I have been immersed in Korean food for so many years now I often forget how unknown and strange it can seem to the uninitiated, i.e. the majority of the world’s population. Korean food has not reached the global status and recognition of its neighboring Japanese and Chinese cuisines. However, the word is spreading through government initiatives, the popularity of Korean Pop Culture, YouTube chefs such as Maangchi, as well as dedicated TV shows like the Kimchi Chronicles on PBS.

Yet even with the growing popularity of Korean food around the world and the proliferation of gourmet restaurants in Seoul, very few foreigners manage to venture beyond the capital and other major cities to get a deeper sense of Korean food culture. Korean rural areas and the agricultural sector have not experienced the same level of breakneck industrialization as the rest of the country. The majority of food producers are still small-scale farmers and food processors. The average farm is still between 2.5 and 5 acres and most food producers are family operations. This is not the impression one gets when walking around in downtown Seoul, the world’s second largest metropolitan area. Here, chain stores and franchises dominate the cityscape. Most people visiting Korea never get beyond the flashing facades of the country’s high tech cities.

This is a shame, because my most amazing food experiences were not in Seoul or Busan; they were in small cities and villages no one outside Korea has ever heard of. I have been lucky through my work and family ties to have eaten at countless local restaurants where the vegetables were grown in the backyard, the kimchi was fermenting in clay pots on the terrace and the beef and pork came from the neighboring farm.

But life in the countryside is not a simple, uncomplicated life. Farmers and small-scale producers are struggling to survive as the onslaught of free trade agreements is threatening their livelihoods.

In Seoul, many restaurants will serve kimchi made in China, beef from the US, Chicken from Brazil and pork from Cambodia. Imported products are sold cheaper than domestic products; and making a living from agriculture and artisan food production is becoming increasingly difficult. Korean farmers have protested the liberalization of agriculture for decades—often at the forefront of demonstrations against the WTO—but the government is continuing to pursue further free trade agreements with large food exporting nations/regions such as Chile, the EU, Australia and the US. As a consequence, food self-sufficiency has dropped to the lowest level in Korean history. Even rice, the staple of all staples, has seen its level drop to the lowest level in modern history.

In addition to free trade agreements, a number of other factors have contributed to the country’s diminished self-sufficiency. Reduced agricultural subsidies, high debt and low food prices are putting farmers under intense pressure. Farmland is also decreasing at alarming rates as the government is incorporating more and more of the country’s already limited farmland into commercial and industrial mega-development projects and recreational “green spaces” for urban dwellers seeking to get away from the city on weekends. As a result, South Korean farmland has dwindled to the lowest levels since 1970.

Small farmers and producers have turned increasingly to promoting food sovereignty as their platform for radically changing the South Korean food system. The concept of food sovereignty provides producers with a comprehensive platform to address the multiple crises of health, environment and economy into one. Few places in the world have seen food sovereignty become such an integrated agenda for social change as in South Korea. The movement incorporates a broad range of social justice organizations seeking to counter the dominant development path that prioritizes the global competiveness of the big conglomerates like Samsung, LG, and Hyundai.

Farmers, producers and consumers organize in different ways, and in many different organizations, but the core of the movement(s) remains a commitment to producing good, healthy and environmentally friendly food at fair and stable prices for both producers and consumers. The movement also seeks to counter the fast-paced lifestyle of modern Korea. Korean food is at its core slow food. Essential Korean ingredients such as kimchi (fermented cabbage), ganjang (soy sauce) and doenjang (soy bean paste) take months of fermentation to mature. The majority of products sold in Korean supermarkets, however, are full of additives to give a “fermented” taste, but most of them have not had the time to ferment as they should. A slower lifestyle starts with letting one’s food mature.

Korean food has its roots in the countryside—far from the bustling megacities and their shopping malls—where family farmers and artisans maintain centuries-old traditions while at the same time building a contemporary movement based on environmentally sound practices, economic fairness and solidarity. In South Korea, food sovereignty is not only about restructuring the food system. It is about social justice, democracy and challenging the values of the materialistic, status-obsessed mainstream culture of Korea.

Thanks to Anders Riel Müller and Food First!

Take Action!

To experience and learn about food sovereignty issues in South Korea yourself, join the Food First Food Sovereignty delegation to South Korea, August 24- Sept 1, 2013.

