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Posts tagged: organic
For those not living in the 9th-largest economy in the world, California, or in the United States of America, you probably don’t know that we have a voter ballot in California that would require the compulsory labeling of retail foods for human consumption containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients or the food itself being GE.
I’m writing this because I support Prop 37. While I think it may not go far enough*, or lacks some teeth, I believe it to be a step in the right direction. Consumers have a right to know what is in their food, especially due to dietary, health or religious concerns.
I am also writing this because I hadn’t read the actual Article referenced by Proposition 37. I have studied the issue for many years and have always been in support of “Truth in Labeling” campaigns, so a YES for me didn’t require me to read the initiative.** But, after a few discussions on Facebook with friends about the issue and their ensuing statements and No on Prop 37 parroting ($45-million of anti-Prop 37 spending works!) made it clear that they hadn’t read it either.
So, to honor truth and clarity, I took the time to read the entire initiative hosted on the Yes on Prop 37 website. Some may think that the page is biased due to where it’s being hosted and presented, but it’s the actual language of the law as it would be inserted. I invite and encourage you to read it as well. It’s actually not as convoluted as many other propositions, but I also have experience working in the marketing and production of organic processed foods at Eco Ola so some of the language may come easier to me.
I hope my attempt helps dispel some confusion and clarifies exactly what this initiative is proposed to do for Californian consumers. I follow that up with my position regarding the prop. Cheers!
Note: I’ve used italics when directly quoting from the proposed Article 6.6
The Gist
Article 6.6, otherwise known as The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, will require all retail food products for human consumption to be labeled with the phrase Genetically Engineered if the said food meets defined definitions within the article. There are restrictions and exemptions to the law which are covered below.
The initiative also prohibits the use the phrases natural, naturally made, naturally grown, all natural or any words of similar import that would have any tendency to mislead the consumer on any labeling, advertising or promotional materials of the retail food product. This only applies if the food meets any of the definitions in section 110808(c) or (d).
Section 110808 gives definitions to terms used throughout the Act. Two terms Genetically engineered and Processed food ((c) and (d), respectively), are the ones of greatest impact and the nexus of the debate at hand.
Genetically engineered would be defined, for California retail human food only, to [mean] any food that is produced from an organism or organisms in which the genetic material has been changed through the application of:
(i) In vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) techniques and the direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, or
(ii) Fusion of cells (including protoplast fusion) or hybridization techniques that overcome natural physiological, reproductive or recombination barriers, where the donor cells/protoplasts do not fall within the same taxonomic family, in a way that does not occur by natural multiplication or natural recombination.
The section continues with defining further the above used terms of Organism and In vitro nucleic acid techniques to help clarify exactly what Genetically engineered means regarding the proposed law.
Processed food follows in subdivision (d) and says it means any food other than a raw agricultural commodity and includes any food produced from a raw agricultural commodity that has been subject to processing such as canning, smoking, pressing, cooking, freezing, dehydration, fermentation or milling.
So, for example, if you had a non-GE apple, untouched by any “processing” as mentioned above, you could label it “natural,” etc. But, if you sliced and dried the same said apple into rings and promoted it through advertising saying “naturally grown” you’d be in conflict with the law and any consumer may bring action against the owner/company without needing to establish any specific damage from, or prove any reliance on, the alleged violation (§110809.4 Enforcement). That last part is to say that the person doesn’t have to be affected by it to make a claim. Hence watchdogs could bring cases before if they noticed violations.
I’ve read some arguments saying that this restriction on the use of “natural,” et al. on processed foods is ridiculous. One example is the use of pressing olives for oil or the milling of grains (all flours are milled grains) doesn’t make a product less “natural.” Well, hate to break it to you, but the first definition of the adjective “natural” is:
- existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind: eg. “carrots contain a natural antiseptic that fights bacteria”
The purpose and intention of the restrictions on such descriptors is to ensure truth in labeling.
So, the main thrust of the initiative is to define what genetically engineered means regarding retail human foods and requiring the mandatory labeling of said foods if they fall under the categorizations outlined in the Article. It also puts restrictions on the use of misleading and meaningless propaganda phrasing like “all natural,” etc. if the food is genetically engineered.
The Gritty Nitties
Of course, like any legislation, there are exceptions, exclusions, etc., but let’s start with exactly what a food producer must disclose on its product if it is or may have been entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering.
Disclosure
Section 110809, Disclosure With Respect to Genetic Engineering of Food, states that on July 1, 2014, any food offered for retail sale in California is misbranded if it is or may have been entirely or partially produced with genetic engineering and that fact is not disclosed.
The labeling requirements are different if the food is a raw agricultural commodity or a processed food. Thus a genetically engineered apple is required to have “Genetically Engineered” on the front of the package such commodity or in the case of any such commodity that is not separately packaged or labeled, on a label appearing on the retail store shelf or bin in which such commodity is displayed for sale. Basically, it must say “Genetically Engineered” on the apple’s sticker or on the description label for that food where it’s purchased in a retail environment.
Processed foods need clear and conspicuous language on the front or back of the package of such food, with the words “Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering” or “May be Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering”. So, the same apple dehydrated and packaged as rings needs to have the above phrases on its packaging since, by the definition of natural the apple rings do not naturally occur in nature without man’s intervention.
The disclosure verbiage also doesn’t have to be placed immediately preceding any common name or primary product descriptor of a food.
Exemptions
The initiative adds in §110809.2, in subdivision (a), that the producer need not identify genetically engineered ingredient(s) if it’s a non-GE animal regardless of whether such animal has been fed or injected with any genetically engineered food or any drug that has been produced through means of genetic engineering.
Foods raised or produced without the knowing and intentional use of genetically engineered seed or food are exempted. Subdivision (b) sets requirements for how that’s clarified by allowing sworn statements from sellers/suppliers that such commodity or food: (i) has not been knowingly or intentionally genetically engineered; and (ii) has been segregated from, and has not been knowingly or intentionally commingled with, food that may have been genetically engineered at any time.
They follow in subdivision (c) that a food is exempt from disclosure if it includes one or more genetically engineered processing aids or enzymes.
Alcoholic beverages subject to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act are exempt, (d).
If no single such ingredient accounts for more than one-half of one percent of the total weight of such processed food; and (ii) the processed food does not contain more than ten such ingredients, (e).
It allows exemptions of disclosure in (f) if an independent organization has determined has not been knowingly and intentionally produced from or commingled with genetically engineered seed or genetically engineered food, provided that such determination has been made pursuant to a sampling and testing procedure approved in regulations adopted by the department. They buttress the above by saying that the sampling must be done according to a statistically valid sampling plan consistent with principles recommended by internationally recognized sources such as the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA).
If food has been lawfully certified as “organic” they need not disclose, (g).
