Rio Muchacho Organic Farm

ARTICLES

Understanding Rio Muchacho:
Living and Working at an Organic Farm.
Gregory Gan

When travelling through the northern coastal plains of Ecuador in the Manabí province, one is affronted with the geometrical rows of plantain trees, their fruit wrapped in cellophane. These rows of monocrop cultures, which are filled with pesticides, insecticides and fungicides dominate the rolling coastal hills. Further up along the coast, evenly spaced barriers divide the water ponds stretching to the ocean of the remnants of a shrimp boom that was once the nation's third-leading export, behind bananas and oil, bringing profits of $539 million in 1994 (Nixon, Will 1996:35). In contrast, remembering indigenous agricultural systems, a vast history of organic cultivation systems becomes apparent; fertilizers and methods of managing fertility, methods of seeding, crop associations, irrigation and storage systems, are among the methods of practicing agriculture without chemicals that stood the test of time. At the risk of romanticizing traditional indigenous techniques the above examples are among the many of the changing relationship between farmers and their produce. When John Steinbeck was writing of a population of farm workers displaced by modern industry in the years preceding the Second World War in the United States, he talked of modern agro-production as:

... easy and efficient. So easy that the wonder goes out of work, so efficient that the wonder goes out of land and the working of it, and with the wonder the deep understanding and the relation (Steinbeck, 1939:101).

In Ecuador, where the traditional farming methods have long given way to modern agriculture, the deep relation of the land and the work is being lost as petrochemicals replace indigenous and organic farming techniques. The severe repercussions in the damage that these practices cause to the exhausted soil and fragile ecosystems such as, deforestation of the humid tropical forest to make way for monocrop farms or depleted mangroves home to a variety of endangered species replaced by shrimp farms have predictable impacts to our nutrition, health, economy and environment.
Enter the Rio Muchacho Organic Farm - a capacity and education centre and a working organic farm that welcomes tourists, visitors and volunteers to participate in the work and help develop numerous community projects. I start on the hour-and-a-half walk up a dirt road some 35km north of the Eco-city Bahía de Carraquez (a project initiated by the leading eco-activists of the city whose farm I am about to visit), where I witness cattle grazing on green pastures, and hills invisible under the thick tree canopy. After an hour's walk, I pass by a series of unusual constructions with pyramidal roofs made of palm leaves, and a basketball court that doubles as a football field. This is the Rio Muchacho Community Environmental School where local children apart from the Ministry curriculum, can learn about sustainability, ecology and environmentalism. Further down the road, I pass a church of a simple construction rebuilt with the help of volunteers of the farm. The Eco-School, the development of the world's first Organic Shrimp Farm, Bahia-Ecocity (whose Sunday vegetable market composts all organic waste) and Eco-Papel (handmade recycled paper) are the developments of the unrelenting efforts of a charismatic couple, Dario Proano, an Ecuador native, and Nicola Mears who immigrated from New Zealand as an organic horticulturalist, for whom the model of sustainability was a goal (Mears, personal communication 2006). They are also the founders of the organic farm.

After a short walk beyond the church, I was, in approaching the Rio Muchacho Organic Farm, immediately struck by the vivid colours of flowering trees decorating under their canopies the rustic, four-storeyed main house and the open-aired stable with several horses and pigs and the permeating smell of manure in the air. The farm itself covers 7ha of cultivated land, and over 11ha in total, where farming without chemicals has been the norm for close to 20 years. Reforestation projects on the hills aimed to reintroduce native species; crop rotation, association and diversification are usual practices; traditional and appropriate construction techniques use bamboo and palm leaves as renewable materials, and composting of vegeteable matter and animal manure from a variety of cattle, feeds the vegeatables, fruit gardens, ornamental and medicinal plants around the houses with organic fertilizer. The farm is a model of self-sufficiency, self-regulation and integration; incorporating many design models, but with a particular attention to a permacultural design system.
The quest for a self-sufficiency at the farm is the goal, fostering a philosophy of social responsibility, sustainability and permaculture practices. Of equal importance are community development projects through environmental education, food security and fair trade. This type of alternative agriculture shares the ideas:

Of an enduring, sustainable agriculture, an 'integrated system that develops in itself, constituting of multi-annual crops or crops that reproduce naturally; of animals useful to people; of a system of one's own and for a human habitat, in summary, a self-regulating and stable ecosystem (Mecham, Jefferson ed. 1992:14-15).