Congratulations on the winning photo Susan! “Women Making Change” Reality Tour to Afghanistan, 2005.

Congratulations to Susan Hall, Grand Prize winner of the 2013 Reality Tours Photo Contest! Her image of an Afghan man drinking tea was chosen as our Grand Prize Winner for the quality and composition of the image and the strikingness of its subject matter. Susan had this to say about her experience visiting Afghanistan:

“Prior to traveling with the Global Exchange ‘Women Making Change’ delegation to Afghanistan I had not traveled outside the U.S. except for brief trips across the border to Vancouver and Tijuana.  At the time, I was a student at Arizona State University and one of my professors had agreed to be a faculty advisor for an Independent Study Project in Photography.  My dad had served in Vietnam with the only land based Navy squadron, the Flying Black Ponies, and for as long as I could remember I had been intrigued by the subject of war.

Congrats to Popular Choice Prize Winner, Marie Bodnar! Afghanistan, 2013.

Najib our guide and translator is a native of Afghanistan and lived through the ten year Soviet invasion. The itinerary he created included an unscheduled stop at the Rabia Balki maternity hospital. Najib, at the request of one of the delegates, ran into the hospital while we waited in the mini van and asked permission to visit, which we did!  We also took a day trip to Istalif, a village famous for it’s pottery, and drank tea with the mujahideen.  OMAR de-miners guided us on a narrow dirt path through a minefield and pointed out an unexploded land mine.  At the ICRC rehabilitation center we witnessed staff creating prosthetic limbs and spoke with land mine victims. One of questions we were asked most frequently by Afghan women was how it was that we were traveling alone without a male relative or husband.

I returned home with a newfound appreciation and a resolve to improve educational and economic opportunities for Afghan women and girls.” Susan returned to Afghanistan in March 2007, as a volunteer for the NGO Afghans4Tomorrow, teaching English and photographing in the Afghans4Tomorrow girl’s schools. Thanks Susan, for sharing your image and story with us! Susan will receive $500 off a Reality Tour of her choice in the following year.

We received so many incredible images this year, thank you to all who participated! To see all entries, head on over to our Facebook page. Also see below for our Honorable Mentions picks, click to enlarge.

Take Action!

Consider joining us on the “Women Making Change” Reality Tour to Afghanistan, as both Grand Prize and Popular Choice winners Susan Hall and Marie Bodnar did, to visit with women’s organizations, students, and human rights activists working to make change!

Photo by Paulette Hurdlik, Vietnam at the Crossroads Reality Tour, 2009. Honorable Mention.

Photo by Shannon DeCelle, Food First and Reality Tour to Bolivia. Honorable Mention.

Photo by Tara Russell, Reality Tour to Iran. Honorable Mention.

Photo by Diane Budd, Reality Tour to Iran, 2008. Honorable Mention.

Photo by Windsor Green, Reality Tour to Cuba, 2013. Honorable Mention.

Spend some time learning about the tumultuous events of the early twentieth century that shaped Woody’s politics and united white tenant farmers, native tribes, and African-Americans in a series of uprisings in the forested hills of eastern Oklahoma.  Then relax and enjoy 3-4 days of music at the folk festival. We’ll stay in pretty lakeside cabins in a nearby state park.

Oklahoma’s original state flag, banned 1917. redflagpress.com

The 46th state has a reputation for being perhaps the most conservative state in the union.  In fact, it has a radical past unmatched for activism and racial solidarity – an activism exemplified in its most famous native son, Woody Guthrie, the radical Dust Bowl troubadour.  The “Okie” diaspora peaked during the Dust Bowl migration to the West Coast in the 1930’s, but it was also prompted by attacks on Wobblies and other radicals in the early 20^th century who fled the state.  This diaspora of the left (and eventually of the right, as descendants became more conservative) has had a major impact on politics and culture throughout the US but most particularly in eastern California, eastern Oregon, and other regions where Okies settled.

Join us in exploring this forgotten history, meet some modern Oklahoma radicals, and celebrate with music on the weekend!

The following post was written by Nancy Penrose of Seattle about her recent trip to Burma with Global Exchange.

