121 Young Global Leaders under the age of 40, including elites from all walks of life. They are praised as the most accomplished people in their field, and among them are many "Chinese faces".
Among them, Shi Yan became the first farmer in the country to realize the connection between farmers and consumers with the "Sharing Harvest" farm, with an annual income of more than one million. This female doctor who graduated from Tsinghua University, after 11 years of farming, has achieved so much that her parents can't even "recognize" their daughter.
Her legendary life has made people see another possibility of success.
Shi Yan, a talented local girl in Baoding, has shown extraordinary wisdom since she was a child, and is deeply loved and appreciated by the school teachers. After graduating from high school, she was faced with a major decision in her life and faced with a variety of possible choices.
However, she finally chose to major in rural economic management at Hebei Agricultural University, which also gave her more opportunities and possibilities. Because there are still 4 doctoral programs in her major, this brings her greater opportunities for development and makes it possible for her to change her life.
Shi Yan, who was born in a poor family, did not feel inferior at all. She successfully ran for the head of the girls' department of the school's student council and began to get involved in practical work. In her junior year, she organized a theatrical evening for more than 2,000 people, and through these practices, she laid a solid foundation for future success.
Shi Yan has had a clear plan for her studies since she was a child and works efficiently, which has won her the first pot of gold in her life - a scholarship.
In order to improve her academic level, Shi Yan went out to work as an English tutor in her spare time, and she spent a lot of time studying English, and finally finished with 91A high score of 5 passed CET4.
When she was about to graduate, Shi Yan wanted to go to the next level academically. However, her mind at the time was to stay in the laboratory and conduct research. With the encouragement of counselor Yue Hua, Shi Yan worked tirelessly and successfully applied for a master's and doctor's degree at the National People's Congress.
In September 2006, she started a new chapter in her life. Her study at Renmin University has had a profound impact on her life, and her professional knowledge and horizons have been greatly broadened, and her mentor is a famous professor at Renmin University.
After completing her studies at Renmin University, she went to Tsinghua University for further studies and obtained a postdoctoral degree.
The success of this master's student is actually inseparable from that key opportunity. In April 2008, when she was about to graduate, the American Agricultural Policy and Research Institute, which has a partnership with the Chinese People's University, was looking for talents to study ecological farms.
When the teacher heard the news, he immediately recommended Shi Yan. That's where she is lucky, without the opportunity there would be no success today.
Although Shi Yan had accumulated a deep knowledge of agriculture in her research, after setting foot on a foreign land, she found that the actual situation there was not exactly what she imagined.
Minnesota's "Rise Farm" is very different from the traditional mechanized farms in the United States, which is run by a husband and wife and a few interns, and the United States has taken the concept of environmental protection very seriously, and many chemicals that are harmful to crops are banned, which means that it will be very labor-intensive.
However, in order to live up to the expectations of her mentors, Shi Yan chose to persevere. She was busy from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, and the sheer pressure often took her breathless.
This agricultural model is significantly different from the traditional agricultural model, and the core is that "consumers and farmers share the risk". By paying the farm in advance for a year's worth of planting income, the consumer becomes a shareholder, and both parties share the risk of planting.
This avoids price differentials from middlemen, ensures the freshness of the crop, and protects the farmer's profits. This model is known as CSA. Through half a year of field research, Shi Yan has gradually understood the mystery, so she decided to introduce this model into China.
Although her family was conservative and opposed, Shi Yan still insisted on her own ideas, which was recognized and supported by the school, obtained more than 130 acres of industry-university-research base, and created her own farm "Little Donkey".
She grows "organic vegetables" and resists products that are harmful to crops. In the early days of the business, although Shi Yan needed to spend her spare time every day to take the bus and subway to the greenhouse, she was generally going well.
Her farm quickly attracted 54 members, some because of the quality of the vegetables and others because of the school's recognition and support. However, Shi Yan realized that it was not enough to rely on the support of these members, she needed to promote the CSA concept and let more people understand the value of organic vegetables.
Shi Yan insisted on delivering the goods in person and refused to transfer money online. She believes that face-to-face communication is the foundation for building trust. However, the drive from the farm to the client's home took three or four hours, which made her first payment take a full month.
She didn't let that deter her, though. Instead, she signed a special "labor share" with the client to let the client come and farm the land themselves, which not only saved costs, but also strengthened the connection with the client.
Two years later, Shi Yan's previous errand publicity played a role, making the word of mouth among old customers and more people understand and accept CSA. Even after leaving the protection of the school, Shi Yan still adhered to her original intention and decided to continue.
Since May 2012, Shi Yan has established bases in Tongzhou and Shunyi, Beijing, and the number of members has reached 600.
For Shi Yan, these two bases not only symbolize the rebirth of her dreams, but also her new home. At this moment, a reporter has already heard the news, Shi Yan in the camera is dressed simply and plainly, with a thin figure, riding an electric car every day in her vegetable garden, her cheeks are always full of smiles.
The reason why this business model is successful is that in addition to high-quality products, there are many "user psychology" factors. Shi Yan has also expressed her own thoughts, she believes that people in modern society are sick physically and mentally, mainly because they have alienated the land.
