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Initiatives to explore the meaning and practice of sustainable living are attempts to contest with the mainstream economy dictated only by capital and profit. A certain lifestyle is shaped by the mainstream economy that places economic values above everything else. Even though it manages to create wealth and alleviates the poverty of some people, it has done much harm as well. For example, nature has been destroyed recklessly, human relationships are falling apart and the sense of belonging to one’s community has diminished enormously.
To rediscover a free and autonomous way of life that embraces diversity beyond mainstream values, farmers’ markets that resemble traditional markets have been revived and become an important part of the movement for sustainable living in mainland China.
In the farmers’ market, transaction is not just an economic relationship. It is a direct communication and exchange between two parties in the process of which a relationship of trust and mutual help is built gradually. Consumers support the livelihood of small-scale farmers while the farmers provide consumers with healthy food cultivated ecologically. Some markets promote DIY (Do it Yourself) by encouraging exchange of homemade food and handicrafts. DIY enables the participants to rediscover their creativity and their ability to make a living, and they also gain satisfaction from their physical labour and a sense of meaning in what they do. In this process, they inherit and pass on local and traditional culture and recognise their own value.
In today’s mode of consumption, convenience is the keyword to profit. One only has to go into a supermarket or a mall to find everything that one wants. Or sit in front of the computer, and with a few clicks of a mouse have whatever one wants delivered to one’s doorstep. Who, then, would forsake the easy path to take the difficult one? What did they have in mind when they revived the farmers’ market?
In this issue, we would like to feature the experience of organisers of farmers’ markets in three cities in mainland China (Guangzhou, Guiyang, Chengdu). In their articles, they share how they go beyond conventional economic considerations and embrace other values through the farmers’ markets. In the case of Chengdu, the writer also depicts the organising experience of Hope Market, a renowned farmers’ market in Taiwan.
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In recent years in China, public attention is being drawn to the fact that some young people from rural areas who studied or worked in the city have chosen to go home to become farmers. However, in the face of the widening disparity between the urban and rural area, these young rural returnees are struggling to survive, often at a loss with what to do with their future and in great need of support. This booklet depicts the experience of support given to young rural returnees of Dong villages in Guizhou. Contents include the approaches adopted, activities organised and the feedback from the young people.
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Gaoligong Mountain in Yunnan Province is one of the most biologically diverse regions in China. It is also home to many unique species of animals. For many years, PCD has been supporting initiatives on natural conservation and education in Gaoligong Mountain to raise public awareness of the importance of respecting and protecting nature. These initiatives are documented in a book co-published by PCD and the local government as case studies for educational use for fellow practitioners.
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Though we are based in different regions and have different work approaches, we are all striving to practise sustainable living, and the ripples we create will definitely benefit other partners. Please share your experience and reflections with us and send your stories to enews@pcd.org.hk. The subject of your stories should be related to your programmes. Please provide your name, project background and photographs. Please do not exceed 2,000 words.
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 Established in Hong Kong in May 2001, Partnerships for Community Development (PCD) is a community development organisation without any religious or political affiliation. It is set up and funded by the Kadoorie Foundation (via a stream of funds allocated by the Hon. Mrs McAulay). The Foundation is a Hong Kong-based trust founded in 1970 by the late Sir Horace Kadoorie who believed in the motto: "Help people to help themselves"
PCD believes that everyone, however deprived in material terms, has the right and the ability to lead a dignified and sustainable life in harmony with others, with nature and with the world at large. Individual well-being and sustainable living are crucial to maintain a harmonious and sustainable community. PCD believes that the whole community must reflect together on its relationship with nature and on its cultural traditions.
Main areas of work include: Protection of environment, ecological agriculture, holistic health, preservation and innovation of local cultures, cultural reflection on the non-sustainable development model, learning about sustainable living and putting it into practice.
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Hong Kong Head Office:
13/F Chi Wo Commercial Building, 20 Saigon Street, Jordan, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2458-0011 Fax: (852) 2430-7099
Email: info@pcd.org.hk Website: www.pcd.org.hk
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