Food not packaged for retail sale and is a processed food prepared and intended for immediate human consumption or is served, sold or otherwise provided in any restaurant or other food facility that is primarily engaged in the sale of food prepared and intended for immediate human consumption, (h).
Finally, the simple phase of Medical Food in subdivision (f) is also exempt.
Adding Regulations
The California Department of Public Health, the entity referred to as department in the initiative, can add regulations it determines are necessary for the enforcement and interpretation of this Article but cannot add exemptions beyond those specified in section 110809.2 (§ 110809.3 Adoption of Regulations).
Cracking Heads
Next follows §110809.4 Enforcement laying out what sections, in addition to any action under Article 4 of Chapter 8, that will be held in violation of Civil Code section 1770(a)(5) and may be prosecuted under Title 1.5 of Part 4 of Division 3 of that code (commencing with section 1750). Consumers can bring actions of violation and need not establish any specific damage from, or prove any reliance on, the alleged violation. Summing it up: it says how it fits with existing laws and their violations, and says consumers don’t have to be directly affected by it to bring it to attention.
They add another sentence saying that the monetary damage, if found guilty, will be in at least the amount of the actual or offered retail price of each package or product alleged to be in violation. Looks like there’s wiggle-room here, but I’m assuming that is to be interpreted as all products out for retail sale in the state of California, and may exclude those still in transit or warehouses.
They also call for amending the Section 111910 of Article 4 of Chapter 8 of Part 5 of Division 104 to read: any person may bring an action in superior court pursuant to this section and the court shall have jurisdiction upon hearing and for cause shown, to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating any provision of Article 6.6. It ends with this legal jargon, that I admit is a bit confusing (I’m no lawyer), but it seems to say that the person doesn’t have to prove that it’s damaging to him/herself, (a).
Subdivision (b) says the court may award to that person, organization, or entity reasonable attorney’s fees and all reasonable costs incurred in investigating and prosecuting the action as determined by the court.
It finishes with saying that the section doesn’t change department and its authorized agents to bring an action to enforce this chapter pursuant to Section 111900 or any other provision of law, (c).
The Really Itty-Gritties
The rest of the initiative lays out additions and revisions to laws on the books.
- Section 5 covers “Misbranding” by referencing the potential new sections
- Section 6 says if any part is found unconstitutional then it can be severed, i.e. removed
- Section 7 says it is to supplement, not supersede other California statute or regulation that provides for less stringent or less complete labeling of any raw agricultural commodity or processed food subject to the provisions of this initiative
- Section 8 says how it’ll become effective pursuant to the California Constitution
- Section 9 lays out conflicting measures if another ballot initiative now, or in the future, is voted in and imposes impose additional requirements relating to the production, sale and/or labeling of genetically engineered food, then the provisions of the other measure or measures, if approved by the voters, shall be harmonized with the provisions of this Act, provided that the provisions of the other measure or measures do not prevent, or excuse, compliance with the requirements of this Act. If the other Act happens to prevent, or excuse, compliance with the provisions in this Act, and this Act receives a greater number of affirmative votes, then the provisions of this Act shall prevail in their entirety, and the other measure or measures shall be null and void.
- Section 10 says the Legislature may amend the Act, but only to further its intent and purpose, by a statute passed by a two-thirds vote in each house.
All the sections seem like normal protocol for propositions/laws, but I’m curious if Section 9 is phrased that way for other props.
My Attempt Summarizing the Act
After reading, and now summarizing, the initiative, it appears that human-food products for retail sale (note that wholesale is exempt, no?) must be labeled if it has been altered according to the definitions described in the Act. The Act also adds restrictions to the use of misleading terminology like “all natural” if the food is, or contains ingredients, genetically engineered or is considered a processed food as per their definitions.
Any citizen (of any state, I assume, since it doesn’t specifically say a Californian resident) or organization may bring action, and the review/enforcement looks to be on the onus of the Department of Public Health and the Californian Supreme Court.
Why I’m in the Yes Camp
First, please, hear me out. I also request that you don’t feed the evil side of life and try to think mean names of me, tell me to get a job (I have many), or to mentally construct red herrings, straw men, or argumentum ad hominem attacks. Thanks.
So, we’ve got lots of things engineered in the world. They are wonderful. Many inventions and creations throughout human history/evolution have lead to our modern world of comfort, safety and convenience, among other things. I’m extremely grateful for many of these things. I love using my computer, flying, ordering In-and-Out french fries (but boy do they sour quickly though due to their lack of preservatives)… There are thousands, if not millions of things, that make my own modern life the breeze it is compared to our fore-peeps.
Depending on your perspective and knowledge of the (real) facts or truth, those three things I just mentioned as personal joys have their downsides.
My computer is made with a mountain of debris and trash attached to it. The precious minerals mined in Africa for the electronics, the vast energy needed to power caffeine-infused late night programming sessions at Apple, and its incessant need for a recharge all add to the contamination of our world.
As a private pilot, flying pollutes, a lot. The planes I fly get fairly good gas mileage as far as planes go (Cessna 172R: ~15 Gallons Per Hour; Cirrus SR-22 G2: ~19 GPH), but they are made out of aluminum (an intensive extraction and energy process), require frequent overhauls (more new parts, lubricants), use electronics and thus carry the same issues as my computer.
Lastly, for my delicious papas from a fast-food joint, they may not be picked under the most optimal of conditions for the worker’s health/comfort/safety, may still be coated with residual pesticides and, getting back on point, may be genetically engineered.
“Well, so, what?” you may say, and add, like my friends have, that genetically engineered foods “safely create nutrient enriched crops with vitamins or higher protein content,” or that they “[modify] apples so that they don’t brown.”
True, those are potentially great advancements or improvements of existing natural foods. But, the key is the potentially. I say that because many of the companies doing the genetic engineering do not allow truly independent reviews of their creations or long-term tests to see the environmental and/or human impact they may cause. Sure, some studies are out there, but they usually are restricted by legal threats or contracts for receiving seed/material samples to have a limited investigative scope determined by the seed owners.
Laboratories investigating the more serious questions of human or environmental impact have been burglarized, vandalized, or burned. Scientists are threatened or harassed. If the technology is so great, then why the meanness directed at them? (And no, these aren’t random acts, their deliberate and premeditated attacks to silence and suppress real investigations into the safety of some genetic engineering.) The companies defend their aggressive defense along the lines of the genetic patenting and ownership of the “technology” inside the living organisms. Well, that’s another battle for which I’m a proponent of and that’s the removal of patenting genes. You can read more about that battle at the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) website.
I’ll put down the tin-foil hat that you may be trying to toss on me and address other points of contention I have with GE-foods.
Many modifications to the DNA of plants is to make them more resistant to pesticide use. Monsanto is the king of this and has many varieties of world-wide cultivated crops and grains. RoundUp Ready™ Soy and Corn are some of the biggest ones in their arsenal.
