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Voices of ACES Blog

"Lettuce" Ring in the New Year!

Study abroad students celebrating New Years

On Monday December 31st, 2018 the IBIP students hopped on the charter bus and headed for the countryside of Sao Paulo. Here, students had the opportunity to interact with an organic small holder farming cooperative operation. We met with two different organic farmers, Jaures Sales and Mauri, of the cooperative called Cooperapas. An administrative member of the cooperative, Arpad, guided us to each.

Cooperapas is a backbone for organic small holder farming in Sao Paulo. It provides support for these farmers to help them get their products to market. This was interesting for our class to experience, because when we think of cooperatives, we imagine the elevators/input provider co-ops that we have in the U.S.

 In Sao Paulo, there are over 600 small holder farmers. Of these 600, 60 reside in the area we visited yesterday. Thirty-six of these farmers are part of Cooperapas. The organic small holder farmers are very important to feeding the Sao Paulo area because together they produce 2.4 million meals a day for residents. The thought of producing organic food has had an increasing trend over the past five years. Currently, Sao Paulo is consuming 8% of organic food. These organic farmers have a goal of reaching 100%, over the next ten years.

The production of organic commodities takes dedication, a passion, and a love for the land. The two farms we visited were God’s Wonder and Fifth Season. These farmers produced over 50 different fruits and vegetables. Many of these included, non-conventional edible plants, called “pancs.” Between the two farm visits, students enjoyed an all organic homemade meal by members of the cooperatives family. Dishes included, pickled radishes, bananas, zucchini lasagna, beet juice, a cut of beef, and so much more! Aside from all the facts and figures that we learned of these organic farms, one of our largest takeaways was the devotion farmers had to the land. They stressed the importance that they were more than farmers, but stewards of the land.

After returning from the farms, our evening consisted of various New Year’s activities. Many students walked up to Paulista Avenue to experience the “New York Times Square” of Sao Paulo. This is a 1.5-mile long strip and they expected over a million Brazilians to attend. There were many street vendors and live music along the avenue. Many students rang in the New Year by watching fireworks, poolside, from the top of our sixteen-story hotel. That all being said, “lettuce” ring in 2019 from Brazil the right way. Feliz Ano Novo!

Lettuce field

Farmer in a lettuce field

 

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