These series of practices were coined "permaculture." Several key-points from the literature form the objectives of permaculture as a synthesis of ideas, disciplines and theories such as "ecology, energy conservation, agriculutre, design, architecture and water systems" (Ibid). These characteristics serve to organize the ideas that follow.

Creation of an agricultural system of low consumption/energy and high productivity¹.
The Rio Muchacho Organic farm is a working model of an integrated system of production which attempts to minimize its ecological footprint through feedback loops that reduce or recycle energy consumption, use appropriate construction techniques and innovative agricultural systems. Started in 1989 as an organic farm, the farm received the first organic certification in coastal Ecuador (Proaño, 2005).
Some of the appropriate technologies aimed to reduce energy consumption on the farm include a greywater system, a four-filter mechanism which resembles a staircase, recycling water from washbasins and sinks to water garden plants; several dry compost toilets; a solar drying panel that operates by collecting rising hot air from a triangular black box facing in the direction of the sun; another solar panel which powers the short-wave radio and emergency lighting, and two biogas systems to power the ovens in the kitchen. When visitors arrive to the farm, they are urged to conserve water; use bio-degradeable soap as well as separate and recycle their waste even before starting their training on organic farming.

Integration of agricultural, forest and animal aspects¹.
There are three core agricultural aspects to the farm, each of which can function on their own, but whose aim is to support one other - agriculture, forest and animals. Agricultural practices of cultivating crops follow a model of rotation and association. Rotational crops, varying from season to season such as lettuce, pepper, tomato, melon, corn and yucca are planted according to ingenious calculations of lunar calendars, weather forecasts and farm needs. Crop associations derived from years of experience include banana, coffee, plantain, maracuya and papaya plants.
Reforestation and agro-silviculture are actively developed on the hills of the property. Native arboreal species and fruit trees provide the canopy cover to protect the soil; maintain humidity levels; prevent soil erosion and allow birds to pollinate and disseminate seeds. Animals on the farm provide a daily cacophony of sound, numbering six horses, 35 pigs, two cows and a donkey. These cattle are well fed by a tall grass, pasto, garden weeds, legume trees and molasses. Small animals on the farm include 37 guinea pigs, over 400 chickens, and more than three millions red worms which produce humus from animal manure (Proaño, personal communication, 2006).

A conception of life as an integral part of the ecological cycle¹.
Animals, reforestation and crops at the farm function inter-relationally, integrated into the working whole. The most apparent example of this at the farm is the use of organic fertilizer. Vegetative matter such as garden weeds, worn out cadi (palm) leaves used as roof cover, and other plants are combined with animal manure at specific ratios for compost making. Pig waste is collected into one of three large receptacles in the ground which rotate according to compost preparedness. Compost heaps are then recycled into the garden as fertilizer. Similarly, since the farm hosts an abundance of tourists, visitors, volunteers and contracted employees, the garden serves to provide a variety of multi-annual and seasonal crops; all food scraps and kitchen waste are recycled to the pigs; human waste is collected after decomposition with sawdust to fertilize fruit trees. The most notable form of crop association is the successful experiment with banana circles. Along a perimeter of a 2m circle, four to six banana trees are planted intermitted with organic coffee and plants such as cocoa and ginger that grow in the shade. On the edge of the circle, banana trees produce a higher yield, while cacao and coffee get the necessary shade from the intense luminosity of the region. Pumpkins are also planted on the edges or grow out between the circles where there is more light (Myers, personal communication, 2006).
Excess produce is sold through a "Green Box" program, which for a fee, provides any number of seasonal fruits and vegeteables to several local families, or to markets in neighbouring San Vicente and Bahia de Caraquez. Some produce such as sesame seeds or jalapeño peppers are jarred for supplies, and plans are underway to open a community store which would provide produce to visitors or community members (Ibid.).
These systems cannot function separately, as the success of each is dependent on the well-being of the other two. Successful feedback loops between crop cultivation, reforestation and animals is a calculation of the success of self-sufficiency of the farm.

