A bowl of local red bean soup becomes the power to transform fallow land
Earlier this year, Business Weekly interviewed Yang Ju-men. He has recently built a kiln at his own Dadaocheng Farming Academy, turning slow charcoal-fired local red bean soup into a force for transforming fallow land, using the most direct method to challenge a hot potato that Taiwan's agriculture has faced for years.
These bowls of delicious red bean soup use Greenvines' Kaohsiung No. 9 red beans. Three years ago we got to know this lovely group of farmers. For the sake of human health and environmental sustainability, they insist on not using herbicides and carefully grow the highest-quality local red beans. Each bean is almost as big as the portrait of Chiang Kai-shek on a 1-yuan coin, and they have long been supported by many consumers. Later we also introduced them to Ju-men, so that more strength could be channeled into this long-neglected land.
From originally selling one pack at a time, Ju-men now wants to go further and expand demand through freshly cooked ready-to-eat food. If this method works, 3-5 years should be able to revitalize 200 hectares of fallow land. So do not underestimate a bowl of kiln-cooked red bean soup, a cup of rich soy milk, or a box of nutritious living sprouts. This is what Jane Goodall meant by "Eating can change the world; food is power." When consumers use the power of consumption to choose to buy beneficial foods, they support farmers who grow crops in the right way, which is equivalent to using a gentle revolutionary force to change the world. Looking ahead to the future of Taiwan's agriculture, returning to the abundant scenes of diverse crops from earlier years is absolutely a path we must persist in taking.
“The red bean soup for saving fallow land now initiated by Yang Ju-men is just like the pioneering stage of the Homemakers United Foundation Consumers' Cooperative 20 years ago. There always has to be someone who comes out to do some things and find a way to change.”– Liao Yi-wen, co-founder of Greenvines
Next time you pass by the Farming Academy at Dadaocheng 259 and at Q Square B3 Food Fun Avenue, we invite you to stop, buy a bowl of delicious red bean soup, join in the change, and do your part to revitalize fallow land.