Pesticide/insecticide use is a necessary evil of monoculture. Usually, you’ve got a massive field of one crop. Enemies and eaters of the crop can just pick their way through it in one line with very little difficulty. Before, farmers would be selective in their application of pesticides. It costs $$ to spray, isn’t a healthy thing to do, and, most of all, it sometimes ends up killing the crop you’re trying to protect!
Now, with pesticide-resistant crops, a farmer, if sufficient capital/profits are available, he can spray season-round ensuring that the bugs or diseases don’t get the upper hand. The increased use in pesticides doesn’t just evaporate harmlessly though; it leaches into the ground, enters streams or water tables. It is absorbed by animals/insects and starts entering the food web. The targeted bug or disease also starts to develop resistance to the gene modification thereby requiring more virulent pesticides and more engineering (re: more $$ for the chemical and ag companies). Not to mention that the food harvested and processed at the end contains genetic modifications that may lead to complications in the end user: you or me!
Another negative downside is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require safety studies of GE-foods. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it examines and tests GE products for potential impact on wildlife, cross-pollination and toxicity — but I call bullshit on that considering that Tom Vilsack, USDA Secretary, former Iowa Governor, and named Governor of the Year by the Biotechnology Industry Organization is a cheerleader for genetic engineering***. Yet another example of our country putting a fox in charge of the hens.
An organic grower’s crop may become contaminated with cross-pollination or drifting seed of GE-crops, thereby affecting his/her business and potential, expensive, certification of their organic status. But, it’s this “bio-pollution” that hasn’t gotten significant airtime. Some of these contaminations of neighboring farms have allowed seed and chemical companies to actually sue the owners for patent infringement!
Genetic splicing and dicing of foreign genes can produce unexpected consequences that can increase the levels of known toxicants in foods and introduce new toxicants and health concerns. We don’t know the whole story because the lobbyists and armies of lawyers for Ag-Giants like Cargill, Monsanto, Unilever, et al. don’t want us to, again, hiding being proprietary rights and ownership.
But, let’s forget all that and focus on choice because that seems to be the American priority. We are allowed to choose freely to poison ourselves with cigarettes, excess alcohol and a wide variety of potentially crippling or life-ending activities. But, damnit!, we’ve got the free will (legally) to choose to engage in these things. I want the same freedom to have the knowledge and information to make informed decisions about what I put into my body. Also, as someone who has a deep respect for the planet, our home on which we live, I want to make as many consumer choices as I can that have the least potential for contamination to leave as much unspoiled as possible for the future inhabitants, human and non, to enjoy and appreciate.
Fin
In conclusion, I agree, Prop 37 doesn’t hit all the points of A through Z, but it is a start and it is written in fairly simple and clear language.
I’m voting Yes on Prop 37 as a permanent mail-in voter in the County of San Diego. I ask that you do your own research, free of dogmas and prejudices, and hopefully you’ll come to the same conclusion.
Post-Script and the Bullshit Being Thrown
I intentionally left out many of the talking points of the NO on Prop 37 crowd. I’ve done that because it’s almost entirely bankrolled by large corporations with serious vested interests in maintaining silence and the status quo regarding genetic engineering. Also, a few organizations have good rebuttals of the lies and scare tactics being peddled.
Peace and GE-free Apple Pie,
Rick
The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act
Why Labeling GMOs is Important
7 Things to Tell People Why to Vote Yes on Prop 37
Debunking the NO on Prop 37 Falsehoods
USDA Resources Regarding Biotechnology (Also includes non-GE technology)
- For example, Article 6.6 doesn’t require labeling if an animal that has not itself been genetically engineered, regardless of whether such animal has been fed or injected with any genetically engineered food or any drug that has been produced through means of genetic engineering and exempts alcoholic beverages(§110809.2(a) and (c), respectively - Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food—Exemptions).
** Lame excuse, I know. We should always read what we vote on, but real life happens. That’s why I took the hours to hopefully distill this issue for you (but it’s probably too long anyway, :P ).
Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute released a report this week concluding that there is no difference between organic or conventionally produced food is a joke. Thankfully, the Cornucopia Institute released a rebuttal of the report’s inaccuracies, falsehoods, and omissions in the widely parroted report which is financed and backed by industrial agriculture corporations, like Cargill and Big Tobacco.
Organic foods are healthier. Period. You don’t need million-dollar studies to know this. Simply purchase a generic, cheap, factory farm egg. Then buy an organic, free-range egg from a local grower. Crack them both open in a frying pan, sunny side up and cook without salt. Notice the color difference in the yolks, the texture of the whites, and finally the flavor.
It simply comes down to: you put crap in, you get crap out. Industrial agriculture is a failure. It’s been mining and robbing our soils of nutrients and microbiological life forms.
Conventional agriculture is also poisoning our world. Excess nutrients from petroleum extracted fertilizers are poisoning rivers and oceans leading to massive, oxygen-deprived dead zones. Factory animal farms produce mountains of excrement that become waste rather than the traditional use as sustainable fertilizer for crops. Need we mention the pesticides, fungicides, genetic manipulation, super bugs, etc.?
Cornucopia Institute and Common Dreams both fail to connect all the dots in its criticism of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute “research” and how it was immediately spread and repeated by the news conglomerates. The reason it received such fast media dissemination without fact checking is due to our “news” outlets inextricable ties to industrial agriculture.
We must erase the notion in our minds that our traditional news sources are independent and objective. They’re marketing and trumpeting arms of the ruling paradigm. Their only purpose is to sell advertisements and prop up the falsehoods and smokescreens of our corporate owners.
Don’t buy their lies. Organic, sustainably grown foods are, have been, and will always be healthier, more nutritious, and tastier than industrial food. Support your local organic farmers. Ask for and purchase organic, sustainably harvested food from the grocery store. Or, best of all, grow your own.
_institute
How do you write about a place that’s magical? Do you keep things to yourself that you’ve experienced? Do you share this place with others, or keep it guarded for fear of its potential misuse or abuse?
I don’t really know why I haven’t, till now, written about my time at the small, 1-hectare farm of Maria and Rudolfo in San Jose de Palle Viejo. It could be due to some of my questions above, or my very busy, transitory nature between volunteering on and traveling to other farms, or a bit of both. One thing I’m certain of is we’ve done a lot on the farm together over my two visits and writing about it all seems like a daunting task.
But, Rudolfo and Maria are just too wonderful not to share with the world, so, welcome to la Casa de Corazones Jóvenes Eternos.
First Visit: Settling In
For any of you who follow my cycling blog, Pedalong, I’ve written about how I was introduced to the farm and its wonderful owners. I won’t go into details here about it, but it suffices to say, nada es casual.
As with any of my arrivals at new farms, the overwhelming sensations of newness, uncertainty and unfamiliarity clamor for my attention. This is amplified due to this being an unexpected and unplanned detour. I’m also in a awkward position as to what I “am” on the farm. Am I guest, a volunteer, a consultant? I’m still of the mindset/expectation that I’ll leave in a few days to continue riding to Pucallpa and don’t know how much to invest myself.