—

In April 2013, I was a member of the first-ever Reality Tour delegation to Burma.  I chose to go with Global Exchange to this country that is also known as Myanmar* because I wanted to get beneath the typical tourist surfaces; I wanted to learn directly from the people themselves about their launch on the road to democratic reforms. By the end of the trip, I had been rewarded with a wide spectrum of conversations and insights. I felt humbled by the time that many busy people devoted to meeting with us.

We  spoke with leaders of the Generation 88 Students, many of whom spent years as political prisoners and who now work to promote a peaceful and open society. In Yangon, at the headquarters of the National League for Democracy, the political party led by 1991 Nobel Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, we met with a woman who holds an NLD seat in Parliament. Others we spoke with on this trip included hotel owners and managers, professors and businessmen, a Buddhist nun who has founded her own school, medical doctors, leaders of micro-finance programs, puppeteers, and even comedians who have paid the price of imprisonment for making jokes about the government.  We chatted with vendors of tourist souvenirs and their children who were helping out during a school break.

Our delegation was small, only four of us, accompanied by our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, Cho, who was also our translator. It seemed that everyone we spoke with has high hopes for their country even as they assess and acknowledge the great challenges that must be overcome to continue on the path of democratic reforms.

Myanmar is emerging from 50 years of dictatorships that have morphed through military juntas and socialism and a kleptocratic group of powerful and wealthy men close to the military and known as “the cronies.” Significant steps toward democracy were taken in 2008; a quasi-civilian government was established in 2010; and in April 2012, NLD members stood for election and won 43 seats in Parliament. Reforms are launched, but five decades of dictatorships have left what is often a crumbling or nonexistent physical infrastructure and a citizenry that often needs empowering and educating about a government’s responsibilities and duties to its people.

We visited four places–Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, and Inle Lake–and were delighted by beauty in each. In Yangon, there was the gleaming gold zedi, or stupa, of Shwedagon Paya, a temple that every Burmese Buddhist tries to visit at least once in his or her life. We were there on a Sunday, a day of no work for many Burmese, and we were surrounded by worshippers, families picnicking in the shade of pavilions, and novitiate processions where young boys preparing to join the monkhood were carried on the shoulders of friends and families under golden parasols. Near Mandalay, we strolled the famous U Bein Bridge and watched a farmer herd his flock of hundreds of ducks, saw women bent to their task of harvesting groundnuts from fields exposed and planted as Taungthanam Lake retreated with the dry season. We spent a day on the Ayerarwaddy (Irrawaddy) River traveling from Mandalay to Bagan and were grateful for the shade of the woven rattan roof. (Temperatures in Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan were hitting 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) or higher every day.) We watched the sun turn red as it cast its final rays of the day over the thousands of 11th- to 13th-century temples spread across the plain at Bagan. And finally, we admired the skills of the fishermen of Inle Lake who balance on the ends of their slender wooden boats and, in a delicate ballet, row with one leg wrapped around the paddle so that their hands are free to cast and retrieve their nets.

These indelible scenes are experienced by many tourists who travel to Myanmar, but as part of the Global Exchange delegation we added depth and context. We discovered the serene persistence and determination of a young Buddhist nun who runs a school in the suburbs of Yangon and who worries about the coming rainy season when the lack of drainage infrastructure may leave the school marooned by water for days at a time. We heard from Bagan’s Director of the Ministry of Culture about the challenges that arise owing to the limited funding available to preserve and protect this ancient and rich heritage site. We spoke with tourism officials who lament the lack of enough hotel rooms to serve the burgeoning numbers of visitors to Myanmar. We learned that in Yangon there are only 2,000 rooms considered tourist quality, even as tourist arrivals in Myanmar reached 1,000,000 in 2012, compared to some 800,000 in 2011. Toward the end of our trip, as we left the beauty and sweet cool air of Inle Lake, we met with the leader of the microfinance group Muditar, based in Nyaungshwe at the northern end of the Lake, who described their partnership with the Shanta project in Colorado and the midwifery, water, and coffee plantation projects they are undertaking with the Pa O tribal villages in the nearby mountains.

For me the trip was a kaleidoscope of experiences in the company of fellow travelers who care passionately about equality and positive social change in our world. My photos, journals, and souvenirs are all attempts to help keep the journey alive. Now, when I read about events in Myanmar, I understand so much more, I care, I pay attention. And I watch for ways to help.