The goal to reach the best gradient of self-sufficiency possible¹.
Apart from these methods of sustainable development, the farm began the first project of Agrotourism in Ecuador, in 2003, obtaining ecotourism certification from the Ministry of Tourism (Proaño 2005). For a fee, tourists looking for an alternative travel experience, or volunteers willing to work at the farm or run a project to benefit the community of Rio Muchacho, provide the support necessary for the farm to function. Accomodations in five traditional, rustic cabins spread across the property, offer visitors a chance to live surrounded by flowering trees, by the river below the property, or in close proximity to the early-morning calls of cockrels and pigs. The cabins sleep from two to 10 people. In general, tourism has four inter-related and inexclusive appeals: local ecology, culture, adventure and environmental management (Proaño 2005). During my two-week stay at Rio Muchacho, I was treated to one of the hightlights at the farm - a guided afternoon on horse-back to a reserve of howler monkeys. An elderly lady that owns and protects the forest, disputes with her sons that want her to sell the land for timber, and corn plantations, to allow Rio Muchacho visitors to tour the hills in search of monkeys.
Volunteers work alongside workers to transform soil into evenly spaced vegeatable gardens, to harvest vegeatables for the kitchen, or by enrolling in a month long course on permaculture among other educational activities. Visitors at the farm can help to tend after the animals, get medicinal face masks, lay in hammocks under palm trees inhabited by bats or make traditional crafts. Craft-making at the farm is not simply geared towards tourists and volunteers; the farm is part of the Confederacion de Artesanas Prefesionales del Ecuador (CAPE) (Proaño 2005). The crafts, such as drinking bowls made out of mate fruit, are both a way of preserving tradition and using renewable resources. Hence, besides taking home a valuable souvenir, and new skills and knowledge, volunteers and visitors also provide support to the people working at the farm.
The farm employs a large "family". The two jolly kitchen staff prepare nutritious vegetarian meals made from garden vegeteables. A carpenter uses ingenious techniques to transform bamboo or tree stumps into tables, chairs and other furniture. He has also engineered and built the cabins at the farm. These people, plus a good-humored gardener and three strong Ecuadorian youths that teach crafts or take tourists on guided tours, help Dario and Nicola run a successful project. Thus, Rio Muchacho can function both as an education/capacity center and as a working organic farm

Use of techniques and technologies accessible(economically and technically) to anyone¹
Discovering alternatives to modern Ecuadorian construction methods which use cement, zinc and iron, the construction of the houses at the farm reverts to indigenous techniques. The construction methods use walls made of depressed caña guadua, bamboo is used as support rods, and cadi leaves as rooftops, which are all renewable resources.
Manual labour at the farm is an accessible way to incorporate volunteers into the work of the farm. All farming tools are manual. Volunteers with little or no experience in hoeing fields, transplanting seedlings or feeding animals, are guided and taught by workers. For most, it takes some time to get used to some physically demanding tasks, but Dario and Nicola usually assign work according to people's strengths. Thus, I found myself hoeing garden beds until my fingers were full of blisters. However, new volunteers have few problems adapting to the environment at the farm, and most find the work such as cleaning pig stalls or harvesting papaya, a revealing experience.

The search for an integrated ecology to the landscape of aesthetic and utilitarian value¹
Around the main house, many walls adorn signs explaining the function of a project, or of a plant. A medicinal garden with plants such as Calendola, Begonia, Oregano and Marigold among many others, serve several functions. For example, Marigold is a beneficial plant whose flowers attract good insects, and whose odor repels the bad. Roots prevent nematoids, and petals are used in salads. It's this type of multi-function that the garden attempts to achieve, with preference given to fruiting or beneficial plants over ornamentals.
Similarly, in an effort to preserve seed species which are native to the region, Nicola is reviving a bledo tradition. Today, it is considered a weed, but statistics on its nutritional value tell otherwise - it has approximately three times the calories of spinach (an introduced species), 10 times the Calcium content, 4 times that in Iron, and 3 times in Carotene (INNE, 1965). At the farm, bledo is prepared in salads, and in morning fruit juices.
Living fences are another example of an experiment that bears both aesthetic and utilitarian value. They prevent animals from getting into the garden plots, but also provide nutrients, such as nitrogen fixers in the case of luminosas, and animal feed in the case of leguminous trees given as horse feed. The multi-uses of several other plants, technologies and landscapes place this farm on top rank amongst other permaculture producers, besides sharing in the philosophy of self-sufficiency and conservation.