The brick and concrete farmhouse is fairly comfortable. I’ve got a bed, but it’s in a two-room section of the house with no doors separating me from Maria and her son, Jean Pierre, who both sleep in the main room. I’m excited to have a full-size bed (my previous nights were on a cot, about a foot shorter than I, in the corner of an un-used, baroque-styled sitting room with everything covered in plastic). My room is attached to the bathroom which also lacks a door. Like most toilets in Peru, the toilet paper is thrown in the trash instead of being flushed. The smell is a bit rough, the lack of privacy is something to get accustomed to, and the continual gurgling of a faulty tank flapper makes sleeping slightly difficult, but I manage with my travel earplugs that continue to be an amazing investment.
First Morning and Farm Tour
Waking up at 06:00 seems early and normal to me, but I had noticed, between a few tosses and turns in bed, that Rudolfo, also known as Maestro, was walking around and seemed to start work at 05:00. After my low-key mornings at Fundo Dshati, my body isn’t accustomed to waking before the sun begins its morning glow in the sky, but Rudolfo’s movements instill guilt in me for being warm and blanketed in bed. Sufficiently filled with lazy shame, I get up, get dressed and head out to find Maestro.
I catch Rudolfo zipping about. He greets me with a beautiful smile and exuberant energy that makes me feel even more shame for being a sleepyhead. Maestro wants to get my opinion on the farm, his practices, why some plants are dying, etc. I chuckle to myself because I’m still at the nascent stages of learning agriculture/permaculture, let alone being able to dole out off-the-cuff advice in Spanish. But, I need a tour of the farm to learn how I can help and offer help where I can.
The principal products they’re trying to grow are avocado and cherimoya. I’ll assume you know what the former is, but the latter is a fruit, Annona cherimola, that is sweet and delicious, some places know it as custard apple. Both fruits are widely cultivated in the valleys surrounding Chosica. Rolling up to a sickly avocado tree Maestro asks me why it’s sad and losing its leaves. I try to use my limited observational skills and assume it’s a lack of consistent moisture for the roots. The ground underneath the trees is very dry, with little to no mulch covering the roots. He says they get “bastante (sufficient)” water and thinks that’s not the case. We’ve reached a dead end in our diagnosis because neither of us have experience cultivating avocados. This is the first, of many, research tasks that gets noted in my brain.
Continuing the tour, Rudolfo gives me a brief history of the land. It was once a productive farm owned by a husband and wife until a record landslide (huayco) in ‘83 that hurled house-sized boulders down the stream valley destroying the original farm house leaving only the foundation and stubs for walls. A new farm house (the current one) was constructed lower down on the property. As the parents aged and were unable to tend the land, it fell abandoned because their children wanted nothing to do with farming. With neglect it became a basurero (trash dump) for the locals. The first two years, Rudolfo tells me, were purely clean up operations to remove or bury the shoes, broken glass and other detritus of civilization before any real farming work could begin. Underneath the line of tuna/prickly pear cactus is a 1.5m hole running the entire length of the wall filled with mountains of garbage. The wheelbarrow’s tire was patched over 60 times as he pushed it across the shard filled landscape.
As he shows me the upper lot and the baby cherimoya orchard he’s started, he also tells me of the various hired workers that’ve been on the land. “All of them were drunks and some were thieves,” he shares. It’s obvious he’s had a tough time working the farm by the stories I hear. Mounds of giant rocks stacked and backfilled with smaller rocks dot the landscape. He tells me all of them were strewn about the land and mostly moved to the piles by himself. Comfort has definitely not been Rudolfo’s companion here.
We finish the tour and sit under a molle tree flanked by a pomegranate bush, and he asks, “So, what are your suggestions?” I, again, laugh inside my head but keep a straight face and try to incorporate all of what he’s shown me about the farm. They’re working from an organic framework, but lack of any apparent holistic system for retaining water, using polycultures or other sustainable management techniques. I’m a bit overwhelmed at the amount of things needing fixing or reorganizing, but try to piece together a rough opinion of what needs to happen to start. I share my preliminary daunting list of tasks, and feel just as overwhelmed as Rudolfo looks when I finish.
Before we can fall deeper into our emotions of futility and despair, Maria calls us to breakfast. This schedule is also something I’m not used to, eating after working. At the other farms we always have breakfast first and then get to work, but Rudolfo likes to work from 05:00 till 09:00 or as late as 10:00 and then eat. But, in reality, if he had his way, and didn’t have the (s)motherly affection of Maria, he’d never eat and rarely rest. The man is a machine, or a highly tuned human, I’ve yet to really know.
Jean Pierre, referred to as JP, joins us at the small, plastic table in the outdoor kitchen as Maria serves us breakfast. I was told my first day that JP has some mental disabilities and is more like a large child than 27-year-old adult. I had asked Maestro on the tour if JP helps out on the farm and learned that he does the opposite. At first, Maestro tried to incorporate JP in the mountain of farm work to be done, but he’d either work excruciatingly slow or not work at all. He also would hide, bury or destroy tools. To top that off, he’d uproot plants that Rudolfo had planted, or undo other work, like replacing rocks cleaned up, and replace them all around the farm. This behavior made me appreciate even more the immensity of work Rudolfo has had to endure to bring the farm up to any semblance of a functioning order.
Breakfast consumed, I return to my “room” to study and meditate on how long I’ll stay at the farm. I had promised Limber of RECOVER Peru that I’d be there in a week or so, and felt obligated to fulfill my promise. But, I also feel a certain amount of pressure from my father to return to the states for Christmas, thus making any time in Pucallpa short and truncated. Realizing that my time would be best spent in one location for the month-and-a-half I had till my departure, I decide to stay on the farm to help, learn and give Rudolfo the support he desperately needs.
Learning Curve!
Not wanting to seem weak, lazy or incapable of lending a strong hand, I set my alarm for 04:45 to be up and ready to work with Rudolfo. It’s easier than yesterday, but still is a shock to the system. The chill of condensed valley air helps shake me awake. With my head lamp lit, I ask Maestro what he wants to tackle this morning and he tells me we need to harvest food for the cuyes (guinea pigs). We harvest camote (sweet potato) stems and leaves from the upper cherimoya section. The cuyes live in a heavy wire and thin concrete paneled box at the far end of the outdoor kitchen/patio. It’s a horrible placement for a variety of reasons, but the worst is that the cuy crap and urine just falls on the floor and requires daily cleaning by Maria and gets tracked all over the place. I mentally note the lost energy in the setup and vow that one day, soon, we’ll move it to a more appropriate location.