In the process of urbanization, many people are keen to flee the countryside and move into the city, seeking to accumulate wealth quickly, and young people are becoming more and more eager for quick success, hoping for everything rather than putting in the effort.
Shi Yan once discussed these phenomena with friends on the farm, and she joked: "Some people have a bag worth more than 20,000 yuan, and sometimes their annual income is not as good as someone else's bag." ”
For Shi Yan and her clients, returning to the land was a wise choice, perhaps because she saw the path of future development, which made her so determined.
In 2012, at the sixth CSA conference in Beijing, Shi Yan devoted herself to her role and called for more attention to this global issue.
Shi Yan actively promotes the development of the CSA model, and has successfully established more than 500 CSA farms in China with the belief of "cultivating the heart and cultivating the farmland", becoming the leader of the CSA model in China.
Her "Share the Harvest" philosophy includes three dimensions: direct sales, friendliness, and localization.
After years of exploration, Shi Yan has made the concept of CSA clear as "seasonal ingredients, local consumption". She made this point based on her expertise, as there is a large nutrient loss during the harvesting and processing of crops and there are food safety risks.
Once, while recording a show in the city, she took the time to visit a large supermarket and happened to see expired food about to be discarded in the delicatessen section. The scene inspired her to recall that in the United States, the farmer couple would notify the bakery in advance to buy bread that was about to expire.
Since the post-90s, we have gradually become accustomed to a life without worrying about food and clothing, and we are no longer grateful for food. Behind this small matter, there is a dilemma faced by the agricultural industry.
Shi Yan once said in an interview: "The challenges we encounter are actually agricultural challenges. Even if someone on the farm's team thinks about the future of their family and children's education, they may choose to leave. ”
However, Shi Yan firmly believes that in today's urbanization, organic agriculture is the most ideal choice. It is pesticide-free, fertilizer-free, and can directly connect with consumers, which is the best way to solve food safety problems.
In my mind, the dream of realizing the dream has not yet come to fruition, and I have always dreamed of transplanting organic ecological agriculture into the big city so that I can live an organic and dignified life.
In 2020, BTV News came to my farm and also met many young people. One of the employees, Zhang Xiao, said that he studied architecture and found my farm on Weibo in his sophomore year, thinking that I was a role model for the post-90s and post-95s.
We all affectionately call me that'Shopkeeper'In front of the camera, I also expressed my heart. "
In the greenhouse, Shi Yan adopts a unique strawberry planting method. In order to adequately pollinate the strawberries, she introduced more than a hundred bees for stocking. In addition, in order to reduce the impact of insect infestation, she planted garlic among the strawberries, and the smell of garlic is effective in repelling insects.
The reporter also followed Shi Yan to visit this special strawberry planting shed.
After a long period of contact with the land, Shi Yan fell deeply in love with the land under her feet. She runs a farm that provides pollution-free and ecological fruit and vegetable distribution services to more than 1,500 families.
More importantly, by the end of 2020, Shi Yan established her own ecological alliance in 16 provinces and cities across the country, and used the farm as a training base. If you add up these achievements, they are undoubtedly remarkable.
Shi Yan firmly believes that the development of rural industries cannot only rely on the quantification of capital, and the cooperative model is a more suitable choice. She believes that more is needed in rural areas"New farmers"and professional managers in Kochi, and also need to promote farming culture internationally and make farmers a respected profession.
However, she also realizes that the main force on the farm is still the elders over 60 years old. With the expansion of publicity, the farm has attracted more and more post-90s, post-95s, and even post-00s to work.
Some of them graduated from agricultural universities, while others were temporarily out of touch with city life, but their common goal was to find the possibility of life in the land.
Shi Yan's dream is that the young people who return to the countryside in the future will no longer be alone, and they will have better communities and communities, as well as better infrastructure so that they can live with dignity and thus protect the land.
In daily life, Shi Yan and her husband would appear together in the vegetable shed, chatting with everyone and observing the crops. The long-term outdoor work has made this highly educated couple lose their bookish atmosphere, their hands are covered with thick calluses, and their complexion has become healthier, which is a testimony to their hard work in the fields.
Occasionally, they would use some agricultural jargon, much to the surprise of those around them: it turned out that they were not native farmers.
Shi Yan's love with her husband in the farmland is also full of romance. In June 2021, their love finally came to fruition, Shi Yan successfully gave birth to their first child, and the mother and son were safe, which is really gratifying.
Cheng Cunwang carefully selected a box of organic tomatoes from his farm, and he shared this special gift with the doctors, ** and other mothers in the ward. The taste of these tomatoes is something that no one has ever experienced.
If the epidemic does not have an impact, Shi Yan will definitely appear at the International CSA Conference and share the food problem with representatives of various countries. The alliance is already quite large, with more than 3 million members.
Now, Shi Yan has been working on the land for 11 years, and their story continues.
Shi Yan: From Overseas Doctor to Farmer Shi Yan: A Postdoctoral Fellow at Tsinghua University Rooted in Agriculture BTV News: Hebei Agricultural University Well-known Alumni Tour Hebei Agricultural University Official**.