Cultivation of food and plants is outstanding in Ecuador for multiple reasons. Being located on the equator gives the country perfect growing conditions with 13 hours of sunlight per day. There is rich soil, plenty of rivers, and rainfall from the mountains. These natural conditions provide Ecuador with alternative sources of income from mining. Alternatives from mining are not only important for the citizens of Ecuador, but for everyone around the world because mining leads to deforestation of rainforests, and destroys habitats so vastly that it causes animal species to go extinct. Products that provide a large chunk of income for Ecuador are: banana, coffee, chocolate, and flowers.
Through my travels of Ecuador, I have had the opportunity to visit some farms that ship world wide. Historically, Ecuador was once the #1 exporter of the cocoa bean. Later the economy shifted to it's current #1 exported good: the banana. Today, Ecuador is the largest banana exporter in the world. It was interesting to visit a few banana plantations here. In the cloud forest, banana plants grew everywhere along the sides of the mountains, but being in a banana plantation was like being in a gigantic forest of only 10 foot tall banana plants. Banana production is much more sustainable than mining. The harvested plants decompose and return nutrients to the soil, and the presence of these plantations are not directly or indirectly causing major health problems for humans or animals. .
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| In Junin: organic banana, papaya and coffee farm |
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| Dole Banana Farm |
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| We recognize this in the US!! |
Often coffee and bananas are grown together, because good coffee is grown in the shade. While we were in Junin we visited the village's coffee, banana, and papaya farm. This farm was completely organic and was the community's main source of income, which is extremely important for them because they are constantly being threatened by copper mining completely destroying their land. The coffee from the farm we visited is actually the fair trade coffee that we have at BW! I thought it was awesome to see first hand this small community and the exact place we get our coffee from.
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| coffee plant (red beans are the product) |
Another product of Ecuador we got to see being grown on a large scale was the chocolate bean!!! Chocolate is one of my favorite things in the world, so I was pretty happy to learn about the plant and the process of producing the chocolate bean.
The beans are grown on trees that are about 7 feet tall, in this "nut" pictured above. We got to taste the beans from this picture, as I remember, they were slightly sour, but had a good taste.
After the beans are harvested from the trees, they are laid out to ferment and develop flavor. This stage did not have a pleasant odor! After fermenting, they are dried by heat and packaged for shipping in large bags. We got to taste the final product as well; it tasted like it needed sugar to me!
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| Fermenting Coco Beans |
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| dried product ready to ship. |
Most recently, we visited a farm that exports baby's breath. This trip was interesting because in just about every bouquet there is some baby's breath, and I had never previously considered the amount of miles this filler flower has traveled. The company that we visited was known as Fresca in America, and Malima in Europe.
Globalization obviously has profound effects all around the world. Everyday we are consuming products that have traveled thousands of miles to get to us. Mass production of anything is bad for the environment, and when you consider the distance any one product has traveled to be conveniently available at your local supermarket, the effects that globalization has on the world are really unfathomable. Unfortunately, life could not possibly be as advanced as it is today without the products that we get around the world. Life without chocolate??? That would be a sad one! But seriously, although I do have to admit that petroleum and copper are a necessity to modern day life, I support green technology, and I study chemistry and biology in hopes to make the world a more sustainable one. Until we find alternative sources of energy, all we can do is be conscious of our consumption. Make an effort to buy local food, this fights against mass production, helps the local economy, and decreases petroleum intake. I hope that we can change our ways sooner than later. It was a real reality check to have been in Junin and the rain forest, knowing that in five years from now it is going to be much different, if not completely destroyed.
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