On 15 October 2026, the students from the Environmental Politics and Policy class of the MAIDS-GRID program at Chulalongkorn University visited the SAFETist Farm on the Bang Mod Canal at the edge of Bangkok. The trip aimed to explore how community-based initiatives can connect ecological practices with social justice, local sustainability, and community resilience.

Photo: MAIDS-GRID students at the SAFETist Farm

SAFETist Farm started during COVID-19. At that time, a lot of people lost their jobs, and the team behind the farm realized how much it mattered to be able to grow your own food. They started small. Over time, the farm grew into something bigger: a place where people in the city could learn to be more self-reliant.

The farm does not work alone. The Safetist team partners with the Bang Mod community on farming projects and food distribution, and they have been building up local ecotourism too. On the Bang Mod Canal, the team has collaborated with communities to run kayaking trips and community workshops, which bring in income for local families and help keep the canal and green spaces around it clean and lively.

The team showed us around and talked us through how they grow organic vegetables. One part of their work stood out to many students: the vegetable basket membership. Members get fresh, chemical-free vegetables delivered within 24 hours of harvest, at a fair price. It’s a simple idea, but it makes safe and quality food easier to reach for people in the city. The initiative promotes ethical consumption and food justice, showing that sustainable and local food systems can thrive in urban areas.

Through hands-on activities, the SAFEtist team has developed an eco-friendly farming practice and demonstrated how grassroots innovation and community empowerment can drive meaningful environmental agendas in peri-urban spaces. In this sense, the farm made ideas like decentralization, resilience, and inclusion feel concrete.

We have learned from a small farm that we can be part of a bigger conversation about low-carbon cities. Most of all, it reminded us that sustainability depends on people working together. Walking back along the canal after the visit, it became easier to picture what a greener, more connected city could look like, because we’d just spent a day in one small corner of it.

For more information about the SAFETist Farm: https://www.facebook.com/safetistfarm/