While other students may have found their fall semesters no different than semesters past, Bennet Haynes '08 is an exception. Waking up at 5:30 a.m., speaking Thai to his host families, and spending his days farming and learning about the Green Revolution, Haynes' semester in Thailand with CIEE's Khon Kaen program was a clear break from the monotony of college life.
Now that he is stateside, Haynes hopes to share his experiences through a nationwide two-week campaign to encourage universities to purchase Thai-grown organic rice.
On Tuesday, Bowdoin was the first college to hear the presentation. To kick it off, students and faculty alike gathered in Moulton Union to eat a specially cooked Thai dinner. After dinner, attendees listened as two visiting Thai farmers talked about their life and experiences farming in Thailand in an effort to raise awareness about issues that fair trade farmers face.
Man Samsee from Kutchum was the first to speak. Man has been a farmer for as long as he can remember, having been taken out of school after elementary school to help his family work the fields. He is now the headman of his village, a village that has become well-known in Thailand for its self-sufficiency and participation in the Yasothorn Province's Fair Trade rice mill and cooperative.
The other farmer, Samrat Thong-iam, is vice president of Rice Fund Surin, an organic foods cooperative that sells organic rice domestically and in Europe and the United States. He also grows organic jasmine rice and other fruits and vegetables with his wife and two daughters.
While both men now enjoy a sustainable lifestyle of organic farming, it was not long ago that they lived differently. Following the increase of rice yields in India by 30 percent, organizations such as the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation looked to expand new agricultural technology to Asia and the rest of the world. The new agricultural technology centered around the use of pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Pressured by the new standards, farmers throughout Thailand changed the way they farmed, and started to buy pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.
"We no longer have the frogs and the fish and the other animals we used to see in the fields," Man said. "When the kids would go play in the water, they would have rashes." Man saw diabetes and cancer increase throughout his village.
With the new pesticides and chemicals too expensive for the small scale farmers, many were forced to seek day labor in the cities.
Then Thai farmers began taking matters into their own hands. Looking at the business model of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) used in Thailand, the farming villages started to work together to form cooperatives and buy the rice mills so they could produce the rice any way they wanted
"We don't have to spend money to put fertilizer in our fields," Man said.
Now with their new way of life, Man and Samrat look to the future with hope.
"It's not just about farming, it's also about a way of life and helping our society in general," Samrat said. "We bring people to visit each other's fields and do various exchanges...We are trying to build a network so villagers can do things on their own."
Having experienced the new lifestyle of the Thai farmers, Haynes and nine other students in the program came together to create a plan to help.
"We decided we were going to try to get five universities to buy the rice," said Hayes. Working with Engage, an organization started by alumni of CIEE Khon Kaen to involve people in cross-cultural communication, Haynes helped plan to bring the Thai farmers to the United States.
"Throughout the semester we planned out the tour," said Haynes. After Bowdoin, the farmers will go on to talk at Amherst, Hamilton, and Georgetown.
Currently, Haynes is talking with the Dining Service about the possibility of Bowdoin buying the rice in the future.
"They're very responsive, there are just some details that need to be worked out," Haynes said. "They bought the rice for this dinner. It's a big start," he said.
Despite the progress that has been made, both Man and Samrat stressed the ongoing challenges for small-scale farmers in Thailand. With the government of Thailand pushing for international free trade, their livelihood is still very much at risk.
"Villagers and farmers like us often do not have a lot that is heard on that level," Man said.
Already the effects of free trade are evident in Thailand. With beef and milk markets opened up with Australia, many Thai cattle farmers are losing their way of life. "Free trade is a very scary possibility for us," said Samrat. "All Thai farmers would be doomed to poverty."
Even with the many risks of being a farmer in Thailand, both Man and Samrat are committed to continuing organic farming, and bringing their rice to the United States. "We may be poor people," Man said, "but when we work together, we can find happiness."