Writing about organic agriculture, it is easy to forget that organic producers are a small minority over the multi-national industry of large-scale commercial producers. It is surprising that the latter are not confronted with the damaging effects they create to our nourishment, health and ecology. Working on organic farms has given me the opportunity to get closer to the food I eat, to the work that goes into food production, all the while learning the practices and appreciating part-calculation, part-intuition that goes behind working with nature, and not against it. I adopted permaculture as an example of an ethic that ties us back to our land. To borrow another quote from Steinbeck:

... nitrates are not the land, nor phosphates, and the length of fiber in the cotton is not the land. Carbon is not a man, nor salt nor water nor calcium (Steinbeck, 1939:101).

Perhaps what our society needs is a deeper, human relation to our necessities - to our work, our food and shelter, to appreciate the true nature of the fragility of our ecosystem and the environment we live in. What is necessary is a shift in paradigm to realize the interconnectedness between all living organisms; a mode of thought which aims at a stable, self-regulating ecosystem. Today, Rio Muchacho is amongst the few that offers that insight
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¹ Mecham, Jefferson. Permacultura Ecuador: Manual de Introduccion al Diseño Permacultura, 1999

Bibliography.
Mecham, Jefferson. Permacultura Ecuador: Manual de Introduccion al Diseño Permacultural. Centro de Investigacion de los Bosques Tropicales, Quito, Ecuador, 1992

Instituto Nacional de Nutricion. "Tabla de comparacion de los alimentos ecuatorianos", INNE, Quito, 1965

Mears, Nicola. Personal Communication, 2006-09-08.

Nixon, Will. "Rainforest Shrimp." Mother Jones, March/April 1996. pp34-35.

Proaño, Dario. "Rio Muchacho Organic Farm" (Information sheets) 2005.Proaño,

Proaño, Dario. Personal Communication, 2006-09-06

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. The Viking Press, New York, 1939.

By Julie Stevens

1       Organic. A popular buzz word these days. It punctuates discussions at vegetarian potlucks. It is sprinkled generously throughout the menus of elite restaurants, like a choice herb. It is sprouting up more frequently between supermarket aisles and on clothing labels. It can be delivered to your doorstep on a weekly basis, in a green box. But what exactly is behind the organic label? It was this question that prompted me, while traveling in South America, to spend a month working on an organic farm. The experience would allow me to live in a small community, practice my Spanish, and meet first-hand the mosaic of fruits and vegetables that found their way into a blender and onto my lunch menu. And, I would witness how the term "organic" is played out on Ecuadorian turf. What I learned in that month, however, are lessons not just for a traveler in Ecuador, but for all global citizens.

* * *

2       The evening is a-hum with insect choruses. From the shelter of palm leaves the bats have already descended and dispersed. An aromatic breeze speaks of flowers that prefer the darkening hours, while below, on the unlit path frogs assume their nighttime positions. In their company, a walk to the outhouse becomes a potentially slimy trip. Under the thatched roof of Rio Muchacho´s main house we drink black coffee from hand-carved mate cups. My eyes are heavy and my body sore after a day of farm work. But I can resist sleep; Dario is telling us a story.

3       He transports us to coastal Ecuador of the 1990s, where the Rio Chone meets the Pacific Ocean.
The estuary, once a green and vibrant ecosystem, has become a barren and butchered artery. It is a frontier landscape, in which a human stampede barrels over the mangroves to snatch up any available land. Violence blazes, money flows under the table, and officials look the other way. Vigilantes, backed by an artillery of media reps, confront chainsaws, politicians and their strongmen. Traditional lifeways, friendships, human life - nothing is sacred under the swing of a machete and the lure of the almighty buck...