Rudolfo says he wants to get more chickens, but we need to construct a safe place for them. Currently there are two chickens, a thin gallo appropriately called “Flaco” and another, huge chicken that we think is a female, but later, on my second stay on the farm in 2012, realize that it’s a male chicken… ¡jaja!
As usual, my consumer developed mind starts thinking, “Well, we’ll need to buy chicken wire to pen them, nails to…” but Rudolfo helps to break my consumption paradigm and gets me to look at my surroundings for ways of building naturally. He points out the giant stand of carrizo (giant reed), a tall grass with a long, fairly strong stem that can be used as a bastard bamboo. It’s not strong enough or durable enough to rely on for weight bearing structures without significant reinforcement and becomes brittle over time, but for constructing a chicken coop barrier it’s perfect.
Harvesting the carrizo looks straight forward, but damn me if I can’t operate a handsaw. I almost bend the blade a few times in my literal hack job, all under the watchful eye of Maestro. Ugh, I’m not enjoying the pressure, especially, when he keeps saying, “Lento, lento (slow, slow).” I end up giving up, realizing he’s much faster at cutting. This leaves me being the stacker. The grasses are very tall, reaching heights of 20-feet. Their leaves, like many grasses, contain a fine edge in one direction. Being a novice at handling this species I end up with fine, razor sharp cuts akin to paper cuts in the wedges of my hands. Every minute working with Maestro and his rapid pace creates a new teaching moment of what not to do.
After piling a sizable amount of cut carrizo, I’m tasked with removing the sharp leaves and stems to set aside for the cuyes to consume. My hands are stained black once I finish from the dusty, often bird shit tagged leaves, but I’ve got a handsome montón/pile of ready-to-install carrizo. I drag the pile down to our working site. We’ve selected the shady area under a beautiful and old avocado tree called “Mamá.” She got the name because her and another, now deceased, avocado tree called, “Papá,” were the only trees bearing fruit the first year Maria and Rudolfo lived on the land.
We start constructing the walls of the chicken coop with the thickest specimens. Driving them into excavated holes these act as posts which we then thread thinner, more flexible stalks through. The tension created will hold the wall together and will limit the unwanted exit/entrance of chickens or enemies. This, it turns out, is the first time for Rudolfo to construct anything substantial using carrizo. I admire his ‘head-first’ attitude of jumping in to use a new material and learning en route.
Repeating the process of harvesting, stripping and threading, we’re almost finished with the corral when I have yet another learning moment. I’m pushing the a stalk down with a bit of force to fit it into place when it snaps causing my hand to fall fast onto the exposed knife-like edge. I know it’s deep by the feeling of the cut and the immediate exit of blood from the wound. Not wanting to let good ink go to waste, and needing to tend to it with my emergency kit, I head to my room to paint in my sketchbook using my blood. Once satisfied with my piece, I then go about cleaning it and wrapping it up before rejoining Rudolfo to finish our project.
“Let’s Build a Tree Fort”
My perspective and time on the farm is improving. I’m waking without my alarm clock, mostly due to Flaco crowing at 03:00 through 06:00 right by my window, and my mistakes are lessening as my blisters are growing. We’ve also been having wonderful discussions over meals and after the work day is over.
Maria and Rudolfo are very much my type of people. They’ve spent a lot of time working together and have many stories they enjoy sharing. They first met at the healing lagunas of Salinas where Rudolfo was helping people heal themselves from various ailments. A few years of that was followed by almost 6-years of working at the restaurant Rosita owned called ‘Disfrute.’ Rudolfo acted as manager and never once asked to be paid. In between hectic and long work hours they dedicated years trying to protect the healing waters of Salinas from impending development of a thermoelectric station. They managed to win the first round, but the company changed names and reapplied, bribing important people in town with paltry sums of cash which they greedily accepted in exchange of them permitting the company to build.
In one of our chats, we were sharing our dream houses. Mine has always been an elevated house incorporated into a tree or a stand of trees with cargo netting loft spaces for relaxing/playing/sleeping on. Rudolfo must’ve been taking my words to heart because the next morning he tells me we’re going to build my treehouse. My? I assume he just means let’s build a tree house. Either way, I’m stoked because my more serious side would never let us build a tree house with the mountain of things we’ve got to do to improve the functionality and performance of the site. But, I use this as an opportunity to help lighten my sometimes serious mood and fall into the fun that he’s allowing to happen.
Rudolfo’s already got the site picked out for the tree house. A molle tree with four main trunks is growing alongside a rock wall separating the lower section of the farm from the upper. We get tools: rope, nails, hammer, a car jack (I know, what?) and the slightly Rick-damaged saw.
The first setup is to tension the four fanning trunks together to ensure a well formed base. We use the car jack and rope to help reign in the trees. I’m pulling with all my might and weight as we move the trunks ever closer. Finally, after struggling, we get them into a semi-rectangular form. After ropes are tied off we begin to look for palos/sticks for building the frame work.
Again, my mind immediately jumps to, “Shoot, we don’t have much spare wood that’s not rotten or falling apart. Guess we’ll have to buy more.” Rudolfo, in his campesino background and todo es vale mentality, sets me straight and shows me the various trees “por gusto” around the property. He picks a tree with vicious spikes on every part. Looks at its branches and trunk. Satisfied, he starts hacking at it with the machete. I watch him quickly dismantle four palos out of the tree. He strips the skin piercing spines with the back of the machete. We’re ready to start building.
Construction goes quickly. Rudolfo teaches me how to use old electrical wire for tying branches and things together to limit out use of nails. I’m continuously impressed and inspired by his handy re-use approach. We need more palos so I’m put in task of finding and cutting more from around the farm. I find some more trees with usable branches and begin hacking away. By the time I’m done, my right hand is red and raw, some blisters are ripped open and my hands are hurting. My initiation continues, and I admire the learning I’m experiencing every day with Maestro.
But, it turns out I’m not the only one with a lesson to learn. We’re finishing a wall and Rudolfo is on the outside, slightly precarious, and hammering in palos. I don’t know how, but he slips and loses his footing, snags a branch, is suspended for a brief moment and then falls to the ground. I’m immediately worried because where he fell we had cleared carrizo. The cut stumps of carrizo are like punji sticks. To make matters worse, he is working in flip flops! I rush over to see how he is. Fortunately, nothing is broken. Unfortunately, a cut trunk sliced the bottom of his foot deep. He limps to the house and I help tend to his new learning experience.
Foot wrapped up and still eager to work, we finish framing the base structure and flooring support. We return to the handy and useful carrizo groves to build our floor decking. The process is simple. We fill in the gaps between the noodlely branches with leaves and short stems from the carrizo, and nail the stalks down to create an even surface on top of the fill. The final result is actually quite comfortable and nice looking.
