It was already expected.
This is because the incidents related to agricultural products will not cease in the future.
Imported agricultural products were not the only problem. Many crops grown in Korea also experienced problems every year.
The problem with Korean agricultural products is mainly the imbalance of crops. Industrial chemicals were not the problem like imported agricultural products, but production was disrupted due to extreme weather conditions.
It happened every year before coming back.
It was also the reason why I worked so hard on a large-scale hydroponic plant.
By producing crops with large-scale hydroponics facilities, it was possible to cope with extreme weather conditions.
I turned the handle.
The destination is Busan, not Hadong.
I wanted to know how the imported tapioca incident affected the farmers in Jiri.
* * *
Arrive at Yongdusan Park in Busan.
I stared at the cafe sign for a while.
Its original name was ‘Cafe Friends’. Now it has been changed to ‘Bubble Tea Friends’.
Under the signboard, the word Jirisan Farmers’ Cooperative stood out.
I remember my first visit to this cafe.
This is the store of Seo Nam-soo, the high school homeroom teacher.
This is the place where a teacher who had to make a declaration of conscience and had to be retired tried to close the cafe due to business difficulties.
The store survived when it started selling yogurt from the Jirisan ranch.
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Not only Seo Nam-soo’s store but also other stores in the area were successful in selling ranch yogurt.
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Now, all the stores were coexisting with the farmers of Jirisan as a cooperative.
The cafe’s main menu has also changed from coffee to bubble tea.
Seo Nam-soo’s cafe was full of people.
A part-timer was making bubble tea without hesitation.
Teacher Seo Nam-soo was also busy.
“Seo Nam-soo, sir.”
After calling a few times, he met my eyes. That’s how busy the store was.
“Deokmyung has come, wait a minute. I’ll just make this and go.”
to let u know that i been through a lot then i been going non stop with this practice for nothing
Mr. Seo Nam-soo came to me with bubble tea.
“Drink this.”
This is the bubble tea I haven’t seen in a long time. I drank a cup of bubble tea with sweet potato pearls. The chewy tapioca pearls tasted good.
“I heard that you went to Antarctica. When did you come in?”
“It’s only been a few days.”
“You must be busy, what are you doing up to here?”
“I came to see the news.”
“News?”
“The news that chemicals came from tapioca pearls.”
“Ah, the news. This is news that has nothing to do with us.”
As he said, the Jirisan farmers’ products had nothing to do with the incident. Rather, it has gotten more attention.
The sweet potato pearls of Jirisan farmers were jointly developed by Dr. Seo Woo-young and Seol Min-ju of the research institute.
Sweet potato pearls with sweet potato starch, glutinous rice flour, and mung bean starch, all using domestic agricultural products. It was a product that was recognized for its technological prowess as well.
I left Mr. Seo Nam-soo’s store and looked around other stores.
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Other stores were also crowded with people.
There were no people in the Taiwanese bubble tea store that appeared on the news.
contrasting look.
After checking, we headed straight to Hadong.
* * *
The Jirisan farmers’ offices were as frantic as the bubble tea stores.
It is because of the case where melamine was detected in Chinese vegetables.
Butterhead and kaipira, essential ingredients for salads, were included, so the number of people asking for salads made by local farmers in Jirisan suddenly increased.
Everyone was holding the phone.
After the call, Han Ki-tak asked me.
“The representative also needs to do some work. There is a shortage of workers right now.”
“all right. Then let me do some work.”
* * *
Two weeks passed quickly.
From companies that want to receive salads from farmers in Jirisan, to people who want to open our bubble tea shop, there has been a lot of work.
After two weeks, the office calmed down as usual.
Han Ki-tak asked his colleagues for a meeting.
All face tired.
“Everyone, please pay attention. There is big news.”
“What news? Have there been any problems with imported agricultural products again?”
Park Tae-ho of the management support team asked.
Han Gi-tak stretched out one finger and made a gesture that he made a mistake.
“It’s not that kind of news, it’s news for you.”
“News for us?”
“We have prepared a special bonus for you.”
The people who were working jumped out of their seats at the word “bonus”.
It looked like it was going to be called soon.
It was planned to pay a bonus not only to the office colleagues, but to all the people of the Jirisan farmers.
It was something that Han Gi-tak and I decided.
I was suddenly so busy with work that I had to work overtime for two weeks.
The ranch people were also busy.
I wanted to show even a little sincerity for them.
Han Gi-tak is a stingy person even when he spends small amounts of money, but he spares no effort in doing things for his colleagues.
He sang an amount that would please everyone.
I readily agreed.
I decided to pass it on to the vertical cultivation verification team.
A frozen warehouse was turning into a fancy hydroponic plant.
Jang-woo Lee is a person who doesn’t even know who came when he is immersed in his work.
I patted him on the back.
“Are things going well?”
“What happened to our representative so far?”
Lee Jang-woo’s face was brimming with sweat.
“Verification work is going well.”
Even if he didn’t say anything, I could tell that the work was going smoothly.
“How long do you think it will take?”
“I started after a month, so now there are about two weeks left. But I think it will be a little shorter.”
It was effective to put as many manpower as possible.
“Compared to working in Antarctica, this place is heaven.”
Lee Jang-woo said with a smile.
“Will everyone stop working and gather around?”
Lee Dong-chun opened his eyes wide and ran. He looked like a boy expecting a present.
“We have prepared a bonus for all of you who are struggling.”
At the word “bonus”, Lee Dong-chun sang hurrah. Min Yo-han, who was next to him, smiled when he saw it.
While Lee Jang-woo calmed Lee Dong-chun, Min Yo-han asked.
“I heard that the CEO is going on a TV show. When are you recording?”