4       It was in back in the 1970s that locals started harnessing the water´s wealth for a lucrative industry - shrimp farming. After clearing mangrove trees from the shoreline they built waterfront shrimp basins. The confluence of fresh and salt water was ideal for the harvesting of shrimp, yet production methods involved pesticides, antibiotics, and sterilizers, and the pumping of tons of polluted water into the estuary. Workers, inevitably, were exposed to and sickened by the toxins. The product, marinated in chemicals, was shipped around the world to eager and unsuspecting consumers. Within 30 years, an estimated 80% of the country´s mangroves had been depleted, and Ecuador had become the Western Hemisphere´s largest producer of shrimp.

5        .On the Caraquez Estuary a fleet of boats approaches Isla Corazón, a heart-shaped island with one of the estuary´s remaining stands of mangroves. The boats are weighted with bulldozers, and men who have heavy but profitable work ahead of them. When they land, however, they discover the island is not theirs alone; someone has arrived before them. Amid the maze of mangroves, a teacher is addressing over 100 assembled students. "I´m sorry", he tells the surprised and suspended chainsaws, "you can´t cut down these trees. We´re in the middle of a lesson." He turns back to the children and continues to guide them through the marvels of this unique and endangered ecosystem: the rich biodiversity; the mangroves´ ability to filter water and cycle nutrients; the coastal communities who for generations have lived and subsisted amongst the mangroves; the trees´ role in protecting shoreline from hurricanes and inclement weather. The children are learning about a different kind of wealth.

6        Looking at Dario now, over my cup of coffee, it is hard to imagine this soft-spoken man being the target of death threats. But in the 80s and 90s his message was not a popular one. Since that volatile period, things have changed somewhat. This past year in the town of San Vicente, Dario accepted a civic award on behalf of the Rio Muchacho Organic Farm, in recognition of the ecological example the farm has set for the community. The award, typically given to a commercial farmer who produces the greatest yield, was not allocated without considerable debate. Nonetheless, the decision signals a shift in attitudes and awareness.

7        Over the past 16 years, Dario Proano of Ecuador and his partner, New Zealander Nicola Mears, have been the driving force behind numerous ecological projects centered around the Caraquez Estuary. Nicola and Dario headed first for the market - the hub of community life in most Latin American towns - and encouraged vendors to separate their organic and inorganic waste. Another project, started in 1992, was Ecopapel: the first paper recycling effort in Ecuador. Citizens of Bahía de Caraquez now collect and sort waste paper, which is recycled by hand at the two Ecopapel workshops. Dario and Nicola believe that the steps to sustainability do not have to be large-scale projects. Walking through the streets of Bahia, for example, one sees a catchy reminder written on walls: "Cuando vengas al abasto, trae tu canasto - Reduce el uso de las fundas plasticas" (When you come to the market bring your basket - reduce the use of plastic bags). One day I accompanied Nicola into town to collect supplies from a merchant. As we trundled through the streets in a bicycle taxi, Nicola wrestled with the bags she had been given; their handles were tied in an impossible knot. Nicola voiced her latest resolve: getting merchants out of the habit of tying bags, so that the bags can be re-used.

8        So, what´s so new about sorting waste, reusing and recycling? Differences in environmental consciousness were among my initial culture shocks in Latin America. I am fairly certain that were I to walk along a typical Vancouver sidewalk and toss a wrapper on the ground, not only would my action arouse some surprise, but at least one other person might feel compelled to call me on it. Not so on the streets of Ecuador, where littering is common practice. My second day in Quito found me with empty water bottle in hand, searching in vain for a recycling bin.

9        It could be said that environmental awareness is a privilege of the so-called developed world. Why? Many of the northern hemisphere´s natural ecosystems have already been drastically altered, providing a lesson for those who would learn. The "developed world" exerts enormous political and economic pressure on countries to the south, encouraging irresponsible use of land. Poverty and a subsistence lifestyle mean that many people in the south are too preoccupied with feeding their families to be campaigning for environmental causes. The complex web that connects economics, agriculture, the environment, and quality of life is not always readily visible.

