HK Farm Winter Discussion at Spring Workshop
On Sunday 8th February we were lucky enough to attend the HK Farm Winter Discussion at Spring Workshop. The event was a chance for people interested in urban farming, such as ourselves, to hear from more experienced farmers based in Hong Kong and talk to them about various urban agricultural issues. The discussion was led by four organisations, HK Farm,Sangwoodgoon, HK Potato and Yaumatei Gardener.
Throughout the discussion each group spoke about their own experiences of setting up a farm in Hong Kong, the ups and downs of growing your own food in a dense global city, and how to balance farming with everyday work and other projects.
The work/farm balance was a particular issue that was picked up by all of the speakers, each recognising the multiple identity that comes from holding down an everyday job whilst being a farmer. This mix of identity appeared to be in part caused by living in Hong Kong, a city that forces us to be busy people and participate in several different projects at once. Yet it was also noted that it is the busyness of the city that drives people to take up urban farming and find release through focusing more on nature.
Another common theme that appeared in the discussion was to do with the goals of urban agriculture. It is fully recognised that none of these farming organisations are trying to produce enough food to feed a city, but are instead seeking to raise the awareness of people in Hong Kong about where their food comes from, provide a creative outlet and bring together communities throughout the city. As Sangwoodgoon mentioned, finding out the purpose and expectations of each farm is part of the learning experience and sometimes requires us to take a step back and see that smaller scale work can actually be more beneficial. This was also picked up on by Michael Leung of HK Farm, who through studying Permaculture (a creative design process based upon the patterns and relationships we find in nature) learned that using small and slow solutions are often better. The community and artistic focus of these urban farms is a main contributor to their success, providing ownership of food production at a grassroots level and giving a source of inspiration for others to do the same. It is projects like this that show government and corporate led initiatives, led through top down management and on a large scale are not always best.
Throughout the afternoon at Spring Workshop several other issues were spoken about, and each of us from the Chatteris Rooftop Garden had a chance to speak to the organisations that took part in the discussion. In doing so we were able to reflect more on our own rooftop garden and its focus as an educational tool that can be used by local schools to share agricultural practices and raise awareness of other environment issues.
The urban farmers of Hong Kong.
Putting our garden on the map!
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