Village-Dwellers Aid City Residents in major Hungarian city 'Pécs'
In the small village of Lúzsok, situated along the Southern border of Hungary, a hardworking but disadvantaged couple, Julika and József, cultivate a three-quarter-hectare plot of land, producing a variety of delicious vegetables while living on a disability pension. Visitors are amazed by their fist-sized, nearly half-kilogram onions, bountiful green bean bushes, and lush tomato vines.
József and Julika are seasoned farmers. Before József's illness, he spent twenty-five years selling watermelons, then turned his focus to cultivating his own backyard. Impressed by his success, a neighbor entrusted him with tending to their garden as well.
For József, producing vegetables was never a challenge. However, selling the produce proved to be a major one. Without a car or driver's license, József couldn't go to markets, and local buyers with the means to purchase have always been scarce. Meanwhile, in the nearby city of Pécs, 39 kilometers away, health-conscious consumers have been eager for nutritious, organic vegetables.
Caritas Hungary and the Pécs Shopping Community, with the support of MOL New Europe Foundation, have taken on the mission of bridging the gap between families capable of producing surplus crops despite difficult circumstances, and urban consumers willing to pay for healthy food. They assist these families with different materials (such as seeds, electric fences, and plant protection products), expertise, and—perhaps most importantly—logistics. As Barbara Fodor, Caritas Presence Point leader in Lúzsok playing a key role in the practical implementation, aptly put it, Caritas is putting these previously invisible producers on the "market map," enabling them to earn money from their hard work, and giving them hope for a better life.
The local Caritas Presence Point team played an indispensable role in helping Julika and József, with the assistance of our colleague Tibor Szegedi, to deliver their first pre-ordered vegetable shipment (17 kg of red onions, 50 kg of yellow onions, 25 kg of green beans, and 30 heads of kohlrabi) to the members of the Pécs Shopping Community. The team also assisted the couple with a number of administrative tasks and official procedures that they could not have managed alone. Caritas' help in this matter was indispensable, as József and Julika would not have accepted assistance from anyone else. Caritas' team, however, they trust and know. As for how they will use this first sum earned by hard work? To replace the plastic covering over their greenhose, torn apart by a recent storm.
Written by Anikó Nagy, “Emerging Settlements” Social Economy Program Coordinator (Caritas Hungary)