Against all odds, a young Vietnamese woman is running her farm and shops that grow and offer local consumers fresh, clean organic vegetables.

Pham Phuong Thao, 33, owns a 1.8 hectare farm in southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai Province; a 1,200m2 garden which is home to vegetables typical of temperate climate in Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong; and two organic food shops in Ho Chi Minh City.

She has partnered with local farmers by selling their healthful produce, and investing in and harvesting farmers’ crops.

A graduate in environmental technology from a university in Hanoi, Thao came up with the idea of growing organic vegetables when she was three months pregnant.

“During the early months of my pregnancy, I was noxious all the time and ate mostly vegetables, especially uncooked one. I was concerned that the vegetables might not be clean and would adversely affect my baby. It was then that I drew up my plan to launch a healthful organic food store,” she shared.

During her trip to Laos, the young woman learned that organic food fairs were held in front of Pha That Luang Pagoda in Vientiane every Wednesday and Friday.

Farmers grew organic produce with the assistance of international non-governmental organizations and sold them to city dwellers and tourists at the fairs.

The question of why people in Laos, which is poorer than Vietnam, were given access to clean food, kept haunting her.