After switching careers from banking to agriculture, I wrote to my mom to tell her about this decision.

Editor's note:

After graduating from the Department of Finance at National Taiwan University, Han-Jui left his job at a foreign bank to go into agriculture, devoting himself to growing and promoting living sprouts. His mother, Dr. Lin Bi-Hsia, holds a PhD from the Department of Horticulture at National Taiwan University and is a founding veteran of the Homemakers United Foundation cooperative. This is a letter Han-Jui wrote to his mother on the eve of Mother's Day….

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Dear Mom,

The arrival of Mother's Day 2012 also means Green Vine has been in business for nearly two years. This period has been hard: we grew a lot of sprouts, made a lot of mistakes, received a lot of encouragement, and also began to face setbacks head-on. I am very grateful that you have walked through all of this with us, and that over these two years you have helped me, at 30, understand that what matters most to me is perseverance in the pursuit of ideals, and the selfless companionship and support of family. Thank you.

I still remember that when I was little, every time we went abroad I would always tag along with Dad and you to visit farms in various places, looking at endless farmland and fruit trees. I always asked, why not go to Disneyland? You told me: "Agriculture is our foundation. Isn't it interesting to observe and study life?" Of course I did not understand. Every weekend you would always drive around, going far and wide to guide farming friends in doing organic cultivation. The mountain roads were steep, and organic fertilizer did not smell good. I asked why you did this. You told me: "This is what we should do. If we can both help farmers and let more people eat safe and delicious agricultural products, that will be the happiest thing." I did not understand that either. Perhaps precisely because I did not understand, in the summer before my third year of high school, I switched from the third group to the first group, and my younger sister directly chose the second group - agricultural science. None of these were options you would have chosen. I knew you and Dad were somewhat disappointed, but you still fully supported our own choices.

In university, I studied economics and accounting, yet instead I began to question why you volunteered everywhere to guide farmers, promote low-nitrate cultivation, and develop environmentally friendly cleaning agents - all thankless efforts that are not at all what a "rational economic man" should do. You still smiled and told me: "Some unwise things still need someone to do them." At the time, I pretended to understand, but I truly did not grasp the deeper meaning behind that sentence.

Now, at 30, looking at a pile of sprouts, I seem, on the contrary, to understand a little.

Many farming friends and producers feel that the vegetables they grow and the products they make are the best in the world. At first I could not quite appreciate that feeling, but when you were ill and the family dining table could have reassuring broccoli sprouts, allowing you to eat them raw with peace of mind, I deeply experienced that feeling myself. Perhaps it was fate's ingenious arrangement that I plunged from the financial industry headfirst into a living-sprout startup, perhaps precisely so that I could provide you with sprouts like these.

Since starting the business, I have met many producers and consumers with ideals. From their words, I have in turn come to better understand many of the convictions you and Dad hold. A while ago, a reporter asked me who my entrepreneurial idols are. I told him: Steve Jobs of Apple Computer, and my mother, Dr. Lin Bi-Hsia. So, dear Mom, happy Mother's Day. You will always be the gentlest, warmest, and also wisest mom in my heart!

Your son, Han-Jui, May 2012, on the eve of Mother's Day