“Tomorrow.”
* * *
A week ago, I was contacted by writer Go Ae-joo.
She also seemed satisfied with the Antarctic filming.
He even said that many people were looking forward to this broadcast.
Today is the promised recording day.
Inside the studio, people were busy and moving.
Geum Min-seo came to me.
“Mr. Deokmyeong, it’s been a while. Have you been to Antarctica?”
“Yes, thanks to you, I went well.”
“Awesome! Go to Antarctica.”
“Min-seo, was the broadcast going well?”
“I’m the same.”
she said with a smile.
In contrast to her gorgeous appearance, I liked her easygoing personality.
“Now we start recording. Please prepare.”
PD Choi Min-seong’s autograph came in.
As the recording started, Minseo Geum stared at the camera.
“Today we have a special guest. You are the original member of ‘Farmer is Hope’. Kim Deok-myeong, I will take you to the studio.”
I got the autograph from PD Choi Min-seong and entered the studio.
Geum Min-seo typed the message according to the script.
“Mr. Deokmyeong, your face has been cut in half.”
“Min-seo has become more beautiful.”
I also said according to the script.
It is a script written by Go Ae-joo.
There was an engine in the squeaky comment.
In the end, I decided to leave that comment out.
Geum Min-seo looked at the camera and said.
“I can’t believe they grew salads in Antarctica.”
“Let’s see for yourself.”
The screen showed the process of installing the salad container.
This is a scene where a salad container is installed and butterhead and kaipira are grown at the base in Antarctica.
Geum Min-seo gave a series of exclamations. It was like the writer’s script, but it seemed really strange.
At the Antarctic Olympics and pork belly dinner scene, I couldn’t stop laughing.
She even said things that weren’t in the script.
“Daehan base crews are really cute.”
I also agreed with her.
After the main salad container screen was over, the bean sprout growing machine came out.
“You also made a bean sprout grower. Was that also something you brought from Korea?”
“no. Made in Antarctica.”
“Did you make that in Antarctica?”
“I used a broken refrigerator.”
“There is no other hand of God.”
Geum Min-seo blinked her eyes and said. The reaction was a bit excessive, but it sounded pleasant.
The screen led to a hydroponic plant built at the Chilean base.
“I don’t think that’s a Korean base?”
“It’s a Chilean base.”
I mentioned how the Chileans helped the Koreans during the Blizzard crisis.
Geum Min-seo then nodded her head.
“Something like that happened.”
“The weather in Antarctica is unpredictable.”
“It’s amazing to be able to grow salads in such a harsh environment!”
“It is all the power of technology.”
From the Chilean base to the creation of a hydroponics facility, the prepared screen was over.
It’s time to make your final remarks.
Geum Min-seo asked me.
“Looking at what you did in Antarctica, I wonder what your plans are for the future. Please tell us about Mr. Deokmyeong’s plans for the viewers.”
“We plan to build a large-scale hydroponic plant in the near future.”
“A large hydroponic plant?”
“It is a facility that cannot be compared to a salad container.”
“Speaking of a large-scale facility, how many salad containers can fit in it?”
Geum Min-seo asked with curious eyes.
“If not, it will be around 10,000.”
“Thousands of salad containers?”
Geum Min-seo swallowed her saliva.
Her surprised expression was captured on camera.
Rich Farmer’s Dream
Geum Min-seo opened her eyes and asked.
“I can’t imagine. Ten thousand salad containers?”
“If you think of a super-large ship, you will understand quickly.”
“Is it a super-large ship?”
“Imagine a container ship capable of carrying 10,000 containers.”
“It makes sense because I imagine it that way.”
It can be roughly guessed in the head, but when converted into numbers, the scale is enormous.
In terms of container ships, it is 10,000 TEU class. ‘TEU’ refers to the scale that can carry containers, and it means a vessel that can load 10,000 containers.
The length is 334 m. It is 34m longer than the Eiffel Tower (300m).
The deck is the size of three soccer fields.
“It’s easy to understand when you say that. But there are some things I don’t understand.”
Geum Min-seo asked, blinking both eyes.
“What do you not understand?”
“You are stacking containers on a large ship one by one, right? Can a salad container do that? I don’t think it was that high when growing sprouted ginseng?”
Geum Min-seo filmed the process of growing sprouted ginseng with me.
She already had a simple knowledge of hydroponics.
It was also something I wanted to say.
“Min-seo struck a chord. Until now, hydroponics was impossible to grow vertically.”
“What is vertical cultivation?”
“It’s a matter of stacking hydroponics on top of each other.”
“It didn’t work before, but now it’s possible?”
“We are currently working on verification. It is almost complete.”
“Are you saying that it is possible to raise the cultivation facility as high as an apartment?”
“yes. It can be raised as high as an apartment.”
“That’s great. You’re like a scientist, not a farmer.”
“I am just an ordinary farmer, but after thinking about it, I found a way.”
“Can I ask you one last question?”
PD Choi Min-seong sent an OK sign to Geum Min-seo.
It means giving more time.
“Why do you want to build such a large facility?”
“Min-seo, do you know about the recent accident with imported agricultural products?”
“Are you talking about the news that industrial chemicals were detected in imported vegetables?”
“Yes, that is the news. There will be a lot of dependence on imported agricultural products in the future. Even if a problem arises, there will be no choice but to continue. Korean agriculture will weaken over time. I intend to stop it.”
Geum Min-seo nodded her head.
“That’s a really good idea. As Mr. Deok-myung said, if we build a large-scale cultivation facility, we can eat our vegetables with confidence. I don’t think you need to depend too much on your income. But would it cost a lot of money to build such a facility?”