With the floor complete, we tackle the walls. Again, since we’re not supporting much weight with the ceiling, we utilize carrizo. Building the walls is a bit tricky because, if not under sufficient tension or pressure, the carrizo easily slides out of place falling to the ground below. We end up reconstructing every wall about two to three times as the neighboring walls are built up and new directions of pressure are created leading to the weakening of neighboring walls. My lazy side wants to be done with a wall and not rebuild it multiple times, but the preservation pays as I end up improving my assembly and tensioning techniques which leads to a better final product.
A triangular window comes to shape on the southwestern side overlooking a dusty patch of ground below. A narrow window overlooks the dwindling carrizo patch to the west. It really starts to feel like a fun, nurturing place to spend time or a night in.
Finished with the walls, we only lack a roof. Staying in the carrizo theme we opt to top it off with carrizo poles and leaves. Rudolfo launches poles like javelins at me while I stack the roof. The roof is the easiest, fastest part of the tree house construction. I let Rudolfo climb up and layout the grass thatch I toss up to him. With the last thatch in place, we pose for a photo op with Rosita in front of the newly coined Casita de Corazones Jóvenes Eternos.
The Rest and Beyond
My magical appearance at Maria and Rudolfo’s farm was a wonderful, uplifting experience. We all benefited from the exchange of perspectives and culture. They helped me see the power of one’s mind in achieving your dreams, of healing one’s body and in making the impossible possible. In my turn, I lent my knowledge of sustainable systems and permaculture, my sweat, blood, and my heart.
Rudolfo and I continued perfecting areas of the farm. We rolled giant boulders onto the 5 or 6 large rock piles that he and Maria built up while clearing the land. We finished a second chicken coop out of carrizo, got the guinea pig box out of the kitchen area and into the Casa de las Pacifistas. Poco a poco, the three of us continued the never ending attempt at making the space more productive, comfortable and fun to be in. I’ll follow this post up with some shorter photo essays of these and other activities.*
After saying goodbye at the end of December, I vowed to return to visit and work with them some more (kinda had to since my I left my bicycle with the,). Three months later, I arrived in Peru at the end of March and headed out to the farm with Maria’s daughter and her partner, but I’ll leave that story for a later date.
- _I’ve already got one post on the botellas de luz/bombillas de luz that I installed in the bathrooms and above the kitchen in my second visit.
How do you write about a place that’s magical? Do you keep things to yourself that you’ve experienced? Do you share this place with others, or keep it guarded for fear of its potential misuse or abuse?
I don’t really know why I haven’t, till now, written about my time at the small, 1 hectare farm of Maria and Rudolfo in San Jose de Palle Viejo. It could be due to some of my questions above, or my very busy, transitory nature between volunteering and traveling to other farms, or a bit of both. One thing I’m certain of is we’ve done a lot on the farm together and writing about it all seems like a daunting task.
But, all that being said, Rudolfo and Maria are just too wonderful not to share with the world, so, welcome to la Casa de Corazones Jóvenes Eternos.
Settling In
For any of you who follow my cycling blog, Pedalong, I’ve written about how I was introduced to the farm and its wonderful owners. I won’t go into details here about it, but it suffices to say, nada es casual.
As with any of my arrivals at new farms, the overwhelming sensations of newness, uncertainty and unfamiliarity clamor for my attention. This is amplified due to this being an unexpected and unplanned detour. I’m also in a awkward position as to what I “am” on the farm. Am I guest, a volunteer, a consultant? I’m still of the mindset/expectation that I’ll leave in a few days to continue riding to Pucallpa and don’t know how much to invest myself.
The brick and concrete farmhouse is fairly comfortable. I’ve got a bed, but it’s in a two-room section of the house with no doors separating me from Maria and her son, Jean Pierre, who both sleep in the main room. I’m excited to have a full-size bed (my previous nights were on a cot, about a foot shorter than I, in the corner of an un-used, baroque-styled sitting room with everything covered in plastic). My room is attached to the bathroom which also lacks a door. Like most toilets in Peru, the toilet paper is thrown in the trash instead of being flushed. The smell is a bit rough, the lack of privacy is something to get accustomed to, and the continual gurgling of a faulty tank flapper makes sleeping slightly difficult, but I manage with my travel earplugs that continue to be an amazing investment.
First Morning and Farm Tour
Waking up at 06:00 seems early and normal to me, but I had noticed, between a few tosses and turns in bed, that Rudolfo, also known as Maestro, was walking around and seemed to start work at 05:00. After my low-key mornings at Fundo Dshati, my body isn’t accustomed to waking before the sun begins its morning glow in the sky, but Rudolfo’s movements instill guilt in me for being warm and blanketed in bed. Sufficiently filled with lazy shame, I get up, get dressed and head out to find Maestro.
I catch Rudolfo zipping about. He greets me with a beautiful smile and exuberant energy that makes me feel even more shame for being a sleepyhead. Maestro wants to get my opinion on the farm, his practices, why some plants are dying, etc. I chuckle to myself because I’m still at the nascent stages of learning agriculture/permaculture, let alone being able to dole out off-the-cuff advice in Spanish. But, I need a tour of the farm to learn how I can help and offer help where I can.
The principal products they’re trying to grow are avocado and cherimoya. I’ll assume you know what the former is, but the latter is a fruit, Annona cherimola, that is sweet and delicious, some places know it as custard apple. Both fruits are widely cultivated in the valleys surrounding Chosica. Rolling up to a sickly avocado tree Maestro asks me why it’s sad and losing its leaves. I try to use my limited observational skills and assume it’s a lack of consistent moisture for the roots. The ground underneath the trees is very dry, with little to no mulch covering the roots. He says they get “bastante (sufficient)” water and thinks that’s not the case. We’ve reached a dead end in our diagnosis because neither of us have experience cultivating avocados. This is the first, of many, research tasks that gets noted in my brain.
Continuing the tour, Rudolfo gives me a brief history of the land. It was once a productive farm owned by a husband and wife until a record landslide (huayco) in ‘83 that hurled house-sized boulders down the stream valley destroying the original farm house leaving only the foundation and stubs for walls. A new farm house (the current one) was constructed lower down on the property. As the parents aged and were unable to tend the land, it fell abandoned because their children wanted nothing to do with farming. With neglect it became a basurero (trash dump) for the locals. The first two years, Rudolfo tells me, were purely clean up operations to remove or bury the shoes, broken glass and other detritus of civilization before any real farming work could begin. Underneath the line of tuna/prickly pear cactus is a 1.5m hole running the entire length of the wall filled with mountains of garbage. The wheelbarrow’s tire was patched over 60 times as he pushed it across the shard filled landscape.
As he shows me the upper lot and the baby cherimoya orchard he’s started, he also tells me of the various hired workers that’ve been on the land. “All of them were drunks and some were thieves,” he shares. It’s obvious he’s had a tough time working the farm by the stories I hear. Mounds of giant rocks stacked and backfilled with smaller rocks dot the landscape. He tells me all of them were strewn about the land and mostly moved to the piles by himself. Comfort has definitely not been Rudolfo’s companion here.
