’t wilt like lettuce from supermarkets. It is because the vegetables in our garden are cultivated with genuine quality. The more I farm, the more I’m certain that the consumers have to change. We have to change our habit of buying agricultural produce based on appearance. It is because consumers won’t buy lettuce that has holes in it that the farmers use more pesticides”.
Park is dreaming of changing the Sangam vegetable garden into a sustainable community. “In order to change into a more cohesive community, the rotating people have to pass along their membership. That’s my worry. There are many people who want to join our garden. The competition rate this year was six to one. Our garden is especially popular because it is located next to the apartment complex. I wish there was a way to give a fair chance to all of the residents who want to join and keep the community going”.
Koo Eun-kyung, managing chairman of the Mapo Urban Agriculture Network said, “This year, half of the members are new. Although the Sangam vegetable garden has become a community, I am worried how this can continue”.
Various transformations of idle land into gardens
In Seoul, the urban agriculture movement is gaining momentum. Unused patches of land owned by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) are being used as community vegetable gardens.
The unused land near the Gayang Bridge will be used to teach farming techniques. LH has agreed to let 15,000㎡ of land in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, LH Heungdeok District, originally planned to be used for a high school in 2018, be used by refarm.org, a ‘return to the soil’ NGO, as a shared vegetable garden. This land was cultivated without permission in the past, using pesticides and chemical fertilizers, while also being filled with trash. The opening ceremony will take place on May 25.
The Mapo Urban Agriculture Network of Seoul and the parents of Sangam neighborhood have decided to use the 1000㎡ unused patch of land near the Gayang Bridge for educational purposes. Koo said, “The parents of district 9 and 11 have found this unused patch of land but since accessibility is difficult for residents, it is not suitable for a community garden. However, it can be used for educational purposes for surrounding schools and preschools”. The opening ceremony will be held on June 8.
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