Kira (Thailand): organic farming and pig slaughter

Hey guys! A whole bunch has happened since last post, as usual...

Part 1: Surin Organic Farmers
The homestays just keep getting better and better. I honestly don't know what else there is to learn or experience at this point, but we still have three months left.
We got back a few days ago from a homestay in Surin province, which is supposedly the organic farming province. However, less than half of a percent of the farmland there is actually organic. We got to meet with the vice-governor of Surin, who rambled for a few hours about why he was so great and oh so supportive of organic farming. When asked why not more farmers were organic, he blamed the farmers themselves, saying that it "wasn't in their hearts."
After this, we met our homestay families (who all farm sans chemicals). Another student and I stayed with a middle-aged couple. All four of my host parents' children were out working in various cities. My host mom slept in the same bed as the other student and me, and she let us do a lot of the cooking. She is pretty amazing. She picks and sells coconuts, grows and mills her own organic rice, weaves, and also raises buffalo, chickens, and ducks. The area we were in was gorgeous too with lots of palm trees.
Some highlights from the homestay:
1. Festival: The first morning we were there, there was a huge festival for the 10th anniversary of the organic movement in the village I wasn't staying in. We all went over there to celebrate with them. One thing I noticed was that no one had to pay for food -people just brought food and everyone could eat it. Also, the governor made an appearance. Of course, he wanted all of the farang to pose for a picture with him. I felt very used...
2. Fishing: That afternoon, I was a little bored, so I went outside to wander and ran into our driver. He asked if I wanted to come fishing. So we all went fishing Thai-style -it's some complex process that I don't completely understand, but it involves swimming. We went to a tiny, milky-green pond at the edge of the rice field and splashed around, and the Thai guys we were with caught fish, often with their hands.
3. Other farming activities: I got to sort silk worms and pick vegetables. It was fun. Also, on the last night we were there, my host mom made me and 5 other students shave coconuts with spoons for a few hours. We kept wanting dinner, but all we got were more coconuts! It was amusing. After a 7:30 dinner (which is really late when you're used to being put to bed at 8), we shaved even more coconuts. We didn't get to bed until 9:30! (homestay life usually involves absurdly early bedtimes, and we're always tired anyway. I think the whole homestay situation just drains my energy.)
4. Dalad Ki-ow (Green Market): This is the organic market where our host parents sell their organic food. We got to wake up really early (4ish) and go with them to sell on our last day. I had fun selling the coconuts that we shaved. One of the host moms also packed us a picnic breakfast, which was adorable.

One thing that completely blew me away is the fact that the organic farmers that we stayed with gave up so much of the little they had to stop using chemicals. Switching back to organic from chemical farming is difficult for a number of reasons. First, since chemicals deplete the soil, it is difficult to get a good yield the first few years off chemicals. Also, some banks buy up a lot of chemical fertilizer and make all the farmers who ask for loans buy some before they can get their loans! Additionally, organic farming takes a lot more work than chemical farming. So organic farmers make less money for the first few years, have a hard time getting loans, and also have to do more work. The price they get for organic food isn’t actually very much higher than the price for non-organics. However, they seemed to understand that it was worth it for the environmental and health benefits. To them, money is not very important. I am amazed at their deep connection with their land, and I’m also angry that chemicals were forced on them in the first place.
One organic farmer we had a discussion with said that CIEE students were her only hope, and that we needed to take all of our knowledge and power and make the world better. She wants us to make people realize that they needed to eat local, natural and organic foods. She wants us to stop the major corporations and the governments from making life hard for small scale farmers. And I want to help her, I really do, with everything I have, but I don’t think I can reverse all of the damage that has already been done. I don’t even know where to start.

Part 2: Slaughterhouses

After we returned from homestay, we went on a “follow the food” activity. I was in the meat group, so I got to see a fish farm, a pig slaughterhouse, and a cow slaughterhouse. Ajaan Jeab, our girly, dainty little Thai teacher, was somehow put in charge of our group. The fish farm was actually pretty nice. It was run by a nice old man on a river. We spent a long time just sitting around by the river and contemplating how fun canoeing would be. However, the fish are packed 900 deep in a 3x3x3 meter space.
Before our ordeal at the slaughterhouse, Ajaan Jeab took us out for a nice dinner at a downtown restaurant. After a pleasant dining experience, we went to the pig slaughterhouse to speak with the veterinarians and see some slaughters. The slaughterhouse, which is run by the municipality, kills 180 pigs every night. They kill at night so that the meat is extra fresh for morning market –Thais like their meat very fresh. The pig slaughterhouse was pretty much the closest thing to a horror film that I’ve ever been in. I won’t go into too much detail here, but if you’re interested, I have a ton of pictures and video. It was terrible, and I’m never going to eat pork again (that being said, I keep getting food with pork in it by accident. Avoiding pork in Thailand is incredibly difficult. So I guess I mean that I’ll never eat pork intentionally again.)
The next day, we went to lunch at a Muslim-run resturaunt to avoid pork. After lunch, we went to see a cow slaughtered. In comparison, this wasn’t terrible, although it was still sad to see death. It is interesting how the Thais utilize every part of the animal.
Anyway… I feel like I really need to stop eating meat again at some point. I have multiple reasons for that, but I’m not going to list them because this entry has gone on for far too long…

I really and truly hope that all of you are well and safe and happy wherever you are.