Ecology and Organic Farming in Korea compared to the West : Korea is an ecological disaster area and the culture and way of life could ensure a continual decline, ...... but there is hope if Korea can go back to traditional Bhuddist and Zen thinking of frugal simplicity. . For me as a westerner Korea seems to be at least 30 years behind in these concerns. But Korea is not like the west; it has a very different culture and history so it is difficult for me as an outsider to understand

Ecology For me persimmon (Guam) tastes of nothing. Big deal. But think, for most Korean people it has a taste, a delicious taste. Now you begin to see that there is often a big difference between Oriental thinking and culture and western. So too for other concepts like ecology and the enviroment. In Korea the public have no idea about the enviroment The Korean authorities are very progressive, which could be good. But unfortunately they put economy before ecology. So the enviroment is being destroyed as the countryside is concreted over to build new highways and factories etc. Korea is conquering nature rather living in balance with it. I found in New Zealand the majority of the population have an idea of ecology and enviromentalism; recycling etc . Why ? because of it's history and "hippy" culture. 100 years ago they cut down almost all the forest. They then began industrial agriculture and brought in animals from other countries. It was an ecological disaster. Many native species of plants and birds became extinct and the balance of nature was upset and many in areas became it became impossible to farm, bays silted up etc. People realised mistakes had been made. Also from the 1960s the "hippy" culture began. Hippy people began to have different ideas to those established by the authorities. So movement to protect nature became very strong. People began to understand such concepts as the balance of nature : the land, birds, plants, animals and humans are all part of the same system. If you harm the birds you risk harming the humans etc. For examples if you cut down trees the land doesn't hold the rain and you get floods which destroy humans homes. Korea : No "hippy" tradition In Korea it seems most people don't have the same understanding as in New Zealand. It doesn't seem to have any hippy tradition; most people seem to be very conformist and accept what the authorities say. However the situation was not as bad I anticipated, I was surprised that not everyone is so conformist and that some people do show concern for the enviroment and that there are a number of pro-enviroment organisations like KFEM and Fulssi. Enviroment a low priority I guess another thing would be the different history of Korea especially wars. It is clear that during the war a lot of the enviroment would have been destroyed. So afterwards was probably less nature to preserve. And any way they would have different prorities. : defending the nation and rebuilding the economy. In new Zealand they didn't have to worry about these so enviromental concerns are much closer to the top of the list. BUT For Korea enviromental concerns are very important for long term survival. It's no use having a strong economy and good housing etc if the soil is poisened and there's no clean water to drink. I am confident that even though Korea doesn't have the same history and hippy culture the people will think about the enviroment for 2 reasons : 1. More information will come from other countries and 2. People will become richer (when they don't have a job they care about the economy more than the enviroment) And here lies my hope Korea may not have the same "hippy" traditions, but with money in the pocket maybe people will have the time to think about the old Bhuddist philosophies which talk about living in harmony with nature !

Organic Farming in Korea The Movement is Tiny I have visited organic farms in New Zealand and Australia and now Korea. New Zealand and Australia were similar, but Korea is quite different. In Korea the movement seems very tiny. In the WWOOF book for South Korea population 45 million there are 30 farms, in the WWOOF book for New Zealand population 4 million there are 500. So the movement seems to be 150 times stronger in New Zealand than Korea. When I travelled around New Zealand I saw that every small town had organic food shops and every supermarket had an organic food section. In Korea I didn't see any organic food shops. Do most people in New Zealand eat organic food ? No. I think that more than 50% of people never buy organic food at all. For sure less than 20 % of food sold is organic, but because the market is this size and there are many organic food shops most people are aware of it and the market is growing. Most people know what organic food is even if they don't buy it. The situation in Korea seems to be about 30 years behind New Zealand . Most people are not aware of organic food and people don't seem to care. This is not an insult to Korea it just reflects the differences in history and culture. Why ? ..History and Culture History- in Western food industrial agriculture began 100 years ago which brought more food, but also meant manufacturers put in more preservatives and flavour enhancers. Also there was more transportation of food and less freshness. At the same time there was a steady evolution in the thinking about food since Kellog invented cornflakes more than 100 years ago. He said people need food with more vitamins, then people said we needed less sugar and less salts, then less preservatives and other chemicals, then people said that food should be more natural not processed, then evolved the idea of organics. There are 2 main reasons why people choose organic food 1. It's better for your health. Many people believe that the chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides are bad from our health so they say that organic food is better, because they are afraid of cancer and other diseases. 2. It's better for the enviroment And as I said most people in New Zealand think care for the enviroment is very important Industrial agriculture only began in Korea 45 years ago and there is no history of western healthfood. Culture - Korean food is quite different from New Zealand food. So there are no health food shops selling "wholefoods" like brown rice, lentils and brown bread like in New Zealand. What there is in Korea is the tradition of Hanyak(Korean healthfood) and so many shops selling Hanyak products. In Korea some pioneers have also become organic farmers, but it's even more difficult. The general public are not looking for organic food nor are they prepared to pay more money for it.. However the idea of micro-organisms has been widely accepted, see the popularity of Kimchi and live yogurt drinks. So maybe in the future they will want more

