The Catholic Saving Our Farm Movement

Yesterday we had some Catholics who came for some mountain climbing behind the church. They looked around the property and saw a lot of plant lice on the trees and plants and told me to do some spraying. I told them I was trying to make the area ecologically a garden of Eden. One man overheard the conversation joined and mentioned that tobacco put in water for a period of time makes a good herbicide and is organically permitted. I can see myself going around looking for cigarette butts to prepare the material to spray.

In Korea there are many who have taken up organic farming and the Church in many of the Dioceses have Save Our Farm Movement which is strong and doing well. The third week of July is Farming Sunday in Korea. After the Uruguay Round Agreement the Church thought it necessary to get involved with the farmers and tried to give them hope for the future. It has established its identity as a movement that protects agriculture, farmland and ecology, and its main thrust is organically grown food, normally devoid of pesticides and herbicides.

There are many parishes that have an outlet for food grown on organic farms, selling directly to the consumer. The products grown on these farms are more expensive and that is a big problem in having the movement grow but it is continuing slowly having spread to all the dioceses in Korea.

This movement within the Catholic Church started in 1994 and continues to grow with its blessing. It is also spreading to the livestock farmers who few, are trying to raise the animals entirly on organic feed without any antibiotics. In this present edition of the Catholic Paper there is the example of a sole farmer who is growing pigs completely on organic feed without any antibiotics It is an interesting endeavor and hopefully these farmers will get the necessary coperation of the consumers.