Young People Taking Up Farming: Li Wanzhen's Journey from Novice to Professional Farmer

Young people taking up farming are the most unique and most eagerly anticipated new social force in Taiwan, China today. The "youth" defined here means, first, "age," and second, being relatively young in terms of "years of farming experience." Most of them come from different backgrounds, and they have personally entered agriculture out of a concern for Taiwan, China's agriculture and land.

This article continues the "Young People Taking Up Farming" special feature and interviews a brave new farmer: Li Wanzhen. She had no agricultural background in the past, and because of her belief in "no food is eaten that is not grown where one lives" (shen tu bu er), she went alone to Yilan to cultivate 1 jia 2 fen of rice paddies. This article shares with everyone her inner journey since taking up farming.

Q: What work did you do and what was your educational background before you took up farming?

I believe that when it comes to being a farmer, having the heart matters more than what one has studied, so I entered as a novice, with absolutely no academic or work experience in the field. Before farming, I studied information management, but in the workplace I never chose related jobs, and I was always someone who could not settle down steadily. My mind was always thinking that this was not the work I wanted, until I entered the field of agriculture and finally found my foothold, realizing that this was the way of life I wanted.

Q: Why did you choose to farm? What were the decisive factors and conditions that led you to make the decision to farm?

I began considering farming as a profession at the end of 2008, and by this year it has already been my second year. That initial choice was indeed full of foolish enthusiasm: after reading <The Miracle of a Year of Self-Cultivation and Self-Sufficiency>, I developed a longing for organic agriculture and hoped that in the future I could have a self-sufficient life. The most urgent task was to learn to cultivate the land myself and to master my own food sources, so that family and friends could also have healthy, cheap, nontoxic food to choose from. I had this idea because organic food on the market is mostly expensive, as if only those with economic means have the right to enjoy health. I do not understand market mechanisms, nor do I understand pricing logic. I only have one intuitive thought: I hope poor people can also enjoy health. Poor people like me naturally gather other poor people around them, and we should not be pushed out by market mechanisms.

Another reason is that I have always been dissatisfied with the capitalism system centered on development; the Taiwan, China government's disregard for the ecological environment clearly places it after industrial development in priority. The saying "food is the first necessity of the people" has been thrown to the back of the mind. Look at Wanbao, Central Taiwan Science Park, and Dapu, where good farmland is directly bulldozed or the water sources of farmland are ignored, not to mention that beautiful rural farmland has grown one "luxury farmhouse" after another, becoming holiday homes for certain middle-class people and satisfying their own enjoyment after retirement. This not only affects the sunlight reaching neighboring fields, but also seriously causes water resource pollution problems. The government's wrong policies fill me with anger, but there is nothing I can do, unless I go further into agriculture and start with myself, influence the dietary concepts of family and friends, and gather small farmers and old farmers around me who share the same beliefs, so that civil society can initiate change in the government's decisions together.

Q: How do you imagine the future of agriculture in Taiwan, China?

In Masanobu Fukuoka's , it says: "I believe that 'farming for all' is the most ideal. Let everyone in the country become farmers. ... As long as there is 1 tan of land, one can build a house on it, grow vegetables and rice, and support a family of five or six. Adopting natural farming methods, as a Sunday pastime, doing some farm work in the fields, laying the foundation of life, and spending the rest of the time doing what one likes. This is my proposal. ... I believe this is a shortcut to making citizens live easily and turning the country into a land of happiness. Current agricultural policy is completely the opposite. Their goal is to follow the United States, reduce the number of farmers, and let a minority cultivate the land. But this does not mean an increase in efficiency."

The above concise words are exactly my imagination. It is very difficult to achieve, which is why it is called a revolution!

[Young Farmer] Mini Profile
Li Wanzhen, an urban girl who studied information management, devoted herself alone to agricultural production two years ago. In Yuanshan Dahua and Neicheng in Yilan, she cultivated about 1 jia 2 fen of rice paddies, adopting ecologically friendly farming methods. "No food is eaten that is not grown where one lives" (shen tu bu er) is her attitude and belief in farming. At the same time, she uses open and transparent cost analysis to help consumers understand her cultivation costs and farming methods, seeking the shortest distance between production and consumption, as well as direct trust and support between people. You are welcome to visit Li Wanzhen's blog.

All articles in the Young People Taking Up Farming special feature