In the Amazon rainforest of French Guiana, a community of Laosian refugees has been thriving and reshaping an entire country’s relation to food.
The Hmong people were a population of farmers living on the Laosian hills. However, persecuted during the Vietnam War, they were displaced 40 years ago from their homeland by France who proposed to then populate one of their colonies in the Americas. The French government at the time thought the similar climate and vegetation would be a natural fit for them. And so, they were given land to plow and grow vegetables on, they didn’t have a choice and they needed to survive, so they adapted. Despite the aggressive racism they faced at their arrival, they were able to break through and save their culture. Now living in the small town of Cacao, they are now responsible for 60-80% of all the fruits and vegetables grown on the territory — essentially feeding a nation.