The “Largo” Philosophy: An Emphasis on Slow Movement
At Largo Farm there was only one time that I was instructed to move quickly, and it was when imo and I ran down the driveway to greet the students who were arriving for herb class.
Hours earlier, I had taken a five-minute walk down to the market to purchase some lemons. They came in packs of either two or four and I stood weighing both in my hands before deciding more was always better. I went to the cashier and showed him the customer number I had written on my hand to receive our Largo Farm discount, before thanking him and walking back up the street.
Imo had told me we’d be facilitating a class for the disabled in the afternoon, and we’d prepared all morning. I’d buffed the tile floor in the educational facility, set out tea cups, and decorated plates with small chamomile flowers and apple mint leaves. From what I understood, we’d be stacking herbs in mason jars and then filling them with the herb syrup imo had been cooking since lunch.
I had assumed our students would be elderly, but I was pleasantly surprised when we reached the end of the driveway and greeted four students with developmental disabilities who had arrived with their support teams of parents, siblings, and teachers. Throughout the afternoon, imo and I taught them about the farm and the healing properties of herbs, served them tea, and facilitated a craft activity. While each student was facing different challenges, it was evident through their parent’s reactions that we had relieved some stress from their lives, if only for a short time.
In South Korea, families are spending less time together because of the work-related pressures commonly found in their modern collectivist culture. In response, care farming programs have become more abundant to offer families rural experiences intended to improve familial health and well-being. Children who have participated in these programs were found to have improved their physical, psychological, cognitive, social, and behavioral health, while families of children with disabilities showed increases in familial resilience and adaptation after taking part in care farming programs.
Largo Farm is not designated as a care farm, but it is considered a healing farm. With her commitment to the local people and slow movement, imo has built a space for students to learn music, community members to farm, and families to come together.
In contrast to the pressures I felt at OK Farm to work quickly and efficiently, the ‘largo’ philosophy allowed me to work at a pace that was best for me. I did not have to choose between quantity and quality; the latter always came first. I was not anxious around imo the way I was around Mrs. Shin because imo did not expect me to be someone I wasn’t; she gave me the space I needed to grow into myself and the opportunity to help others do the same.
“Here, at Largo Farm, things move slowly. If it doesn’t get done today, it will tomorrow or the next day…I am told to take a break whenever I need one, sometimes even when I don’t.” — July 11th, 2019
It is no surprise that I was happiest during my time at Largo Farm.
References:
Lee, A.-Y., Kim, S. O., Gim, G. M., Kim, D. S., & Park, S.-A. (2019). Care Farming Program for Family Health: A Pilot Study with Mothers and Children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010027
