WUNRN
All-China Women's Federation
CHINA - WOMEN WEEKDAY
PROFESSIONALS, WEEKEND FARMERS
By Chen Lu - Editor: Zhao Liangfeng
- January 8, 2013
Like thousands of their peers in
The farm, called Aifeng Farm, covers an area of 20 mu (1.33 hectares) and
produces 60 types of vegetables. Qi and Xiao also keep three geese and several
chickens there.
Qi Jing (L) and Xiao Nan run a farm in the
outskirts of |
A Rural Idyll
Situated just outside the city, Aifeng Farm is divided into smaller areas
planted with vegetables and walnut and cherry trees. There is also a
Greek-style house painted a cheerful blue and white.
Qi and Xiao met on a trip and decided to set up their farm when they realized
they were both passionately concerned about the food safety scandals that have
rocked
Undaunted by their lack of experience, they invested 200,000 yuan (US$ 32,258)
this April to rent land and hire laborers to set up the farm.
They also hired a professional agricultural technician to guide them on various
issues, such as what types of vegetables to plant, when to plant them and how
to protect them from insects.
"Technically speaking, our farm produce cannot be labeled organic, but we
never use pesticides. We sometimes pick off the insects by hand, and we only
use organic fertilizers which meet the national standards," said Xiao.
"It's our aim to produce vegetables with the most natural taste."
Qi and Xiao were surprised to find that their small tract of land yielded a
rich bounty of vegetables, far beyond what they and their families could
consume.
To prevent the produce from going to waste, they decided to sell some. After
they posted photos of their farm and the produce on their Weibo (
"At first, we didn't think about making money from it. We just didn't want
to waste the vegetables," said Xiao.
Then Qi designed a logo for their farm and registered the brand as
‘Aifengshou', literally translated as ‘love harvest'. Their advertising angle
was that their produce was safe and healthy for potential customers since they
themselves consumed it, which soon attracted a number of clients.
Later, they divided their farm into smaller parcels of land and rented them out
for 3,000 yuan (US$ 484) a year each. People who rent them can plant vegetables
there themselves or ask the farm to help them do it.
Escape from the City
"We don't intend to quit our jobs," said Qi, whose job is actually
very well-paid.
"But working on the farm has changed our lives completely," added
Xiao.
The two spend all their weekends on the farm. On Saturdays, they leave downtown
After assigning delivery tasks to their employees, they start to process the
surplus vegetables, cooking them or turning them into pickles. After two busy
days, they drive back to the city with a load of freshly harvested vegetables.
Despite the busy farm work, Qi and Xiao have come to love their little farm.
When Xiao is stuck in a traffic jam in the city and sees the fog hanging over
the skyscrapers, she thinks longingly of her farm and can't wait for the
weekend. No matter how tired she is after work, she makes sure to update
information about the farm on her Weibo account.
When
Commitment to Quality
As their farm business began to grow, Qi and Xiao began to adopt the idea of
community-supported agriculture (CSA), an alternative, locally-based
socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution.
Although their friends laughed at their idea in the beginning, when their farm
began to attract more and more customers, one friend designed a greeting card
for the farm.
Their reluctance to use pesticides also means that although the vegetables are
of the highest quality, they may not look as perfect as store-bought ones. In
fact, one elderly woman who had placed an order complained about the appearance
of the vegetables and threatened to cancel the purchase.
But when she ate the vegetables, she was surprised at how good they tasted.
Soon, she had become a regular client and even recommended the farm produce to
her neighbors.
Currently, the farm is able to cover its expenses with the income it brings in.
Qi and Xiao hope to recover all their investment in three to five years.
"At the very least, the farm provides us with a steady supply of fresh
vegetables and offers us a place to escape to and relax on the weekends,"
they said. "What more could we possibly ask for?"