We finish the tour and sit under a molle tree flanked by a pomegranate bush, and he asks, “So, what are your suggestions?” I, again, laugh inside my head but keep a straight face and try to incorporate all of what he’s shown me about the farm. They’re working from an organic framework, but lack of any apparent holistic system for retaining water, using polycultures or other sustainable management techniques. I’m a bit overwhelmed at the amount of things needing fixing or reorganizing, but try to piece together a rough opinion of what needs to happen to start. I share my preliminary daunting list of tasks, and feel just as overwhelmed as Rudolfo looks when I finish.
Before we can fall deeper into our emotions of futility and despair, Maria calls us to breakfast. This schedule is also something I’m not used to, eating after working. At the other farms we always have breakfast first and then get to work, but Rudolfo likes to work from 05:00 till 09:00 or as late as 10:00 and then eat. But, in reality, if he had his way, and didn’t have the (s)motherly affection of Maria, he’d never eat and rarely rest. The man is a machine, or a highly tuned human, I’ve yet to really know.
Jean Pierre, referred to as JP, joins us at the small, plastic table in the outdoor kitchen as Maria serves us breakfast. I was told my first day that JP has some mental disabilities and is more like a large child than 27-year-old adult. I had asked Maestro on the tour if JP helps out on the farm and learned that he does the opposite. At first, Maestro tried to incorporate JP in the mountain of farm work to be done, but he’d either work excruciatingly slow or not work at all. He also would hide, bury or destroy tools. To top that off, he’d uproot plants that Rudolfo had planted, or undo other work, like replacing rocks cleaned up, and replace them all around the farm. This behavior made me appreciate even more the immensity of work Rudolfo has had to endure to bring the farm up to any semblance of a functioning order.
Breakfast consumed, I return to my “room” to study and meditate on how long I’ll stay at the farm. I had promised Limber of RECOVER Peru that I’d be there in a week or so, and felt obligated to fulfill my promise. But, I also feel a certain amount of pressure from my father to return to the states for Christmas, thus making any time in Pucallpa short and truncated. Realizing that my time would be best spent in one location for the month-and-a-half I had till my departure, I decide to stay on the farm to help, learn and give Rudolfo the support he desperately needs.
Learning Curve!
Not wanting to seem weak, lazy or incapable of lending a strong hand, I set my alarm for 04:45 to be up and ready to work with Rudolfo. It’s easier than yesterday, but still is a shock to the system. The chill of condensed valley air helps shake me awake. With my head lamp lit, I ask Maestro what he wants to tackle this morning and he tells me we need to harvest food for the cuyes (guinea pigs). We harvest camote (sweet potato) stems and leaves from the upper cherimoya section. The cuyes live in a heavy wire and thin concrete paneled box at the far end of the outdoor kitchen/patio. It’s a horrible placement for a variety of reasons, but the worst is that the cuy crap and urine just falls on the floor and requires daily cleaning by Maria and gets tracked all over the place. I mentally note the lost energy in the setup and vow that one day, soon, we’ll move it to a more appropriate location
Rudolfo says he wants to get more chickens, but we need to construct a safe place for them. Currently there are two chickens, a thin gallo appropriately called “Flaco” and another, huge chicken that we think is a female, but later, on my second stay on the farm in 2012, realize that it’s a male chicken… ¡jaja!
As usual, my consumer developed mind starts thinking, “Well, we’ll need to buy chicken wire to pen them, nails to…” but Rudolfo helps to break my consumption paradigm and gets me to look at my surroundings for ways of building naturally. He points out the giant stand of carrizo (giant reed), a tall grass with a long, fairly strong stem that can be used as a bastard bamboo. It’s not strong enough or durable enough to rely on for weight bearing structures without significant reinforcement and becomes brittle over time, but for constructing a chicken coop barrier it’s perfect.
Harvesting the carrizo looks straight forward, but damn me if I can’t operate a handsaw. I almost bend the blade a few times in my literal hack job, all under the watchful eye of Maestro. Ugh, I’m not enjoying the pressure, especially, when he keeps saying, “Lento, lento (slow, slow).” I end up giving up, realizing he’s much faster at cutting. This leaves me being the stacker. The grasses are very tall, reaching heights of 20-feet. Their leaves, like many grasses, contain a fine edge in one direction. Being a novice at handling this species I end up with fine, razor sharp cuts akin to paper cuts in the wedges of my hands. Every minute working with Maestro and his rapid pace creates a new teaching moment of what not to do.
After piling a sizable amount of cut carrizo, I’m tasked with removing the sharp leaves and stems to set aside for the cuyes to consume. My hands are stained black once I finish from the dusty, often bird shit tagged leaves, but I’ve got a handsome montón/pile of ready-to-install carrizo. I drag the pile down to our working site. We’ve selected the shady area under a beautiful and old avocado tree called “Mamá.” She got the name because her and another, now deceased, avocado tree called, “Papá,” were the only trees bearing fruit the first year Maria and Rudolfo lived on the land.
We start constructing the walls of the chicken coop with the thickest specimens. Driving them into excavated holes these act as posts which we then thread thinner, more flexible stalks through. The tension created will hold the wall together and will limit the unwanted exit/entrance of chickens or enemies. This, it turns out, is the first time for Rudolfo to construct anything substantial using carrizo. I admire his ‘head-first’ attitude of jumping in to use a new material and learning en route.
Repeating the process of harvesting, stripping and threading, we’re almost finished with the corral when I have yet another learning moment. I’m pushing the a stalk down with a bit of force to fit it into place when it snaps causing my hand to fall fast onto the exposed knife-like edge. I know it’s deep by the feeling of the cut and the immediate exit of blood from the wound. Not wanting to let good ink go to waste, and needing to tend to it with my emergency kit, I head to my room to paint in my sketchbook using my blood. Once satisfied with my piece, I then go about cleaning it and wrapping it up before rejoining Rudolfo to finish our project.
“Let’s Build a Tree Fort”
My time on the farm is improving. I’m waking without my alarm clock, mostly due to Flaco crowing at 03:00 through 06:00 right by my window, and my mistakes are lessening as my blisters are growing. We’ve also been having wonderful discussions over meals and after the work day is over.
Maria and Rudolfo are very much my type of people. They’ve spent a lot of time working together and have many stories they enjoy sharing. They first met at the healing lagunas of Salinas where Rudolfo was helping people heal themselves from various ailments. A few years of that was followed by almost 6-years of working at the restaurant Rosita owned called ‘Disfrute.’ Rudolfo acted as manager and never once asked to be paid. In between hectic and long work hours they dedicated years trying to protect the healing waters of Salinas from impending development of a thermoelectric station. They managed to win the first round, but the company changed names and reapplied, bribing important people in town with paltry sums of cash which they greedily accepted in exchange of them permitting the company to build.
