Pun Pun Center for Self Reliance
In the mountains of Chiang Mai, Thailand, there is an organic farm and learning center dedicated to sustainable living, seed saving, natural building and appropriate technology called Pun Pun Center for Self Reliance. The name, Pun Pun comes from the Thai word "Pun" meaning "a thousand" and "Pun" meaning "varieties" combined, it means "a thousand varieties" referring to how they prioritize biodiversity in plants, animals, people, perspectives, and techniques.
The name really comes into play when looking at their initiative of seed saving, preserving and protecting the species diversity of indigenous Thai plants through collecting seeds. It's a live seed bank, meaning they actually keep the seeds in the ecosystem by planting them and taking the seeds again, so the plants have the opportunity to adapt to the environment again instead of getting frozen in time and possibly not being able to adapt to a future environment they've never seen. This is a much more effective seed saving technique. They also send organic seeds to anyone who asks for them in Thailand to make sure people always have access to high quality, organic, local seeds. This is especially important as crop varieties lessen due to monoculture and food imperialism from Monsanto and the American government attempting to control global food production using GMO to ruin land and beat out other crop varieties, disenfranchising and basically enslaving farmers. Our food is becoming less nutritious and more harmful to us and the land with how it is grown, so seed saving is integral part of fighting to take back food sovereignty and health for us and our land.
Pun Pun was founded by Jon Jandai (Jo), famous for his earth building and his TED Talk, "Life is Easy. Why do we make it so hard?" Where he explains how he grew up on a farm in rural Thailand, but then went to the city to work, and found that he worked so much harder in the city but had so much less than he did on the farm, he didn't have food, a house, or nice clothing, and had to pay for so many things with such a low salary, so he felt poorer in the city than he ever did farming! That's when he decided to go back to rural Thailand to farm. He learned earth building and organic farming, learned to make his own natural products, and now he spends fifteen to twenty minutes a day working on his organic garden, has built many houses out of earth, has very low expenses and always seems to have what he needs by having quality community around him.
When Jo acquired the land Pun Pun is now on, it was barren farmland that had been degraded to the point where nothing would grow. He then had to use regenerative farming methods by planting banana trees and covering the soil with compost, mulch and microorganisms so he could build it back up for growth. He then planted diverse crops to protect and nourish each other instead of using chemical pesticides or fertilizers, and continued to build up the land to become a learning center to teach others how to become self-sufficient, too! Now there are about twenty permanent residents and visitors throughout the year who come to learn.
It's a gorgeous place, with magical views of the mountains, land and village below, it has a kitchen with a brick oven, a cafe/shop, dorms, houses, six ponds, many plots of organic gardens, chickens, regenerative water systems, biochar filtration for perfect drinking water, a spiritual center, a seed saving center/nursery, and a natural products making building. They make incredible natural products using effective microorganisms or harvesting from their gardens. It's truly a fantastic example of how to live regeneratively and self-sufficiently, giving us freedom from the destructive and exploitative global market system, allowing us to have food sovereignty, pay less for what we need, and build up community and local support while nourishing the land around us. I highly recommend paying them a visit to learn more about how they live and how to live more harmoniously with nature (and how to make life easier!)
Learn more about and book a visit at Pun Pun Center for Self Reliance on their website, watch Founder Jon Jandai's TED Talk, and read more about their seed saving initiative.
