{"id":11127,"date":"2022-03-22t00:47:48","date_gmt":"2022-03-22t00:47:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/i-built-my-dream-southeast-asian-woman-grows-local-food-cultural-acceptance-in-missouri-ozarks\/"},"modified":"2022-03-22t00:47:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22t00:47:48","slug":"i-built-my-dream-southeast-asian-woman-grows-local-food-cultural-acceptance-in-missouri-ozarks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/i-built-my-dream-southeast-asian-woman-grows-local-food-cultural-acceptance-in-missouri-ozarks\/","title":{"rendered":"‘i built my dream’: southeast asian woman grows local food, cultural acceptance in missouri ozarks"},"content":{"rendered":"

pathoumma meusch\u2019s eyes squinted in concentration as she placed the sage green leaf on her tongue.<\/p>\n

\u201cmmm… so good,\u201d she said, rolling the leaf around her mouth. \u201ctry it,\u201d she insists. <\/p>\n

soft, peach-like fuzz gives way to a tart taste. meusch doesn\u2019t remember what the plant’s called, but it\u2019s high in vitamin c, she said. <\/p>\n

\"\"
pathoumma meusch tastes a leaf from a plant on her farm. the laotian woman said there’s many dietary and medicinal uses for native plants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

clad in rubber boots and hay-covered yoga pants, meusch was walking across her property to check on goats over the next hill. a kitchen towel framed her face to block the midday sun, while a bright blue sweater and warm smile stood out against a dull brown winter scenery.<\/p>\n

meusch doesn\u2019t consider herself revolutionary. \u201ci\u2019m just a farmer,\u201d as she says. but in her days wandering the land, she\u2019s cultivated more than squash and potatoes. the unassuming woman has inadvertently championed locally-grown food in a region dominated by industrial agriculture and redefined what it means to be a midwestern farmer \u2014 all while leading with lessons from her grandparents.<\/p>\n

her trek was more of a meander. every turn or two she\u2019d halt to point out a new mushroom, or this time, pluck a leaf from a nearby plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cmy grandma would always say which plant is good for this or that,\u201d she said, reminiscing on her childhood roaming the mountains of laos with her grandparents.  <\/p>\n

the petite woman dropped the leaf and continued walking, \u201cbahing\u201d hello as goats popped up over the horizon. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

meusch\u2019s life story is as winding as her walk, taking her from laos rainforests to the missouri ozarks. after falling in love with eric meusch, a peace corps volunteer serving in laos, the pair returned to his hometown in rural missouri to pursue a simple farming life with their two sons.<\/p>\n

\u201ci can\u2019t find more happiness than when i was little and would wake up at sunrise to walk to the mountains with my grandparents,\u201d pathoumma meusch said. \u201ci want my kids to have that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

meusch farms llc\u2019s humble smattering of grass-fed beef and free-range chickens, chemical-free tomatoes and kale, is an increasingly rare example of small-scale, sustainable agriculture in a state ranked 3rd<\/a> in the nation for beef cattle production with an agricultural sector worth $88 billion dollars<\/a>. <\/p>\n

even as her produce grew into a successful family farm, pathoumma meusch said it took longer to establish roots of her own in the u.s.<\/p>\n

\u201cwhen i moved here and everything was new, i felt really small and like what i know is not valuable,\u201d she said. \u201cwe are like tree. when you move trees from one state to another, they need time to get used to the temperature.\u201d<\/p>\n

down the gravel road from muesch farms, a billboard reads \u201cbeef. it\u2019s what\u2019s for dinner\u201d in bold red lettering. the slogan for america\u2019s cattle industry brings to mind images of the country\u2019s industrial agriculture system \u2014 one marked by large-scale operations, environmental degradation and predominantly white farm owners.<\/p>\n

pathoumma meusch is one of only 0.3% of missouri producers who are asian, according to the 2017 census of agriculture<\/a>. when she helped start a new farmers market in small-town rolla, missouri, she said she initially received pushback because of her race.<\/p>\n

\u201ci am asian, and my language is hard to translate to yours,\u201d she explained. \u201cin the beginning, people judge you because you\u2019re new and what you do is new.\u201d<\/p>\n

but pathoumma meusch persisted, returning each saturday with her husband and a table full of fresh greens, determined to share healthy food and empower others in her community. in a few years, the farmers market grew from just her booth into one of the most popular markets in the area with dozens of vendors. <\/p>\n

nowadays, when she waves to customers and greets them by name, pathoumma meusch seems to stand just as tall as her husband beside her. <\/p>\n

\u201ci think when a lot of asian people go to the farmers market they feel small, but i show people that you don\u2019t need to feel small,\u201d she said. \u201cthe earth belongs to all people. we are equally valuable.\u201d<\/p>\n

pathoumma meusch said her connection to nature motivates her to share healthy food grown on her land. <\/p>\n

\u201cwe put in our life and soul to create the food,\u201d she said. \u201ci tell customers, \u2018it\u2019s not a business. you just share our food.\u2019 that’s why we’re so famous in the community because we just represent ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

eric meusch, whose wardrobe consists of plaid shirts and baseball caps, said he\u2019s not trying to promote a larger environmental cause at the farmers market. <\/p>\n

\u201cwe’re just a tiny little example of a different way to do things,\u201d he said. \u201cand if that has an impact, that’s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
pathoumma muesch feeds two baby goats with a milk bottle. the goats are staying in the muesch’s laundry room until they’re nursed back to health.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

the meusches are a normal family trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, he said. if they break the routine of american consumerism to do so, it\u2019s because they\u2019re authentic \u2014 not activists.<\/p>\n

back at their home over 8,000 miles from where they met, pathoumma meusch gazed at the mish-mash of vegetable patches and fruit trees in sight of her porch. \u201cit feels perfect,\u201d she said, smiling as a peacock struts past. \u201ci built my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

her innovative act for the planet wasn\u2019t inventing new farming technology or enacting policy reform. she did what seems deceptively simple: learn from those before her and embody her culture\u2019s values in her everyday life. <\/p>\n

she did something radical: love nature, love others, and share her love through food. by staying true to her roots, she disrupted the norm of midwest farming and showed her community the value of new perspectives.<\/p>\n

as she climbed up a nearby pile of mulch for a better view, pathoumma meusch\u2019s small frame was illuminated against the sunset. \u201cthe day my life is done, in the last minute, i want to feel like i am valuable to this earth,\u201d she said, pink hues washing over her face.<\/p>\n

\u201ci am not small, and i am not hiding,\u201d she said, her typically soft, airy voice growing in volume. \u201ci am really big, and i am really lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

pathoumma meusch doesn\u2019t consider herself revolutionary. \u201ci\u2019m just a farmer,\u201d as she says. but the unassuming woman has championed local food in a region dominated by industrial agriculture and redefined what it means to be a midwestern farmer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10126,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4896,4933],"tags":[112,114,4268,591,53],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","category-storyfest-2022","tag-agriculture","tag-food","tag-profile","tag-storyfest","tag-sustainable-farming"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n'i built my dream': southeast asian woman grows local food, cultural acceptance in missouri ozarks - planet forward<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/i-built-my-dream-southeast-asian-woman-grows-local-food-cultural-acceptance-in-missouri-ozarks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'i built my dream': southeast asian woman grows local food, cultural acceptance in missouri ozarks - 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