Producing natural fermented foods as agricultural products produced in the village..."You need to understand first"

Ogok Fermentation Village, Dong-myeon, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, a mountain village where 44 elderly people in their 70s live. 

At the foot of the mountain, there is a small factory where villagers make fermented food together. 

It is a place where natural fermented foods such as vinegar, soybean paste, soy sauce, and makgeolli are made by processing agricultural products grown by residents. 

Choi Hae-sung (62), who was born and raised in this village, created the fermented village. 

Choi was born here and went to middle school, but later graduated from high school in Gwangju and worked for KT for 30 years, moving away from his hometown. 

Retired in 2009, he visited his hometown again to help his mother, who was farming alone. 

Realizing that it was difficult to increase income just by farming, he visited the Agricultural Technology Center, where he encountered natural fermentation technology. 

For modern people suffering from adult diseases such as obesity and diabetes, we have opened our eyes to the advantages of fermented foods that release waste out of the body and help exercise the intestines. 

Choi has created a system that can develop, process, and produce up to 13 kinds of natural fermented foods through many failures and studies, but obstacles have emerged. 

This is because the cooperation of the villagers was needed to produce fermented food.

In a traditional jar, four fermentation and one-year aging processes are all done manually from one to ten, so you cannot do it alone. 

However, in the early days of his return to farming, he did not accept him as a villager because he was from his hometown, and it was difficult for Choi to reach out to the villagers who were his parents age, making it difficult to ask for help. 

Having lived only in the city for more than 30 years and never cultivated, he was an awkward and unfamiliar being to the villagers. 

In particular, his idea to make and sell fermented foods using agricultural products to the elderly in the village, who only gave the remaining agricultural products to their children, was cumbersome and unfamiliar. 

Choi started persuading the elderly in the village.

After purchasing agricultural products produced in the village, he even offered a daily payment, saying, "Lets work together." 

The elderly in the village, who were half-believing, opened their hearts little by little to Chois suggestion that they could sell agricultural products and earn pocket money for their leisure activities. 

As the villagers participated, the production of fermented food gradually took root. 

It produced only aged and fermented foods for more than two years and developed portable products that can be easily accessed in everyday life, which received a good response from consumers who are looking for natural health foods. 

In 2014, it was designated as a village company by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, and since 2016, it has generated 300 million won in annual sales of 5t. 

Choi, who was treated as an outsider in his hometown, has now become a decent farmer who creates income and revitalizes the village with the villagers.

Choi stressed the need for deep study and understanding of the village that is trying to settle down before returning to farming. 

"Retired villages and farming and returning villages that dont matter even if you dont look at your neighbors are completely different," he said. "There are bound to be problems with the natives, and efforts to communicate and understand each other are needed above all else." 

Choi said, "We will make efforts to develop various fermented foods and sell them stably to increase village income and revitalize the village community."