Korean wheat farmers toiling for success in the land of rice

Food & Travel

Korean wheat farmers toiling for success in the land of rice

Published: 06 Jul. 2023, 16:03 Updated: 06 Jul. 2023, 18:11

Locally grown wheat at a farm in Gongju, South Chungcheong [JOONGANG PHOTO]

GONGJU, South Chungcheong - On a recent rainy Monday in June, some 35 local farmers, cooks and merchants gathered inside a cabin at a wheat farm in Gongju, South Chungcheong.

They entered with hands full of one or more wheat-based food. The large table quickly filled with loaves of bread, pasta, jeon (Korean pancake), focaccia, scones, cookies and cakes - most of which were made with wheat born and bred in Korea.

“We are gathered here today of one heart and one mind, to celebrate this year’s freshly harvested wheat and wish for another abundant harvest next year,” said the host of the gathering farmer Kwon Tae-ok. She has been farming wheat in Gongju for seven years.

One may think it odd for these people to be celebrating wheat in a country whose diet is known to be primarily rice and grows very little wheat at home.

Some 35 local farmers, cooks and merchants eat foods made mostly with locally grown wheat inside a cabin at a wheat farm in Gongju, South Chungcheong, on June 29. [LEE JIAN]

Korea imports nearly 99 percent of its wheat, or 2.6 million tons, from countries such as the United States, Ukraine and Australia, according to the Korea Customs Service. Yet records show that Korea has always been a “wheat nation as much as it has been a rice nation,” according to Lee Sung-gyu, a baker and researcher of wheat at his temporarily-closed bakery The Baking Lab.

Korea’s first record of wheat appears in “Goryeo Dogyeong” (1123) written by Seo Geung, an envoy from China’s Song Dynasty (960-1279), where it documents Korea’s janchi guksu (wheat flour noodles in light anchovy broth) as a dish that people ate for special occasions.

Fast forwarding to Japanese colonialism of Korea (1910-45), the country harvested up to 336,361 tons of wheat, around the same amount that is harvested today, according to the non-profit wheat organization Woorimil.

“Considering the country’s population [back] then which is some three times less than the current number, over 300 thousand tons proves that wheat was a part of Korea’s diet,” said Lee, “so saying that Korea is a nation that never really ate wheat is false. Just look at some of our traditional dishes like kalguksu (knife-cut wheat noodles), sujebi (hand-pulled dough soup), mandu (Korean dumplings) and jeon!”

In 2021, the annual per capita consumption of wheat was around 33 kilograms (73 pounds) and that of rice was some 59 kilograms, according to the most recent data by Statistics Korea.

Bread, scones and cookies made mostly with Korean-grown wheat at a small wheat festival in Gongju, South Chungcheong, on June 29. [LEE JIAN]

But the fields were wiped and domestic wheat was driven out of the market around the 50s and 60s when the United States cheaply sold its surplus wheat under the Agricultural Export Promotion and Aid Act (PL480). It states that the United States “supports surplus agricultural products to underdeveloped countries.” Through it, the United States was able to keep its wheat prices from plummeting.

Imports of U.S. wheat, which were around 200,000 tons in 1956, increased by more than five times in 1968, according to Woorimil.

Korea suddenly had a whole lot of wheat and not enough rice. The government from 1963 to 1976 ran a pro-bunsik (food made with flour) campaign which essentially banned foods made solely with rice and encouraged people to eat wheat-based foods.

By 1990, a mere 1,000 tons of domestic wheat were harvested and Korea had a wheat self-sufficiency rate of 0.05 percent.

The most recent measure of the country’s wheat self-sufficiency rate is 1.1 percent, according to Statistics Korea’s 2021 report.

Korea today still depends on the United States for nearly 45 percent of its wheat, according to Korea Customs Service’s report on 2022 wheat imports.

Jeon or Korean pancakes made with flour from locally grown wheat at the wheat festival. [LEE JIAN]

The Russian-Ukraine war and India’s export ban on wheat last year put the lack of Korean-grown wheat, and food in general, into the spotlight. Wheat prices had reached a 13-year high then, according to Korea Customs Service.

“There was nothing anyone could do, and it really made a lot of us realize the importance of not only wheat in our diets but also the origins of our food,” said Kwon.

Korea’s grain self-sufficiency rate is the lowest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The government last year announced that it will raise Korea’s wheat self-sufficiency rate to 7 percent by 2027, and last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs reported that the land area for domestic wheat cultivation increased by more than 40 percent than last year.

But farmers and experts say local wheat still has a long way to go.

Young farmers and merchants of wheat serve food at the wheat festival. [LEE JIAN]

“One problem is that Korea doesn't have many varieties of wheat that are apt for cultivation,” said Lee. “Compared to other countries like the United States which has created hundreds of hybridized wheat varieties that its farmers can successfully cultivate, Korea still has ways to go.”

The Rural Development Administration reported that Korea has some 30 different wheat varieties, both hybridized and non-hybridized, though only less than a dozen of them are actually farmed.

Farmer Kwon said that she noticed a lack of quality in a hybridized wheat variety which the government buys 100 percent of from farmers.

“I sometimes wonder if they are just collecting this wheat for the sake of being able to say that Korea is growing more domestic wheat just because, to me, they seem too subpar to be used for anything,” she said.

The National Institute of Crop Science’s website outlines that the government pays and collects wheat that is graded level two and above. The lowest grade is three and there is also an “outside the rank” category for wheat that does not meet any standards.

But both Lee and Kwak, as well as the rest of the crowd gathered at the Gongju cabin in June, were still keen on producing and consuming locally grown wheat.

Lee Sung-gyu, a baker and researcher of wheat made Khachapuri, a traditional Georgian bread with cheese and eggs at the wheat festival. [LEE SUNG-GYU]

“I found that it actually does taste better,” Lee said, “and that’s the main reason. When baking bread, the flavor or the richness of the flour is important and you get that with flour made with domestic wheat.

“Also, last year’s wheat shortage really brought our attention to our food safety and food miles, and the importance of supporting local products.”

“I ask myself sometimes, ‘Should I continue farming wheat?’ but I do it every year because of the few mindful consumers who send me messages of how much they enjoyed cooking with local wheat,” said farmer Kwon. “Wheat is such a critical part of an average Korean diet these days and I hope domestically grown wheat can receive more attention and see progress in the future.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]