One of our Professors Daniel standing in the middle of a pineapple plantation showing us how pineapple is planted at this plantation and its lack of root growth. These pineapples have been planted for about a month now and they are located at on their conventional (non-organic) pineapple fields.
This is the organic pineapple they they plant through black plastic. The guy in the blue shirt is counting all of the plants being planted and the guys further down are actually planting the pineapple. Each of the workers planting plant an average of 8,000 plants per day.
Towards the end of the tour we were able to actually try pineapple straight from the field. In the background is an area that has already been harvested but I found a ripe pineapple but they said they couldn't use it because it didn't have a top.
The farm we visited is a 20 year old plantation called Corsicana and they produce on average 6,000 boxes of pineapple per hectare per year. The main point they kept emphasizing was that the consumers in the US only wanted "perfect" fruit. So although there might just be a small bug bite on the outside not affecting the fruit or a stem that was missing or crooked they could not sell it. We also learned a lot about the organic pineapple industry and the practices behind that and found out that although it is organic it is not sustainable in the long run. The plastic they use can't be recycled but is rather burned thus put back into the atmosphere. Although they do not use chemicals on the organic pineapple they use a blood meal mixture frequently applied to the crops which smells absolutely horrible. So we learned a lot about organic production and the fact that in many ways it is not sustainable and many times is harder on the environment, but yet people just want the "organic" label and are willing to pay a lot more for it. At the end of the tour we had fresh pineapple and pineapple that was pureed for a drink and it is amazing how good fresh pineapple can taste!
Today we will be back into the classroom talking about the excursions that we have taken this week as well as a preview of the many other places we will be visiting this trip.
The farm we visited is a 20 year old plantation called Corsicana and they produce on average 6,000 boxes of pineapple per hectare per year. The main point they kept emphasizing was that the consumers in the US only wanted "perfect" fruit. So although there might just be a small bug bite on the outside not affecting the fruit or a stem that was missing or crooked they could not sell it. We also learned a lot about the organic pineapple industry and the practices behind that and found out that although it is organic it is not sustainable in the long run. The plastic they use can't be recycled but is rather burned thus put back into the atmosphere. Although they do not use chemicals on the organic pineapple they use a blood meal mixture frequently applied to the crops which smells absolutely horrible. So we learned a lot about organic production and the fact that in many ways it is not sustainable and many times is harder on the environment, but yet people just want the "organic" label and are willing to pay a lot more for it. At the end of the tour we had fresh pineapple and pineapple that was pureed for a drink and it is amazing how good fresh pineapple can taste!
Today we will be back into the classroom talking about the excursions that we have taken this week as well as a preview of the many other places we will be visiting this trip.
Does it bother you the image we as Americans have for the field workers? We are pretty arogant. I know you are showing them a different prospective.It sounds like you will need a vacation to rest when this is all said & done or are you able to turn in early as it gets dark early? What are you able to do at night? Am so glad you got some fresh pineapple,bet you don't remember the pineapple fields in Hawaii. Enjoy all of your adventures & thanks so very much for keeping us posted. Does Ashley have a blog as well? Love ya tons!! Mom
ReplyDeleteYea, I had a great time at the plantation. We were actually able to talk to a couple of the workers and they all seemed very happy with their job and they are making a lot more money than many other industries in Costa Rica. It gets dark very early here ~6:30 and dark by about 7 so I have been going to bed about 8 every night and then the sun rises before 5 every morning so I have been getting up pretty early. In the evenings we usually finish with classes about 5:30 eat dinner, take a shower, and then I usually check email and update the blog. Last night we went into town to eat dinner and celebrate the birthdays in our group but we were back and in bed by about 9 pm. I just found out today that we are doing a homestay with a Costa Rican family at their farm and I will be staying with a pineapple farmer and his family for about 3 days working with them!
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