*Regarding the question of using Burma or Myanmar, I refer readers to this article  in Mizzima, a media organization formerly in exile that is now based in Yangon.

TAKE ACTION!

Would YOU like to travel to Burma and experience it for yourself? Join us in building people to people ties in Burma on an upcoming journey co-sponsored by Ethical Traveler.

On October 30th a group of Reality Tours participants will travel with Global Exchange to Oaxaca Mexico to celebrate Day of the Dead

—

Oaxaca is one of the earth’s most beautiful places. Its lush mountains, high arid plains and dramatic Pacific coast are home to a vivid cultural mix. In addition to Spanish, Oaxaca’s people speak 16 other languages and 154 dialects.

Oaxaca is known worldwide for its stunning legacy of pre-Colombian architecture, such as the dramatic Monte Alban ruins. It is also home to continuing traditions such as the mid-summer Guelaguetza celebration and the stunning Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) ceremony, held in early November to honor all those who have walked the earth before us.

But Oaxaca is much more. It is also a battle ground for the future of Mexico. Oaxaca’s farmers suffered great damage from the market disruptions undemocratically imposed by the North American Free Trade Agreement. Out-migration by those unable to survive on traditional farming has reached epidemic proportions; impoverishing and tearing communities apart. Repression, electoral fraud and bad government have been persistent.

Resistance has also been fierce. In the 1990’s guerrilla movements arose in the Southern Sierra and in 2006, government repression of school teachers sparked one of the longest general strikes in the history of our continent. Protestors occupied government offices and took over key radio and television stations. They stood their ground, even when attacked by paramilitary death squads. The uprising ended only when crushed by massive Federal intervention.

Over the last twenty years Global Exchange has stood with Oaxaca’s people. In the 1990s we organized electoral and human rights observation delegations to the state, sometimes in remote communities under siege by state controlled paramilitaries. We reported from the ground throughout the popular rebellion of 2006.

This delegation will visit ruins, mezcal factories, artisan’s workshops, and will meet with indigenous leaders and social organizations. We will meet with women who are at the forefront of organizing community struggles to fight repression, sustain their livelihoods and defend their languages and culture.

We will also, of course, take part in the Day of the Dead celebration, a family event to remember departed souls and to celebrate the resurrection of their spirits. You can welcome back your loved ones as well amidst the marigold flowers, sugar skulls, painted faces, colorful parades, live music, and traditional dances.

Take Action!

Celebrate Day of the Dead in Oaxaca with Global Exchange

When: October 30 – November 6, 2013
Price: $1375
Special rates! Senior citizen and students price: $1250
Global Exchange members and past Reality Tour travelers: $1375 plus a special Fair Trade Day of the Dead gift

Congrats to Popular Choice Prize Winner, Marie Bodnar!

We’ve had an exciting spring this year hosting the 2013 Reality Tours Photo Contest. All in all, we received 96 photos taken on Reality Tours to countries all over the world.

Your photos inspired us and others, sparked a dialogue, and are beautiful images of the amazing places and people you visited on Reality Tours.

Meet the Popular Choice Winner

Voting for the Popular Choice winner has now closed, and we are happy to announce that Marie Bodnar has won the Popular Choice contest with a total of 63 votes (“like” on Facebook) by midnight on April 13th for her captivating image of a child in Afghanistan. From the comments section on Facebook (where the photo contest took place) one person noted that “you just get drawn in and wonder what the child is thinking.”

Congratulations Marie! You’ll be receiving your special prize soon; a Fair Trade gift package!

Who’s on Second?

Photo by Shannon DeCelle, Bolivia.

In close second for the Popular Choice contest were beautiful photos from Shannon DeCelle from a Food First and Global Exchange Reality Tour to Bolivia.

Shannon describes one of her photos: “He was having fun sharing his flower with me. We explored the area near Tunupa, a dormant volcano (distant  left in photo). I was overwhelmed and felt closer to everything for that moment.”

Want to check out all the photo submissions? You can see all of the photos on the Reality Tours Facebook page. If you haven’t had the chance already, we invite you to browse through the stunning photo entries.

Grand Prize Winner Announcement

The contest excitement isn’t over yet! We’ll be announcing the Grand Prize Winner, who will receive a $500 discount off a Reality Tour, on May 9th to commemorate Global Exchange’s Human Rights Award.

