This was our last morning in Dota. After breakfast, we said our goodbyes to our hostesses, Cecilia and Rosita. They gave me a recipe for the chocolate cake we had eaten at breakfast, which I will post next week. The women had prepared our meals while we stayed there, and every meal we ate had been delicious, so hats off to the chefs.While the rest of the group was headed elsewhere, Ted and I were bound for EARTH University. I’d heard so much about the school, I’d even writted about it here on The Scoop, and to be able to visit EARTH was an exciting occasion.We were met at EARTH by Matt Rogers, a self-described “EARTH employee hired and financed jointly by EARTH and Whole Foods to develop the business relationship between the two organizations”. His passion for the banana project at EARTH was evident, and this passion extends to the other projects at EARTH, the students, and the university as a whole. Also, he speaks Spanish well, which was helpful because my skill at speaking the language is comparable to that of a Costa Rican five-year-old.On our way to tour the banana farms, we picked up Eric Ramírez, whose business card says “Marketing and Customer Service, Agribusiness Operations”. I had a discussion with him about what he does at EARTH, and it sounds like he does a lot. He has to know about all of the different aspects of banana production at each stage, so he was able to provide a lot of information about the banana project.
As I mentioned before, EARTH has a banana farm on the premises that sells its bananas to Whole Foods. I have now eaten these bananas, and I have seen the light. They’re every bit as delicious as I’ve heard, and what makes them even better is the changes they’ve made to the farm in pursuit of sustainability.
When the bananas begin to grow, they’re covered with protective bags. Typically bananas are fumigated inside of these bags with chemicals that prevent bugs from eating them. Some of the bananas at EARTH use chemicals, though they’re different than the traditional chemicals and are less harmful to the workers. They also grow some bananas at EARTH using organic practices, and these bags are fumigated with garlic and chilis.EARTH has also stopped using herbicides at the farm. Conventional wisdom says that this will reduce yield, which is true in the short term. But EARTH decided to try going without herbicides for a few years, which no one had tried before. Sure enough, the yield eventually picked back up, and the farm returned to its previous level of productivity, herbicide-free.
The bananas are harvested by hand, and then they’re hung on hooks along a pulley system. There are a series of these tracks all over the farm, and the long lines of harvested bananas are pulled by a tractor aerio, or aerial tractor. It’s nicknamed Araña, or spider, because the line of bananas looks like a creature with many legs.On farms without the aerial tractors, the bananas are pulled along the ground by a man, who can pull about 25 bunches. This is grueling work, and the tractors make life easier for the workers on the farm. Also, the tractors can pull between 75 and 100 bunches of fruit, which increases productivity.We saw one of these aerial tractors whizz by while we were standing in the middle of one of the fields. The driver, nicknamed Tortugo (which means turtle), stopped in order to hook up another line of bananas to his machine. He ran all the way down the line of bananas, and when he was done he ran back to the tractor. It was really hot and humid there, and watching him run in his boots gave me a whole new appreciation for the bananas I buy at the store.
The aerial tractors bring the bananas into a processing facility, where they’re checked by workers to make sure they’re of a quality to be shipped and eaten. The bunches hang in lines as they wait for their turn, and when it’s time they begin going through the washing and sorting process.
The bananas are sorted using cold water, which halts the “bleeding” of the stems where they were cut. This water is then sent to an oxidation reservoir, and the rejected bananas are sent to either the school’s cafeteria or the compost facility, depending on their quality. Then they’re boxed up, loaded onto ships, and sent to the U.S. where you can buy them at the Whole Foods Market where you live.Whole Foods is now selling the EARTH bananas in all of its regions in the country. I’m so proud of this fact, because now I’ve been to the farm, and I’ve seen the facilities and the workers. Banana farming is hard work, and I’m so appreciative of what goes into each EARTH banana I buy. If you see one of these bananas in a Whole Foods, toss a bunch into your cart. They’ll be delicious, and you’ll know just where they came from, and who you’re supporting. That’s what living a life of sustainability is all about.
{ 0 comments… add one now }