Dongpian Village in Pingtung County’s Neipu Township has been undergoing a heavy population outflow, with many villagers selling their land to see them through their old age. Two years ago, four local people in their 50s, who call themselves the “cool geezers,” set aside their occupations and pooled funds to rent six hectares of farmland in Dongpian Village and plant pesticide-free pineapples.
Dongpian Village warden Lee Ming-tsung, who was originally in the real estate business, says that nearly every family in the village grows betel nuts, but in recent years the price of betel nuts has been falling, young people keep moving away and the farmland is being sold off. Lee suggested that people should quit growing betel nuts and plant other crops instead, but sometimes people retorted, “Why you don’t you plant them yourself?” So he sought out some like-minded partners in the hope of changing the farmers’ mindset.
Lee got together with breakfast vendor Huang Wei-ming, sporting goods company boss Chiang Wei-yung and pineapple farmer Lee Ko-yu, and the four of them pooled funds to set up the “cool geezers pineapple camp.” Huang says that the government discourages betel-nut chewing, so farmers’ revenues have been shrinking and everybody is selling land to support themselves in their old age. Huang says he started growing pineapples in the hope of stabilizing his income and keeping hold of his farmland.
Photo: Ashley Chiu, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者邱芷柔
Lee says the group picked the name “cool geezers” as a way of self-mockery, given that they have only got serious about farming now that they are in their 50s. He says they hope to attract more young people to return to the land so as to stem the ageing process in rural areas and make the countryside a lively and “cool” place to live and work.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
屏東縣內埔鄉東片村人口外流嚴重,村民紛紛賣地養老,四名自稱「酷老頭」的五十歲鄉親,放下手邊事業,兩年前集資在東片村租了六公頃農地種植無毒鳳梨。
原本從事房仲業的東片村長李明宗說,東片村幾乎每家都種檳榔,但近年檳榔價格下滑,年輕人不斷外流,農地陸續被賣出,他建議鄉親應放棄檳榔,改種其他作物,卻被回說「你怎麼不自己種!」所以他尋找理念相同的伙伴,希望能改變農民思維。
李明宗找來了賣早餐的黃偉銘及體育用品社老闆蔣偉勇,還有鳳梨農李格圩,四個人集資籌組「酷老頭鳳梨營」,黃偉銘說,政府對檳榔不鼓勵,農民的收益越來越少,大家紛紛賣地養老,他加入種鳳梨行列,就是希望以穩定收益,留住農村土地。
李明宗說,團名「酷老頭」其實是自嘲他們年過半百才認真務農,希望吸引更多年輕人返鄉,讓農村不再老化,而是充滿活力的「酷」農村。
(自由時報記者邱芷柔)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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