Take Action!

• Consider joining us on the upcoming “Women Making Change” Reality Tour to Afghanistan!
• If you will be in the San Francisco Bay Area, join us May 9th for the Human Rights Award to celebrate the work of Honorees Noam Chomsky, Crystal Lameman, and People’s Choice winner Julian Assange and Wikileaks.

Photo by Paulette Hurdlik. Reality Tour, Vietnam, 2009.

The 2013 Reality Tours Photo Contest is almost at an end! The last day to submit photos is Wednesday, April 10, so submit now to be considered for both the Grand Prize and Popular Choice prizes.  Help us decide the Popular Choice winner by voting on our Facebook page until April 15th!

We have received so many stunning images so far, thanks for sharing your memories and photos with us of the beautiful places and people you have visited with Reality Tours.

Global Exchange is partnering with the Danish branch of ActionAid to assist them with their international youth activist training programs. We’ll be supporting their 3-4 week programs in El Salvador, Nepal and Kenya in the Summer of 2013. These programs are focused on giving youth and emerging activists the hands-on skills to be successful campaigners in the field of human rights.

Past participants share some of the highlights of the program:

“Being in the Global Change course allowed me to understand the importance of working together in groups and how far you can get as a team. You learn how to plan and jump-start a campaign – your campaign is suddenly on TV, in the newspaper and on the radio. I don’t have words to describe these moments. I can just say – you have to live it!” -Gonzalo Chavarria, Nicaragua. Global Change Denmark, Autumn 2010.

“I learned so much from the ‘you learn as you do’ approach. I have not only learned to see things in a broader, global perspective, but I am also able to put the tools and skills I learned into practice. Since the course I have mobilised, initiated and am now facilitating an open Coffee Bar where young people get together and discuss politics and daily life experiences. I feel I have been empowered to make a difference in my community!”
Joseph Ochieng Kenya Global Change Autumn 2010, Tanzania.

The deadline to apply to each program is 2 months before departure, so act NOW to reserve your spot, and please share with all youth between the ages of 18-35 interested in deepening their commitment to social justice and campaign work.

For more information about the program in El Salvador, please contact Corina at corina (at) globalexchange.org. For more information about the programs in Nepal and Kenya, please contact Alessandro at alessandro (at) globalexchange.org.

According to Arjan El Fassed of Electronic Intifada, an independent online news publication focused on Palestine, “Land Day 1976 was the first act of mass resistance by the Palestinians inside Israel against the Zionist policy of internal colonialisation–Land Day reaffirmed the Palestinian minority in Israel as an inseparable part of the Palestinian and Arab nation.”

As activists commemorate Palestinian Land Day around the globe, Global Exchange is recognizing this 37th Palestinian Land Day with a Reality Tour that is currently on the ground in the West Bank.

Reality Tours to Palestine also focus on Fair Trade olive oil production in the West Bank.

The group will examine the impacts of occupation on the people and the environment while hearing from diverse organizations and individuals on the issue of land loss and the displacement of peoples. The Reality Tour will also  stand in solidarity with Palestinians during Land Day activities.

More information on upcoming Reality Tours to Palestine can be found on our website.

Interested in traveling to Palestine? Join us in November for the ‘Fair Olive Harvest’ and learn how Fair Trade cooperatives are restoring hope and providing economic alternatives to a population living under occupation. Sign up today.

Photo by Diane Budd. Taken on a Reality Tour to Iran, 2008.

Our travel photo contest is off to a great start as we have received photos from Reality Tours all over the world, including Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. We have greatly enjoyed receiving and sharing your images and hearing about your memories of the Reality Tours of which you have been a part.

There is still time to submit up to three of your favorite photos from a Reality Tour to be considered for our prizes: a Fair Trade gift package and the Grand Prize of a $500 discount on a Reality Tour! We’re still looking for pictures from any of our Reality Tours to Africa- Uganda, Kenya, or South Africa anyone?

Photo by Tom Hudspeth. Taken on a Reality Tour to Cuba, 2011.

We’re also continuing to look for photos that show interactions between Reality Tour participants and people from the communities we visit.

Submit today, as the deadline for submissions is April 10, 2013. And make sure to vote for the Popular Choice winner by liking your favorite photos on our Facebook Page!