Traveling down from the Monteverde Resort we were staying at this morning, we came to our next desination: Life Monteverde. Life Monteverde is the coffee farm located in the Monteverde area that has remained there for several years now. The information received from the workers at Monteverde was unlike any I had gotten so far on this journey. I was able to understand the life of the typical Costa Rican farmer and just how important they are to every single one of us.

Before going on the tour of Life Monteverde, we got a chance to meet some of the people who work there everyday. Something one of the men said stuck out to me. He said he enjoyed farming because of its necessity. He spoke of how we need lawyers and doctors every once in a while, but farmers are the reason for every meal on our plates every day. I so rarely think of all the hard work that goes into getting food into the grocery stores that I so easily buy from for myself. The Ticos work on their farms all day and so do the Nicaraguans they hire to help during the harvesting season of coffee. They are out in the fields from sunrise to sunset often having to make dinner and lunch for themselves after their long days. Besides the tiresome work hours, farmers also have to worry about the ever changing climate of Costa Rica. The dry seasons are getting drier and the wet seasons wetter meaning they have to monitor their coffee plants and vegatables closely. 

The farmers and workers at Life Monteverde truly care about their jobs. They are passionate for their land and their crop. What makes these Ticos happy is educating their neighbors and the younger future farmers on environmentally safe practices they can use on their own farms. Keeping the farm life sustainable is one of the most important goals of the Ticos. As tourism grows, Life Monteverde works to ensure they small farms that border their land stay in business from them when needed. Also when Life Monteverde sees a neighbor switch to the tourism industry they work to reforest their old land and make sure it is preserved as best as possible. However, if I were one of the Tico farmers, I would change a thing or two. The Ticos have really good ideas about how to keep Costa Rica preserved and if they expanded their education about these ideas, I believe they could make a greater difference for the country and not just in Monteverde. The Ticos have been around the farming industry for so long so their ideas should be seen as valuable to others. Another less massive suggestion I would have for the Ticos is to have more food available for their workers during the day so their work days are less tiring and stressful. Overall, the farmers taught me today that every little action they do is important to society and the environment.