Engage North Korea : 1301PE: Abroad: Ryongyon Farm Rehabilitation Program

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

1301PE: Abroad: Ryongyon Farm Rehabilitation Program

The 1301PE blog was started in January 2010. It is a record of events from 2010 onward. The 1301PE blog engages a variety of interests and makes gallery archives available online. We want to convey the history and diverse discussions that take place around 1301PE.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Abroad: Ryongyon Farm Rehabilitation Program

Ryongyon Farm is one of Dr. Pilju Kim Joo's agricultural rehabilitation programs in North Korea. Dr. Pilju is working with the North Korean government to build a farm that is sustainable. Ryongyon Farm aims to support not only sustainable crops but sustainable lives for its tenants. In addition to having a school for children, Ryongyon Farm supplies food and housing for its workers. The farm embodies the local food movement in many ways that are superior to many American businesses promoting a local food ethos.

cotton fields

Dr. Pilju Kim Joo

Extra cotton supply goes towards a fund for a cotton gin for the farm. On a side note, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney who started the Whitney the Whitney Museum of American Art, is indirectly relationed to Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. At the age of 21, Gertrude married the businessman and thoroughbred horse breeder Harry Payne Whitney, whose own family had amassed great wealth throughout the 19th century, beginning with Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin in 1839. In 1918 Gertrude and her husband opened the Whitney Studio Club in Greenwich Village. The Studio Club was a space designed for young local artists to socialize, study, and to show and sell their work. Gertrude's main interest was in the Ashcan school of American art which were the origins of the Whitney Museum's collection.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

The group on the farm.

Dr. Pilju Kim talking about the processing of cotton - how the seeds can be used for cotton seed oil and the stems made into a fiber for paper.

Excessive rain in India and China has created a problem for the world cotton market. Summer rains in China have caused some of the worst flooding in over fifty years (Read more here). Alternatively, demand for cotton has risen causing China to reopen its doors to cotton importation many years of import restrictions.

Workers' housing

A monument saying that Kim Jung Il came to the farm.

Cucumbers - perfect to make Korean style salty cucumber pickles (oijangajji)

Oijangajji muchim (Korean style cucumber pickle side dish)
Ingredients:
2 pickled cucumbers (about ¾ to 1 cup), hot pepper flakes, garlic, green onion, green chile pepper, honey, sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Slice 2 cucumber pickles thinly and put them into a mixing bowl.
Add 1-2 ts of hot pepper flakes, 1 clove of minced garlic, 1 tbs chopped green onion, 2 ts chopped green chile pepper, ½ ts honey, and ½ ts sesame oil. Mix well with your hand.
Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle ½ tbs roasted sesame seeds.

Serve with rice.

Perilla grows all over North Korea. It is a genus of annual herb that is a member of the mint family (it is sometimes called Purple Mint). In mild climates the plant reseeds itself. It is considered rich in minerals and vitamins, has anti-inflammatory properties and is thought to help preserve and sterilize other foods.