[RURAL FOOD REIMAGINED] Couple sheds light on Korea's heirloom grains in Gongju

GONGJU, South Chungcheong — How much beans and barley would you be willing to allow into your cup of iced americano or a piece of brownie? Korean cuisine is heavily reliant on grains. An average Korean consumes 66 kilograms (145.5 pounds) of ...

The Korean countryside is often stigmatized as obsolete compared to the glitz and glamor of city life. Recently, however, there is a growing number of people moving out of the populous Seoul and surrounding areas and into small rural towns to reconnect with food and build a more conscious, community-oriented lifestyle. In this interview series, the Korea JoongAng Daily looks at what is brewing far beyond Korea’s cities and how ideas for sustainable food culture are playing out in creative ways.

Creative Director Cheon J-vak of A Collective Grain in Gongju, South Chungcheong [PARK SANG-MOON]

GONGJU, South Chungcheong — How much beans and barley would you be willing to allow into your cup of iced americano or a piece of brownie?

Korean cuisine is heavily reliant on grains. An average Korean consumes 66 kilograms (145.5 pounds) of grains each year, which accounts for 43 percent of a person's diet, according to Statistics Korea. In the 1960s, one consumed as much as 130.5 kilograms, which amounted to 84 percent of one's diet.

Heirloom beans mixed with coffee or pat (red bean) brownie, however, is still likely befuddling to many, but that is the very reaction that A Collective Grain's (ACG) Creative Director Cheon J-vak, 44, wants people to have when they visit their showroom in Gongju, South Chungcheong.

"We design people's experience with Korea's heirloom grains," Cheon said. "Many are unfamiliar with them, but by incorporating them into desserts and drinks that young people know and love, we strive to trigger their interest in heirloom grains and realize their charms."

Waffles made with Korean-grown wheat and iced Americano made with heirloom grains [PARK SANG-MOON]

Heirloom grains are from indigenous species of seeds that have adapted to a specific region's land and climate over centuries, free from human interference. Though ubiquitous until the 1970s, they are extremely rare today after being driven out of the market by cheaper, imported grains.

The ACG is built on the idea that these Korean-native grains are worth preserving and consuming to promote sustainable food culture.

"They carry so much history, but once they are gone, they are gone forever," Cheon said, "and I believe that with better exposure, these grains have the potential [to appeal to more consumers]."

Cheon's passion for heirloom grains has burgeoned after meeting the people who farmed them.

"I found heirloom grain farmers to be like philosophers," he said. "They were farming these grains, not because they were looking to make money but because they appreciated their taste and historical value. Farm life is by no means easy. So it takes strong conviction to grow these grains, and I admired that."

Grains on display at the ACG's showroom in Gongju, South Chungcheong [PARK SANG-MOON]

Cheon and his wife, Kim Hyun-jung, 44, moved to the countryside three years ago from the city in search of a "life with more self-will."

Cheon was a product designer at an agro-design company called Ssamji Nongbu, and Kim was a brand product developer at Line Friends. Kim is the CEO of ACG, spearheading the business with Cheon.

"As I entered my 40s and had kids, I could sort of see how my life would play out — like how much I would be able to save and what kind of home we would be able to afford," he said, and what he deduced was far from the couple's liking.

"Both my wife and I started to wonder, 'Are we going to be happy living this way?' and that's when I felt the need for a change."

The two quit and, with their twin daughters, moved to Sejong, just about a 25-minute drive from Kim's hometown and now the home of the ACG, Gongju.

The exterior of the ACG's showroom [PARK SANG-MOON]

The ACG showroom is a three-story hanok (Korean traditional house) in the downtown area that is rather hushed in a city of just about a hundred thousand people.

The main first floor is comprised of a kitchen and a cafe on one side and a shop on the other. The shop is designed like an heirloom grain museum, showcasing the ACG's extensive collection of heirloom grains along with detailed descriptions as well as some pre-packaged grains and grain-incorporated products like coffee bags blended with heirloom grains for sale.

Some 20 different heirloom grain varieties are currently on display at the shop, all of which the ACG tracked down across South Chungcheong as well as other rural provinces in Korea.

Most are available for purchase inside stylish packaging.

Costing about 5,000 won ($4) for 200 grams of grain (about one cup), these heirloom grains are no doubt pricey. But many who visit the showroom find it worth their money, according to Cheon.

"It's a niche business," he said. "We target those who actively seek mindful living and find happiness in exploring their preferences."

Packaged heirloom grains at the ACG [PARK SANG-MOON]

There are much more grains than what one would find in a typical supermarket aisle, and next to each type, there are detailed notes of their distinct shape, smell, texture and aftertaste.

It doesn't take much more than a quick look around the room to realize how diverse and different these grain types are from one another — and it begs the question of how much power, or lack thereof, one really has over food consumption.

According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, Korea imported 79 percent of its grains on average between 2020 and 2022, a markedly low grain self-sufficiency rate compared to other developed countries. Between 2015 and 2017, it was 77 percent. Korea, in general, has one of the lowest food self-sufficiency rates among advanced nations.

Nine varieties of beans are listed on Korean retailer Emart's online store, while there are seven more in ACG's showroom.

The exterior of the ACG's showroom [LEE JIAN]

But heirloom grains are just the beginning for Cheon.

"Our ultimate dream is to build a school on sustainable gastronomy right here in Gongju," said Cheon, who saw the idea of an educational facility as a great way to spread the ACG's food philosophies and take meaningful steps for a bigger change.

Bolstering his vision is the village of Kamiyama on Shikoku Island in southern Japan. With just about 6,000 people on the island, it is famous for attracting young, creative individuals into its rural depopulating town. The village recently opened a school, much like the one Cheon said he has been drawing up in his head.

Grains on display at the ACG [LEE JIAN]

"Seeing the same idea being realized encouraged me to believe that my vision was really possible," he said.

Possibilities that seemed so few in the city now seemed endless in this unencumbered rural town for Cheon, who couldn't hide his excitement about the future.

He may not be living the peaceful, leisurely life he anticipated when he first moved to the countryside. But he has a bigger purpose now, even if it means making a change one grain at a time.

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