Our celebrity judges weighed in, you voted and now the results are in for the Follow the Farmer contest. The two winners are Joanna Parkman, of Decatur, GA and Clara Jessup of Seattle, WA.
Joanna Parkman, a recent graduate of Sewanee: The University of the South, impressed our judges with both her writing and her chosen subject, Wangari Maathai, the late Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmental and political activist from Kenya. Parkman, who is currently traveling in Costa Rica, wrote in the voice of a young Maathai at the beginning of her career. The short declarative sentences Parkman used reflect the determination of the great, late activist and the astounding breadth of her goals: “I demonstrate the magic that is seed, water, soil, and sunlight. I help instill confidence in rural women. I cultivate consciousness. I stand in solidarity. I plant a tree. I plant another. I aim for one billion.”
Clara Jessup, a junior at Bates College, paid homage to the late Dian Fossey, who fought long and hard to protect the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. Jessup’s evocative descriptions of her own hike up one of Rwanda’s volcano mountains moved our judges: “It was quiet in the forest, apart from dry leaves crunching under out feet and the creaking of old bamboo swaying in the wind. The terrain quickly changed from bamboo to dense greenery. Stinging nettles, ferns, and trees with bright yellow flowers provided an abundance of foliage. We ascended into the rich shades of emerald and soon came across the Susa gorillas.” Jessup aspires to work on behalf of endangered wildlife.
One of these winners will travel to sustainable forestry operations in Quintana Roo, Mexico, while the other will visit coffee farms in Costa Rica. Stay tuned for their travelogues, which promise to be compelling and beautifully written.
Learn more about the Rainforest Alliance’s work to protect lives, lands and livelihoods around the world.
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