10       Thus, behind every project in Bahía, the crux has been convincing people of the reasons why they should change their ways and adopt more sustainable practices. What is in it for them? In the case of the market waste project, organic material was taken to an experimental farm and added to the soil. A year later, vendors were presented with a fruit tree grown from that very soil, and the indisputable fact that with responsible waste management, they could feed their families. Ecopapel employs families that lost their livelihoods as a direct result of mangrove destruction. From paper waste comes a highly marketable product.

11       And what of the shrimp farms? Those who opposed shrimp farming considered the challenges they faced, and decided to change their approach. The result was what they claim to be the world´s first organic shrimp farm. It was Mother Nature, however, who ultimately convinced others to take notice. The El Niño of 1997/98, followed by the white spot disease, devastated the region´s shrimp farms. The only shrimp farm to successfully weather these assaults was the organic one. While the majority of Ecuador´s shrimp farms continue to be both harmful and illegal, an increasing number have become organic. As for Isla Corazón, locals have protected the island as a nature reserve. They take tourists by dug-out canoe to discover the mangroves and why they are worth saving.

12       Just as shrimp farming has had an adverse effect on the aquatic environment, land-based agriculture has led to deforestation and the depletion of soil. While traditional agriculture in Ecuador´s sierra has long been attentive to the earth´s natural cycles, on the coast, slash-and-burn practices prevail. Once an area has been rendered useless for growing, new land must be sought out and cleared. The El Niño and an earthquake that same year proved just how useless the soil was. Hillsides - shorn of vegetation and leached of nutrients - slid down to cover entire neighbourhoods. The economic and social costs were enormous. And avoidable. Since 1992 the Rio Muchacho organic farm has been modeling a viable, ecological alternative.

13       The key principle behind the farm´s practices is: "Feed the soil, not the plant." Digest that phrase for a little while and you will have worked out a solid conclusion: excrement. Lots of it. The farm is home to cows, horses, pigs, chickens, guinea pigs, and the humble worm. The animal waste matures into a variety of fertilizers which enrich the soil. The soil supports healthy plants, and reduces the need for pesticides. Organic waste from the garden is in turn fed to the animals.

14       Another key element of this system is biodiversity. Under mono-crop agriculture, plants are more susceptible to diseases and insects; this has led farmers to embrace the use of chemicals and more resistant, genetically modified plant varieties. Conversely, diverse combinations of plants, rotated frequently, work together to continuously enrich the soil, attract beneficial insects and deter harmful ones. The plant associations on Rio Muchacho have been developed over years of research, trial and error.

15       One of the most fascinating associations on the farm is the concept of banana circles. Four banana seedlings are planted around a shallow hole, measuring about two metres in diameter. Peanuts are planted around the outside of the circle, and on the edge is camote, a purple sweet potato. Rice is planted in the middle of the circle. The rice of course needs water, and there is sufficient water in this circle, unbelievably, to shelter a species of fish which can survive out of water for up to 72 hours. After about two months, the rice, peanuts, camote and fish are ready to harvest. The bananas by this time have reached a height in which they can provide shade - and so plants such as coffee and cocoa are transplanted. Other plants that feature in this second phase are ginger, squash, beans and marigold. Organic waste - for example kitchen peelings or weeds - is now piled in the middle of the circle and nourishes the association. Between the banana circles, a variety of fruit trees are planted, such as lemon, papaya, orange, avocado and passion fruit. The banana trees will produce for at least seven years, yielding much more than a typical plantation. The association is continually productive, and the soil constantly rejuvenated.

16       When I first started working at Rio Muchacho, I could not understand why we often did not finish a project on the following day. "Are we going to finish planting the yucca today?" I would ask. "Hoy dìa, no. Today is not a good day for planting."
"Oh. Tomorrow, then?"
"Mañana.. no. La proxima semana. Next week."
Was this the "mañana mentality" that is so often attributed to Latin America? It was sure different from the work ethic with which I was raised: make good use of the time you have, and if you start a project, you finish that project. What my city upbringing had failed to teach me were the cycles of the moon. During the full moon and the new moon, the moon exerts its greatest influence over the earth. These are phases of decomposition. The waxing and waning moons are phases of conservation, regeneration and growth. And there is a proper time for everything. A time to harvest, a time to bag and transport manure, a time to prune and a time to sow seeds. A time to sort worms from humus, a time to build a house, and a time to rotate the chickens´ eggs. Once, when the farm was expecting a large group of visitors, Nicola and Dario were in a hurry to put the roof on an unfinished outhouse. The lunar phase was one of decomposition, but against the moon´s better judgment, they cut down the necessary palm leaves and constructed the roof. Within days, the roof was rotten and devoured by pests.

