On our final day in Monteverde we visited another coffee plantation which, this time, operated as an entire farm. We had the ultimate farm-to-table experience with seeing the vegetables that were growing end up in our salad, witnessing the tents that housed the herbs that seasoned our chicken and slurping the coffee that was processed on their premises. And while this was our third coffee plantation visit, this one has been my favorite so far. Every coffee tour has covered similar topics and we have seen the same process unfold several times, but with great thanks to our entertaining guide I was absorbing everything happening at Life Monteverde. He gave us a new way of understanding a farm that makes profit from multiple options rather than a strict coffee business, which was very interesting to me.

Both our guide and the farm itself offered a new point of view that I had yet to see. This one came from a Monteverde Tico farmer’s point of view, which initiated a new way of thinking on my part. By being asked the questions farmers constantly think about, I learned so much that goes into growing and operating a successful farm. Their challenges include balancing the relationship between the possibility of harmful weather and battling the elements, but not attempting to “control nature”. They also need to think about the layout of their fields and pastures in order to have the best quality product in a significant quantity. This will allow for the farm to grow smoothly and also produce crops in an efficient fashion.

Now expanding on the known challenges Tico farmers face, we can analyze how engineering and technology can aid in creating a sustainable farm. Especially from an industrial engineering standpoint (my major), industrial engineers are all about proficiency, efficiency and processing. We try to make a system more efficient, and a farm is another system we can examine to make the output the best it can be. An engineering mind would be helpful in figuring out orderly field layouts, methodical crop harvesting processes and even easy business strategies to reach out to the largest customer base possible.

But if I were in the shoes of a child of a local Tico farmer, I honestly would still want to be what I am pursuing right now. Being an industrial engineering student would be a way I could apply myself to a variety of processes, including farming, factories or even human operations. Since I am not the biggest gardening and animal-care fan, I would want to apply myself in a different sense than helping directly on the farm. That way I could make a difference while involving myself in a way that pertains to my own interests while helping the people I care about most.