Little Donkey Farm

China, with it's millions of people to feed and it's rapid industrialization, is facing some similar issues as faced by the United States in the 1970s. Back then, the US embarked on a new agriculture plan that was supposed to help us feed millions of people. It succeeded, but not the way we planned.

What we got was cheap, sweet, over-processed food grown using unsustainable methods. Did you know it's actually cheaper to grow organic food? The reason it's not cheaper in the grocery store is because the US government continues to subsidize big unsustainable agribusinesses. Yes! It's cheaper for your local family farm to grow your food without pesticides, petrochemical fertilizers and big machinery. AND it can be delivered to your local market with much lower transportation costs.

What does this have to do with China? Well, the Chinese government is faced with the some of same decisions as the US was 40 years ago. I hope, based on our mistakes, the Chinese government makes better choices than made by the US.

To that end, Shi Yan, PhD, has started a government funded trial CSA farm on the outskirts of Beijing. 'What's a CSA?' you might ask. CSA is an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture. We have many thriving CSA's in Minnesota and across America. In fact, Shi Yan traveled to Minnesota to study our CSAs to develop her own version in China. (Pictured: Shi Yan (left) and Danmin 'Barbara' Fang (right-the woman I got to help)).

CSAs in Minnesota are based on the shared risk model. City dwellers buy shares in a small family farm. This covers the seeds, labor and land. If there is major crop failure the shareholder shares the risk. Every week of the summer the share holders receive a box of food grown on the farm. The Little Donkey Farm is similar and also different to the Minnesota model.

The Little Donkey Farm has share holders who receive boxes of food, but also provides space for community gardens. Families rent these plots and grow their own food. Each Sunday, over 100 urban Beijing residents travel to the farm to work their plots. They are provided with tools, seeds, organic fertilizer and water as well as farming expertise.

Our visit to the Little Donkey Farm was a grand adventure.

We were treated to a tour of the farm. We met the Professor, a donkey. The Professor represents the traditional ways as donkeys were used to plow the fields way back when.

We also met the free range chickens (roosters and hens) raised for food and eggs. The chickens have a very large space to roam.

Then we saw the pigs, including a variety of pig that is native to northern China (see the picture of the dark brown pigs).

The pigs are kept in very sustainable pens that feed them and handles their waste very efficiently so everything can be used in the gardens. Veggies are even grown on the outside of the barn and other structures to provide shade in summer.

Then we were each able to help a family work their plots. It was my pleasure to help Danmin 'Barbara' Fang's family. It was a multi-generational work day which included Barbara's mother, her daughter as well as her husband. Barbara brings her daughter so she can learn and understand where her food comes from.

I hope you enjoy the slide show with views of the farm including some cool techniques for staking plants that don't require a trip to your garden center.

Some additional information you may want to consider the next time you contact your congressional representatives.

Some side effects of our subsidies and what we've learned:

• The family farm is almost a thing of the past. Small farms using sustainable organics can grow more food for less cost. We can save them if we change the way the government uses subsidies.
  
• We've increased our dependence on petrochemicals for fertilizers, pesticides, planting, harvesting and transportation. Agribusiness is unsustainable and continues our dependence on oil.
• Subsidies to big agribusiness have continued to grow despite the fact that we are subsidizing sugar (high fructose corn syrup) and feed lots when we really need clean safe food. We are not getting the nutrition we need to be healthy and productive.
  
• The hybridization of seeds/food that grow faster and produce more but don't have the same nutritional value as the old seeds/foods (remember all the colors of corn, they actually have more vitamins and minerals than yellow/white corn).
• Soil depletion because all we add to the soil are three ingredients (Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphate) then plants consume un-replenished micro nutrients and strip the soil of it's life.