A Community of Farmers: Hmong American Community
12 February 2003
"Farming is an important part of Hmong culture. It is a source of community pride and self-esteem, and a way to make a living." Chukou Thao
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| Meng Lee demonstrates how to harvest daikon, an Asian vegetable. |
February 5, 2003
By Kristina Canizares
On a clear, blustery fall day Wa Meng Lee stands humming to himself in the middle of a half-harvested field of daikon, an Asian vegetable. One by one he pulls up long, tuberous roots and chops off the ends, then throws them into piles to be collected later with help from his large extended family. It is very quiet and peaceful.
"I love it out here," smiles Meng Lee, "No time clock. No one tells me what to do."
Farming is nothing new to Meng Lee. He is Hmong, an indigenous people from Southeast Asia that lived in and farmed the mountains of Laos.
Hmong farmers face the same challenges that all small farmers in the U.S. are grappling with, and they have the added burden of cultural and social obstacles.
Over 300,000 Hmong have come to the U.S. as refugees over the last 25 years, having been expelled from Laos after lending assistance to the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Most Hmong farmers speak little or no English. Their literacy rate and general education levels are among the lowest of any refugee population in the country. Approximately 80 percent of Hmong immigrants live below the poverty line. That is why many Hmong, like Meng Lee, have returned to farming as a means of survival.
Unfortunately, as any farmer will tell you, agriculture is a tricky business. Land is expensive and the market is highly competitive. And Hmong farmers have no experience with the U.S. agricultural system.
Chukou Thao is the director of the Hmong American Community, an organization supported by Oxfam and, California involved in economic development. "Farming is an important part of Hmong culture," he explains. "It is a source of community pride and self-esteem, and a way to make a living."
In order to ensure that the Hmong are able to preserve their agrarian traditions, and improve their income, HAC founded a farming cooperative.
Meng Lee is the co-op chairman and one of its first members. "We needed a co-op to make sure that we all get a fair price for what we grow. There are so many small farmers. If we don't get together we are competing with each other, and the cash buyers manipulate us to keep the prices low."
HAC also runs a training center that gives newer Hmong farmers a chance to learn from veterans like Meng Lee, who has been making a living from his five acres for 20 years.
"We are training people about technology and pesticide regulations, and the business part--the marketing," says Chukou. "This is really necessary. When I was growing up on my parents' farm I saw them getting ripped off all the time by the buyers because they didn't speak English. It was easier to just walk away than ask questions. The co-op was established to change that."
HAC draws on other resources in the Fresno area through partnerships with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative Center and the University of California Agricultural Extension Service. One of the extension agents, Michael Yang, is a Hmong immigrant himself. "We are helping them grow many of the same crops that we had back in Laos. Not only are these crops familiar, they give Hmong farmers an advantage because so few farmers grow them. They have less competition."
Yang also teaches at the co-op's training center, a 20-acre stretch just outside of Fresno. He is currently planning a demonstration plot. "There is very little research being done on Asian specialty crops right now," says Yang. "This will be a place where we can do that research and the farmers can come to learn hands-on."
The training center is also home to HAC's farmer incubation program. Many Hmong farmers have found it difficult just to get started in farming. The incubation program gives two-acre plots to individuals or families trying to get into the business, providing them with financial planning and technical training for two years, free of charge. Graduating farmers get help with loans and start-up expenses. Many of these farmers have gone on to start their own successful farms.
"I wanted this job because I wanted to do something meaningful for my community," says Chukou. "It is great to go to Hmong events and see the people whose lives have changed because of this program."
