“Ohh! . . . The cost of pork outside of the village is so expensive. We just can’t afford it. If we want to eat pork it has to come from inside the community, raised and eaten by us, shared among us all. What’s more it’s tasty and doesn’t have the smell of farmed pigs“. These were the words of Pat Suya-chawlae when asked about price of pork in markets.
Uncle Pat’s community – a two hour uphill drive from Chiangmai City on the Maemalai-Pai Road to Papae Village in Mae Taeng District; then a further 10 kilometers along a concrete and dirt road before reaching a small community surrounded by rubber trees and miang bushes – a green forest. This is a Karen community more-or-less unknown to the outside world, but only one of many communities still preserving their traditional ways of life. One of these ways is a method of sharing and self-reliance.
Our visit to this village was coincidental with the villagers’ slaughter of a pig for sale and sharing within the community. Uncle Pat related that this method was called “felling” of the pig, that is, a sharing of equal portions of the pork meat; with each portion consisting of meat, skin, intestines, bones & ribs – excepting the head and legs, which are reserved for the village head. The size of the portions depend on the size of the pig and the number of villagers.
“We inquired further who will receive and who will determine the portions among differing numbers of villagers, and what is the weight and cost of each portion?”
Uncle Pat answered “In the highlands the cost is 130 or more baht per kilogram, while it’s almost 200 baht in the urban markets, adding that the lower cost was because the pigs are raised naturally”.
Natural raising
The pigs we’re discussing are “black pigs”, or the local variety, sometimes called mountain pigs. Their feed usually consists of vegetables, grass, elephant leaves, and banana stalks, because these are easy to grow, expand the varieties, and provide for a lush forest around the community. The banana stalks are easy to prepare by simply chopping them up, and sometimes adding a bit of sugar or salt.
“All of our pig feed comes from nature, such as wild banana trees, which are easy to grow. The rice bran we get is from community mills where rice is grown. We don’t have to buy thee things, therefore our costs are low . . . and the meat is tasty . . . it comes from pigs that are not too fat and don’t have that ‘farmed’ smell”.
Natural package
While the men are diligently carving up the pig, Aunty Paweena Thano grabs a knife, shoulders a basket, and is off to the miang field at the edge of the village and down to the creek where the wild banana trees grow. There she collects the large banana tree leaves for wrapping the portions of pork meat.
Care of Nature
It rather sounds like everything is free, requiring no investment or money, but Uncle Pat notes that all this came from the forest. Our community divides all areas equally and clearly, including: farm lands, miang fields, rotational crop lands, conservation and “local use’ forests. Moreover, during the dry season everyone joins in watching over the forest and preventing fires.
“It’s a good thing. We care for the forest and the forest takes care of us. Not only the pigs, the cattle, the chickens, all are free range and forage at will . . . and come back in the evening. We don’t have to buy feed for them, but we do have to look after the forest, and the banana trees are easy to grow, but we still need all the other trees. If we didn’t have the banana trees, we’d have to buy the pig feed, and we couldn’t manage that.
Uncle Pat pointed out that the community can still continue on during periods when rice is insufficient and expensive because of the things the forest provides due to our surveillance and care for the environment. And the community will continue to maintain food security for as long as we care for the forest and environment.
“All we ask is to truly care for the forest. If rice and other things are expensive we will survive.” Uncle Pat concluded.
References
1. The cost of pork, 10 January 2022 / Thansettakit (ฐานเศรษฐกิจ)
https://www.thansettakij.com/economy/509588
2. Guai (woven bamboo basket) / Agricultural Promotion & Development
https://sites.google.com/site/ironmanmju/kwy-takra-miphi/prawati-khwam-pen-ma-khx-ngkwy
