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Korean Food Is Delicious
..... for Korean People.......But not to me.
For me persimmon (Guam) tastes of nothing. Big deal. But thnk, for most Korean people it has a taste, a delicious taste. Now you begin to see that there is often a big difference between Oriental thinking and culture and western. So too for other concepts like ecology and the enviroment.
In the West enviromental good practice seems to fit well with traditional values. For example to save the enviroment, use less, do away with unnecessary transport, extra packaging etc. But by doing this you also spend less money so products are cheaper.
In the Orient there are pressures that work against these; it's important to buy more products to impress other people and the need to show that everything is hygenic means plastic bag inside another plastic bag.
Maybe this is why the Western "general public" (average person) is very much aware and in favour of enviromental thinking. So a significant amount of food is sold as organic. The people are prepared to pay more for it, because of 2 benefits. 1. The health benefits - reduced cancer causing chemicals in the food. 2. Better care for the enviroment.
In fact few organic farmers in the West make big money, but they do sleep better at night.
In Korea some pioneers have also become organic farmers, but it's even more difficult. The gp are not looking for organic food nor are they prepared to pay more money for it.. Again cultural pressure makes it difficult to practice good ways. Using less and recycling is OK in the West, but in the Orient I think it maybe seen as low class.
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But all is not bad
Planting trees even if they plant the wrong kind is a good step.
I am not Korean and don't fully understand Korean thinking. But all is not bad I think I see a couple of ways where the culture and traditions are compatible with enviromentalism :
1. Look at "Han Yak" (tradional health food) people are prepared to spend extra money for it, just because the producers make vague suggestions of it's medical properties.
This "Han Yak" spin can surely be applied to organic food, as it can be proved to have substantial benefits.
2. The Bhuddist ideas of simplicity and frugal living. Surely recycling and avoiding unnecessary packaging can be smiled on by any good monk.
So it's up to all you pioneers to keep the good work and look on the positive side.
The idea of micro-organisms has been widely accepted, see the popularity of Kimchi and live yogurt drinks
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Korea
England
| Sit on the floor | Sit on chairs
| | eat with chopsticks | eat with knives and forks
| | all food is on the table | Eat in courses - soup, main, sweet
| | take food from the common dishes and put in your mouth | begin with your own plate with all your food on it
| | drink from the middle of the meal | drink before and during meal
| | flavours - spicy, salty, pepper sauce | flavours - subtle flavours, herbs, tomato ketchup
| | almost all meals have rice | rarely eat rice
| | all meals the same | breakfast is quick, lunch is light, dinner is big
| | sweets : red bean paste | sweets very sugary like chocolate and jam
| healthy eating : Hanyak :
traditional medicine foods like gingsing | wholefoods : the healthy eating fashion
where food is as unprocessed as possible so brown bread not white etc
| manners..
| | begin when you want | begin only when eveyone is ready
| | good to get drunk | very low class to get drunk
| | OK to smoke | impolite to smoke during a meal
or around non-smokers
| good to make a noise when you eat
it shows you like the food
| very impolite to make a noise when you eat
| | common to have a TV in the restaurant | low class to have a TV in the restaurant
| | very impolite to blow your nose at the table | OK to blow your nose at the table
| | person inviting pays all | pay for what you eat
otherwise you have to pay the other back with a favour
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Organic Farmers don't get Rich !
But maybe there are other ways of making money. Agricultural tourism, mazes, cultural stuff
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What is Enviromentalism
Sustainable Agriculture, Permaculture, conservation, network and food chain, balance of nature, spray drift
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Everywhere I went in Korea people treated me to great meals. There is a .
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soju soju soju soju soju soju soju soju
Alcohol - one of the
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You can buy some western food in Korea, but of course it's the worst kind :
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