17       Unfortunately, these natural cycles are not widely heeded by agriculturalists. Farmers who were wooed by the technological advances in agriculture are now trapped by chemical companies and manufacturers of genetically modified seeds. They say that scientists have silenced the moon; the land, now learned in the language of chemicals, does not listen to her anymore. Twenty minutes down the road from Rio Muchacho, I watch a fire rip across denuded land. The flames, which to me are foreign and frightening, are commonplace here. I am forced to consider that for locals, there is comfort and convenience in doing things the way they have always been done, year after year.

18       Dario and Nicola realized that change begins with children. At the Escuela Ambiamentalista, the community´s school, students learn about sustainable farming practices. They utilize organic waste, grow seedlings, and are required to maintain their own banana circle at home. Their parents have been thrilled to see how much more fruit the new banana plants produce. A large number of schools around the Caraquez Estuary have now become environmental schools. Gradually, the seeds of sustainability are being sown. And not just in this corner of Ecuador. Visitors to the farm - after exploring the garden, grinding their own coffee, savouring delicious produce around a communal table, and slurping the grainy sweetness of cocoa syrup prepared over a fire - will scatter the same seeds as they return to their own homes. They leave with a better understanding of organic farming, a commitment to new habits, or even a blueprint for the composting, energy efficient, solar/bio-gas-powered household they dream of creating.

19       Traveling has shown me how small the world really is. It has also shown me how large our human footprint on the world really is. Rivers poisoned by industry, rainforest trampled in the stampede for fossil fuels, massive landfills that are the livelihood of a city's poor. When you've seen these things with your own eyes, they are no longer a news story, a statistic, somebody else's problem. No longer can we go about our everyday lives and pretend that our actions do not have far-reaching consequences. Coffee, chocolate, sugar, seafood, pineapples, mangos, avocados.the list could go on. These items are now commonplace in the Western diet. But there is a price to pay for this abundance. Here is a taste of the price we have already been paying, both locally and abroad: hazardous working conditions; desertification and soil depletion; destruction of natural habitats and traditional economies; contamination of the atmosphere and water supply; health problems (cancer, allergies and infertility, to name only a few that are linked to unsustainable practices). My time in Ecuador showed me to look beyond the green, produce box. "Organic" is not merely an absence of chemicals, artificial fertilizers and pesticides. It is a holistic approach in which we consider our role in a system of interrelated parts. By thinking organically, living organically, we are safeguarding not only the health of ourselves, but also the health of others and the health of our planet.

* * *

20       Both the stories and the coffee have run dry for one night, and people have retired to their beds. The breeze that rustles the roof is refreshing. Under the rafters I catch a glimpse of la luna menguante, the waning moon. Pale and elusive, I imagine she is nonetheless happy to look down on this place - where humans, however imperfect, are at least trying. The sky promises several hours of welcome rest before the first rooster crows at 4:30 am. At 6:15 I will be beginning my morning chores, which this week involve feeding the pigs and mucking out their stalls. Several days ago one of the females gave birth to a bundle of quivering piglets. They will need fresh grass for their bed. When the bell rings at 7:30 I will wash up and join the other volunteers, staff and guests, for a breakfast of fruit salad and granola. I wonder what steamy surprise Juanita and Nora will produce from among the hot coals...yucca bread? Tortillas de maize? Biscuits with papaya marmelade? Whatever it is, it will be adequate fuel for the hours of work ahead of me.

21       How different this life is from my usual routine! How different this work from my usual indoor job. Looking back at the moon, I wonder how she appears tonight, back home in Canada. And I begin to consider my "usual routine" through a different lens. Buying locally. Inquiring about the origin of products. Considering more than price when walking through the supermarket. Asking the right questions and making a discerning choice when ordering seafood from a menu. These are just a few of the actions for which I won´t need to seek the moon´s guidance.