Korea	New Zealand
30 WWOOF farms	500 WWOOF farms (population 4million)
no organic shops	every small town has an organic food shop
no general public awareness of organics	everyone is aware
healthy eating : Hanyak : traditional medicine foods like ginsing	healthy eating : wholefoods : the fashion where food is as unprocessed as possible so brown bread not white etc
Bhuddist Philosophy : live in harmony with nature	Hippy Philosphy : care for the planet

What is Enviromentalism ? In New Zealand it seemed everyone knew about the enviroment even if they don't buy organic food. People talk about things like : ecology : everything on this planet the plants, animals, trees, soil and usas part of one system ie "nature" Enviromentalismrespecting the ecology ecosystem - we are all part of a circle we eat the food from the soil, but when we die we rot and feed the soil food chain - the bird eats the insect, the snake eats the bird, the animasl eats the snake etc The balance of nature - If you change too much then the ecosystem becomes out of balance e.g spray against the insects and the birds have nothing to do conservation - Using as little of the Earths resources as possible so that we don't change the balance of nature Recycling - a conservation practice of using the same thing again and again so that you don't have to throw it way and buy a new one Unsustainable A way of using the a resource until there is nothing left ie if we use oil from the ground after 500 years there will be no oil left and we will have to use something else Sustainable A way of living in balance with nature so that you can continue for ever and ever without changing. eg. using sun power instead of oil Permaculture - Sustainable practice applied to every aspect of human life, so that we can life the same way for ever (permanent culture)

The Korean Farmers don't Seem to understand In New Zealand where the awareness is higher good enviromental practice seems obvious. But in Korea the general awareness of ecology is lower it also seems it's difficult for organic farmers. I was surprised to find farmers in Korea didn't know about such basic things as .. compost, not burning plastic, compost toilets, recycling, leaving land untouched for native species to regenerate, using biodegradeable products, energy conservation in In New Zealand I saw that it was automatic to take out an old nail from a piece of wood so that they can use it again. They don't have to spend money on a new nail, and the enviroments is preserved a little bit, because materials and energy are not wasted making a new one. In Korea they would just throw it away. I can't see how any farm in Korea can be really organic, because they are so small they are close to their non-organic neighbours so they must suffer from chemical contamination from spray drift and water flowing in the soil from the neighbouring farms and roads.

Cultural Concerns In the West enviromental good practice seems to fit well with traditional values. For example to save the enviroment, use less, do away with unnecessary transport, extra packaging etc. But by doing this you also spend less money so products are cheaper. Use Less = Spend Less $$$ In the Orient there are pressures that work against these; it's important to buy more products to impress other people and the need to show that everything is hygenic means plastic bag inside another plastic bag. Using less and recycling is OK in the West, but in the Orient I think it maybe seen as low class. .

Organic Farmers don't get Rich ! In fact few organic farmers in the West make big money, but they do sleep better at night. In Korea I think it's even more difficult when the general public aren't yet really interested in organic food. So I think it's important for farmers to realise they need to accept being poor and maybe even they need to do extra things to survive ..like : writing, teaching, and Agricultural tourism like homestays, workshops, cultural stuff and specialist stuff like honey and bee products, teas and dyes, and maybe gimics like mazes made out of rice fields and as I said in Korea I think it's good to call the food they grow Hanyak. Me. I think it is very important do things with respect to the enviroment, but I am not convinced about buying organic foods. I am sceptical about both organic agriculture and industrial agriculture.

But all is not bad Planting trees even if you plant the wrong kind is a good step. I am not Korean and don't fully understand Korean thinking. But all is not bad I think I see a couple of ways where the culture and traditions are compatible with enviromentalism : 1. Look at "Han Yak" (tradional health food) people are prepared to spend extra money for it, just because the producers make vague suggestions of it's medical properties. This "Han Yak" spin can surely be applied to organic food, as it can be proved to have substantial benefits. 2. The Bhuddist ideas of simplicity and frugal living. Surely recycling and avoiding unnecessary packaging can be smiled on by any good monk. So it's up to all you pioneers to keep the good work and look on the positive side.

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