Iksan Our Garden Healing Farm
Forest Experience Activities, Vivarium Creation, Foot Bath Experiences, and More... Over 8,500 Visitors Last Year
Rural Development Administration Develops and Distributes Customized Healing Agriculture Programs for Each Life Stage
"At our farm, children run and play games like tag and treasure hunts in the spacious garden, mothers spend time creating vivariums, and fathers enjoy foot baths. Each family member can experience healing agriculture in their own way, leading to high satisfaction," said Lee Kyung, director of Our Garden.
On the 29th, we visited 'Our Garden', a healing farm located in Iksan, Jeonbuk. Since 2020, Our Garden has been actively running healing agriculture programs through its gardens, botanical gardens, experience centers, foot bath facilities, and cafes. Director Lee explained, "While general experiential activities bring joy and memories, healing agriculture goes beyond simple experiences. It provides comfort and opportunities for mental recovery through nature, animals, and plants. Healing agriculture is not just about growing crops; it is a process where nature and humans influence each other and recover both body and mind together."
On the 29th in Iksan, Jeonbuk, Lee Kyung, director of Our Garden, is explaining the healing agriculture program.
Here, visitors can harvest vegetables, take walks in the garden, or enjoy 'bulmeong'?watching fire while having dinner. While children participate in scientific experiences such as making forest air purifiers or playing tag, mothers can enjoy terrarium activities and fathers can relax with aroma foot baths, all as part of the healing agriculture process. The farm also sells crops and companion plants grown by local residents. Director Lee said, "Last year alone, over 8,500 people visited our farm and spent time healing through healing agriculture. Healing agriculture is more than personal healing; it is a social symbiosis model that connects cities and rural areas, people and nature, and different generations."
Healing agriculture is an industry that restores public health and creates social or economic added value through activities involving plants, animals, insects, rural environments, and related agricultural work. It is promoted based on the Act on Research, Development, and Promotion of Healing Agriculture, which was enacted in 2021.
Healing agriculture services are largely divided into two types: preventive services for healing and restoring physical and mental stability, and therapeutic or rehabilitative services for individuals with mental or physical illnesses, intellectual or physical disabilities, and other socially disadvantaged groups. Healing farms mainly provide preventive services, while treatment and rehabilitation for conditions like depression and anxiety are handled by specialized institutions.
The Rural Development Administration is expanding healing agriculture into a healing agriculture service accessible to everyone and is fostering it as a new growth industry. The administration has previously conducted empirical studies on the effects of healing agriculture and, based on these, developed two healing agriculture programs for patients with schizophrenia and high-risk groups for depression.
An official from the Rural Development Administration explained, "As the prevalence of mental disorders continues to rise, healing agriculture is gaining attention as a non-pharmacological treatment method based in local communities. Accordingly, the administration is focusing on healing agriculture as a non-pharmacological psychological support technology that can supplement the existing medication-centered treatment for mental disorders, and its effectiveness has been demonstrated through field trials in medical institutions."
When researchers applied the 'positive psychology model program', which was developed to help patients with schizophrenia recover emotions such as immersion and happiness and discover their strengths through the process of cultivating and managing plants, the group of schizophrenia patients who participated in healing agriculture showed a 10% reduction in negative symptoms and a 23% decrease in general psychopathology symptoms compared to the group that received only conventional medication-centered treatment. The high-risk group for depression also experienced a 30% reduction in depressive feelings compared to before participating in healing agriculture.
The Rural Development Administration plans to develop customized healing agriculture programs for different life stages and expand the range of service recipients. To foster excellent healing agriculture facilities, the number of metropolitan healing agriculture centers will be increased from 12 in 2023 to 17 by 2027, establishing a foundation for the spread of healing agriculture. Choi Soyoung, head of the Rural Support Division at the Rural Development Administration, said, "With the increase in high-risk children for depression, declining quality of life satisfaction among adolescents, and one in four adults experiencing a mental disorder at least once in their lifetime, the public's mental health continues to deteriorate, leading to growing interest in using healing agriculture for health management. In the second half of this year, we will implement a 'certification system for excellent healing agriculture facilities' to improve service quality, and by 2027, we aim to increase the accessibility of healing agriculture nationwide by expanding social services to 25 types, Norbom Schools to 1,000 classes, and healing agriculture program participants to 800,000."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
