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www.groovekorea.com / July 2014 48 cultivating about 80 percent of Korea’s do- mestically grown organic produce. On Kim’s farm, the chicken manure is used to fertilize the strawberries, a holistic process that brings livestock care, plant growth and soil health full circle – mirroring the mutual connection between consumer and farmer in the CSA project. The slow food movement Hansol Farm is how Kim got involved with Slow Food – as opposed to fast food, it’s an international movement promoting eco-friend- ly agriculture. He then recruited Joon Lee and Stream Jang to head up Gachi CSA in Seoul. Lee, an affable New Yorker who gave up a career in finance to connect with food and farmers, met Kim through his work at WWOOF Korea, the local branch of World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Jang is a longtime food activist who founded the Slow Food Youth Network in Korea in 2013 after working for years in the nonprofit sector. Together, they provided the idealism and busi- ness acumen Kim needed to connect farmers with an expat community clamoring for a new way to enjoy Korean culture. Before Lee and Jang got started, consum- ers with a good grasp of Korean could get organic produce through cooperatives like Hansalim, the largest of its kind in Korea with over 200,000 members, or through “ggure- omi” (the Korean word used to describe a CSA project). “There are veteran co-ops and CSAs out there doing it really well,” explains Lee, “but we wanted something a little different: the idea of community, the ‘C’ in CSA. We didn’t want to be just a delivery service, but to build a sense of community, too.” To that end, their boxes of fruits and vegetables come with a world of other opportunities. Gachi CSA organizes Farm Tours, which bring CSA members out to the farms to eat their produce and get to know fellow mem- bers and producers. In April, for example, members planted the herb garden at Hansol Farm that provide s the fresh herbs now found in the weekly boxes. Farmers see the value in increasing awareness in organic farming through language and cultural exchange with the expat community, as well as the financial benefits of guaranteed income through CSA subscriptions: Participating farmers generate between 5 and 20 percent of their income through Gachi CSA. The group also organizes events in Seoul, such as potlucks, food swaps and barbecues for CSA members and farmers. As Lee says, “We want to link the expat com- munity with the Korean community — is there a better way to do that than through food? Food and farmers and farming — it’s great.” Get cooking So why should expats join Gachi CSA? Member Nikki Slack says, “I know that my participation supports local farmers, and there really is a bit of a ‘we’re all in this together’ feeling in CSAs. It’s good to have a sense of making a difference in my second home through supporting organic agriculture.” Bearing this in mind, having a CSA subscrip- tion can admittedly feel like a burden at times, especially when you don’t know what you’ll be getting in your box each week; you’ll need to make a commitment to cooking at home Edited by Shelley DeWees (shelley@groovekorea.com) GROW LOCAL ‘There are veteran co-ops and CSAs out there doing it really well,’ explains Lee, ‘but we wanted something a little different: the idea of community, the “C” in CSA. We didn’t want to be just a delivery service, but to build a sense of community too.’ And to that end, their boxes of fruits and vegetables come with a world of other opportunities.