I'm a vegan, and I've lived in some pretty remote countryside in Cambodia, although technically connected to an intermittent electricity grid. Other than electricity, the average Cambodian village is self-sustaining as far as food production. My family and I have lived in Ecuador and now Suriname, and my Cambodian wife is shocked at how little variety of produce even the biggest markets here have.
There is definitely an east-west divide. In Cambodia, I purchased my organic rice to a farm I had visited, personally hired the van driver to take it to the local mill for processing, and then received it at our restaurant getting rice so fresh it had visible chlorophyll on it. From beans to rice, you could easily live off-grid in Cambodia and not even have to grow anything, but I know your struggle here in the Americas.
Although we live a very urban life here in Paramaribo, we find people in the Americas aren't as willing to eat many foods Cambodians willingly pay for in a market. We pick coconuts the locals are too lazy to pick, eat water hyacinth flowers, cassava leaves, noni fruit, and pumpkin flowers, and there are a lot more things locals consider inedible.
I love seeing your off-the-grid journey, keep the updates coming.
Wow, now I’d really like to travel to Cambodia for a while!! Do you know of any way to hop on board as a voluntary? I would love to spend some time with them and learn from their ways... thanks for your awesome comment!