In one of our chats, we were sharing our dream houses. Mine has always been an elevated house incorporated into a tree or a stand of trees with cargo netting loft spaces for relaxing/playing/sleeping on. Rudolfo must’ve been taking my words to heart because the next morning he tells me we’re going to build my treehouse. My? I assume he just means let’s build a tree house. Either way, I’m stoked because my more serious side would never let us build a tree house with the mountain of things we’ve got to do to improve the functionality and performance of the site. But, I use this as an opportunity to help lighten my sometimes serious mood and fall into the fun that he’s allowing to happen.
Rudolfo’s already got the site picked out for the tree house. A molle tree with four main trunks is growing alongside a rock wall separating the lower section of the farm from the upper. We get tools: rope, nails, hammer, a car jack (I know, what?) and the slightly Rick-damaged saw.
The first setup is to tension the four fanning trunks together to ensure a well formed base. We use the car jack and rope to help reign in the trees. I’m pulling with all my might and weight as we move the trunks ever closer. Finally, after struggling, we get them into a semi-rectangular form. After ropes are tied off we begin to look for palos/sticks for building the frame work.
Again, my mind immediately jumps to, “Shoot, we don’t have much spare wood that’s not rotten or falling apart. Guess we’ll have to buy more.” Rudolfo, in his campesino background and todo es vale mentality, sets me straight and shows me the various trees “por gusto” around the property. He picks a tree with vicious spikes on every part. Looks at its branches and trunk. Satisfied, he starts hacking at it with the machete. I watch him quickly dismantle four palos out of the tree. He strips the skin piercing spines with the back of the machete. We’re ready to start building.
Construction goes quickly. Rudolfo teaches me how to use old electrical wire for tying branches and things together to limit out use of nails. I’m continuously impressed and inspired by his handy re-use approach. We need more palos so I’m put in task of finding and cutting more from around the farm. I find some more trees with usable branches and begin hacking away. By the time I’m done, my right hand is red and raw, some blisters are ripped open and my hands are hurting. My initiation continues, and I admire the learning I’m experiencing every day with Maestro.
But, it turns out I’m not the only one with a lesson to learn. We’re finishing a wall and Rudolfo is on the outside, slightly precarious, and hammering in palos. I don’t know how, but he slips and loses his footing, snags a branch, is suspended for a brief moment and then falls to the ground. I’m immediately worried because where he fell we had cleared carrizo. The cut stumps of carrizo are like punji sticks. To make matters worse, he is working in flip flops! I rush over to see how he is. Fortunately, nothing is broken. Unfortunately, a cut trunk sliced the bottom of his foot deep. He limps to the house and I help tend to his new learning experience.
Foot wrapped up and still eager to work, we finish framing the base structure and flooring support. We return to the handy and useful carrizo groves to build our floor decking. The process is simple. We fill in the gaps between the noodlely branches with leaves and short stems from the carrizo, and nail the stalks down to create an even surface on top of the fill. The final result is actually quite comfortable and nice looking.
With the floor complete, we tackle the walls. Again, since we’re not supporting much weight with the ceiling, we utilize carrizo. Building the walls is a bit tricky because, if not under sufficient tension or pressure, the carrizo easily slides out of place falling to the ground below. We end up reconstructing every wall about two to three times as the neighboring walls are built up and new directions of pressure are created leading to the weakening of neighboring walls. My lazy side wants to be done with a wall and not rebuild it multiple times, but the preservation pays as I end up improving my assembly and tensioning techniques which leads to a better final product.
A triangular window comes to shape on the southwestern side overlooking a dusty patch of ground below. A narrow window overlooks the dwindling carrizo patch to the west. It really starts to feel like a fun, nurturing place to spend time or a night in.
Finished with the walls, we only lack a roof. Staying in the carrizo theme we opt to top it off with carrizo poles and leaves. Rudolfo launches poles like javelins at me while I stack the roof. The roof is the easiest, fastest part of the tree house construction. I let Rudolfo climb up and layout the grass thatch I toss up to him. With the last thatch in place, we pose for a photo op with Rosita in front of the newly coined Casita de Corazones Jóvenes Eternos.
The Rest and Beyond
My magical appearance at Maria and Rudolfo’s farm was a wonderful, uplifting experience. We all benefited from the exchange of perspectives and culture. They helped me see the power of one’s mind in achieving your dreams, of healing one’s body and in making the impossible possible. In my turn, I lent my knowledge of sustainable systems and permaculture, my sweat, blood, and my heart.
Rudolfo and I continued perfecting areas of the farm. We rolled giant boulders onto the 5 or 6 large rock piles that he and Maria built up while clearing the land. We finished a second chicken coop out of carrizo, got the guinea pig box out of the kitchen area and into the Casa de las Pacifistas. Poco a poco, the three of us continued the never ending attempt at making the space more productive, comfortable and fun to be in. I’ll follow this post up with some shorter photo essays of these and other activities.*
After saying goodbye at the end of December, I vowed to return to visit and work with them some more (kinda had to since my I left my bicycle with the,). Three months later, I arrived in Peru at the end of March and headed out to the farm with Maria’s daughter and her partner, but I’ll leave that story for a later date.
- _I’ve already got one post on the botellas de luz/bombillas de luz that I installed in the bathrooms and above the kitchen in my second visit.
“But the windfall could become a double-edged sword. In February, violence over prime quinoa-growing territory left dozens injured, and land conflict is spreading. “Sure, the price of quinoa is increasing,” says Carlos Nina, a local leader in Bolivia’s quinoa heartland, “but so are our problems.” Apart from increasing feuds over property rights, these include the collapse of the traditional relationship between llama herding and soil fertilization, with potentially disastrous consequences of quinoa’s “organic” status, and the ironic twist that the children of newly prosperous farmers no longer like eating quinoa, contributing to dietary problems.” – Source: Bolivian farmers experiencing boom and potential bust over quinoa
Excitement over getting rich could lead to the collapse of quinoa production in Bolivia, and Peru and Ecuador, if land is not monitored and properly managed. Less use of the llama for soil fertilization and the potential threat of conventional agricultural practices could lead to serious soil fertility depletion and erosion.
It’s interesting to know that the dung of llamas/alpacas doesn’t attract as many pests, but the substitution of the traditional fertilizer with sheep dung does. Unfortunately, to maximize profit and do the same fencerow-to-fencerow blanket cropping that we’ve done in the US, grazing grounds for llamas and alpacas is being lost for constant quinoa production to satiate Western demand.
To top it off, violence is starting to spark in areas that haven’t had much conflict due to centuries of consistent land management and communal ownership practices. Hopefully farmers co-ops and groups like ANAPQUI can help control the growth in sustainable and beneficial ways for all involved.
Interesting fact: Quinoa is not a grain, it’s a chenopod and a cousin of the beet, and is the only vegetable that is a complete protein.
