Friday, March 22, 2013

Spring break!


I couldn't help being a tree hugger at Doka Estate in Sabanilla, Costa Rica. It's a coffee farm that gives tours and has these rainbow eucalyptuses. I went with a group on a week-long trip to become more educated about food security issues in the country so we could present those challenges in ag classrooms here (here are last year's examples)


Costa Rica depends heavily on exporting its produce, including pineapple, coffee, bananas, and ... cotton? This was one of the only farms in the country, and they produce GE seed for a US company to sell to take advantage of the year round warm weather. Dairy is huge there, with about 90,000 ha of pasture compared to only 45,000 ha of pineapple.  We had lots of great cheese and met lots of very photogenic cows!