As the final days of the harvest season in the northern hemisphere come to an end, autumnal dishes featuring apples, pumpkins and sweet potatoes play starring roles in many a holiday feast. Mindful shoppers turn to local farmers for these seasonal delights – both for freshness and for kindness to the Earth.
Still, many foods consumed over the holidays simply don’t grow in northern latitudes. What’s a good soup if not followed by a bracing cup of coffee or tea? How often do chocolate candies or banana bread feature in holiday feasts? Many people consume these foods and other items year-round.
Now that the holidays are in full swing, take a few moments to meet the farmers who grow food and steward the land thousands of miles away.
Want to go a step further and meet the farmers behind your coffee in person? Enter the Follow the Farmer competition to win an all-expense-paid trip to Costa Rica or Mexico and visit Rainforest Alliance farmers like those featured here.
“As a mother, I want to say that this has improved the well-being of our children. Because before we joined this program, there was a lot of pollution – everything went into the streams. Today, everything has changed. The wastewater goes into sedimentation pools. Inorganic garbage goes into an adequate pit, and the organic garbage is properly handled. We’re improving on all levels.”
-Leticia Monzon, a coffee farmer at the Asociación de Desarrollo Económico y Social los Chujes (ADESC) in Vista Hermosa, Guatemala
“Since I started practicing what I had been taught during the training sessions, my yield in cocoa production keeps improving and has increased from about three bags per acre to about 10 bags per acre. Most women in the program would testify to that fact. Our children are also now happily in school.”
-Vida Tsatso Boaful, a cocoa farmer at the Assin North Impact Co-operative Cocoa Farmers Union Limited in Nkranfum, Assin North Municipality, Ghana
“They do things differently here. The farm provides benefits like social security, paid vacations, holidays, Christmas bonus and overtime pay. I really like my job, the farm and the people who work here.”
–Eriberto Ruiz, worker on Finca Santa Marta, Agropecuaria Potosi AB SA, a certified banana farm in Costa Rica
“This farm is our life. At the Rainforest Alliance farmer field school, we learned to decrease our plucking intervals, and consequently my yield has increased substantially. We also learned how to conserve water and how to safely manage the different types of wastes generated at the farm. Tea is our main source of income, helping us pay school fees and fund further development of the farm.”
-Simion Langat, smallholder tea farmer at the Momul Tea Factory Company Limited in Momul, Kericho, Kenya
“In my field, I don’t cut down trees, I plant them – to protect my cocoa, to protect the environment, to protect the land. When you follow the training of the Rainforest Alliance, your cocoa will grow and flourish. It can bring you a better life.”
–Adrien Kouadio, cocoa farmer in Paul Kru, Côte d’Ivoire
Content on this page is brought to you by the Rainforest Alliance, supporter of the Vital Signs platform.
