The organic garden is a central aspect of the SAE LAO Project and is vital to it’s long-term sustainability. In the long term we aim to make a restaurant and the projects entire food consumption 100% sustainable by growing all the rice, fruits, vegetables and herbs along with producing all the animal products directly on the farm or buying from the local community.
SAE LAO works with ecological methods to make the soil more fertile and use natural resources most efficiently. In the future we hope to work with field scientists and agriculture students to study the soil and improve farming methods to prepare for future ecological challenges.
As part of promoting environmental practices and increasing incomes for the local community, SAE LAO has been buying locally grown, organic food from people in the neighbouring villages.
Most people will grow food for themselves without using chemical fertilisers. When they have an excess they travel to the market in Vang Vieng, 7km away along a bumpy road, having to pay for their petrol, crossing the bridge into Vang Vieng and for the market stall that they set up.
SAE LAO has advertised in the local village that we will buy the food from them for the same price they would get at the market, so although they receive the same amount, they do not lose money. This creates more income for the community and provides our volunteers and staff with fresh, local, organic food.