Ben's words...from when we got here up until now...get ready it is a novel!

Blair and I arrived here in Bali just over 12 years ago as backpackers on a round the world trek to see and experience traditional systems of agriculture. We were hoping to find unique varieties and techniques of sustainable growing that we could incorporate into our own little organic farm and restaurant dream in the Northwestern US. Prior to travelling both Blair and myself had been managing organic farms; Blair running a farm with a unique home delivery program and myself running a more mechanized farm focused on multiple farmer markets and restaurants. I had also gotten my degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Science so we had some good diverse experience by the time we got to Bali. Unfortunately what caught our attention as we travelled the far eastern islands of Timor, Alor, Flores etc, was that the prevailing farming systems were seriously off-track. Internationally banned chemicals were being used without an understanding of their inherent danger to human and nature. Children splashed cups of DDT and Paraquat from open buckets into ricefields in barefeet...These were chemicals designed for industrial agriculture prior to realizing how much long term damage they created for the earth (and prior to being banned)...And yet these small farmers were using these chemicals in unknown dosages without any understanding of the implications....This was the single worst example of corporate greed and national ignorance that I have ever in my life experienced. By the time we had reached the green shores of Bali, Blair and I had decided that we needed to do something to get farmers back on track.

Flash forward 12 years and we have built a small organic farm (not unlike what we had in the States) and the mission of the farm is to educate other local small farmers about effective organic farm systems and marketing. We run a small home delivery program (or what we call Community Supported Agriculture CSA program) and sell some produce as well to local chefs around the island. About 4 years ago we started branching off from fresh produce and fruit and started looking at larger commodity supply chains and in particular the plight of small farmers swallowed up by these supply chains. Everywhere we looked we saw the same situation; farmers making losses year on year and never being allowed to congeal into effective community based cooperatives. We began developing organic programs for Cacao, Cashews, Palm Sugar, Spices and Honey and have since built a program for direct market access and socially-equitable trade that reaches direct to the farm-gate of over 7,000 growers across the Indonesian archipelago.

Our dream is to continue to see the demand and supply of organic products (and a more evolved, socially focused BEYOND ORGANIC system of production) grow across Indonesia and South-East Asia. Education is the key to this....And as education about the importance of organic works its magic, so grows the organic movement...Its exponential...And the level of support both from local producer and local consumer has been an incredible eye-opener as to the place that organics ultimately has within the Indonesian culture (both historic and contemporary). While 12 years ago organic was primarily a “specialty” concept, this is really no longer the case...More and more local farmers are making a heart-guided switch to natural food production and on the other side of the spectrum, consumers and media here in Indonesia are also fast embracing the concept of “LOHAS” and the exciting world that opens once you begin to actually live and take advantage of a local food system.

I guess the largest single challenge for organic Bali in particular would be the the lack of agri-enterprise supports....Much production here is done by hand and many farmers with more than a small plot have opted towards chemicals or technology as a means of reducing the heavy labor of agriculture...Cost of living gets higher and rice doesn’t always cut it....Organics is even more labor...UNLESS you have a strong network of appropriate technology; cost effective organic inputs and mechanical equipment to make the extra labor an easier choice...Another issue is regulation...There is no way yet to monitor the use of the word organic and MANY MANY people misrepresent to make a profit at the expense of true organics....But this to will change...it just takes time and demand.