Today, we visited LIFE Monteverde, a farm in the Monteverde region that primarily grows coffee with various other crops interspersed throughout. And they have animals- goats, chickens, and a dog named Borona (I think that’s how it’s spelled). The acronym LIFE stands for Low Impact For Earth. This guides their mission of farming sustainably, both being able to produce crops for consumption and maintaining a balance in nature.
As a result, the farmers’ lives are very closely connected with nature. They are evidently incredibly knowledgeable of how the earth operates and how their art form plays a role within it. Don Guillermo explained a lot to us today, from the importance of terracing for staving off erosion to creating unique organic fertilizers for each stage of a crop’s growth.
Don Guillermo repeatedly emphasized for us the challenge for farmers to effectively transition to a completely sustainable state because of the need for tangible progress in the short-term. As he expressed, what is best for the planet in the long run does not always suit a person’s needs from one year to the next. This makes it incredibly difficult for farmers to do the right thing. In the end, it all boils down to the idea that our economy is predicated on a system of arbitrary value that isn’t tied to what is actually meaningful for the world we live in.
If I were a child of a Costa Rican farmer looking ahead to the rest of my life, I’m not sure what I would want to do with it. On the one hand, I have a romanticized image of living in and among nature and getting my hands dirty, but that idea is the result of hundreds of well-crafted books and movies and TV shows. So my “inner drive” to be one with the land is not very well-informed. And I also have to recognize that, from the perspective of a child whose parents are laborers – and the children themselves probably help with the labor – a white-collar career in the city probably seems really appealing. Even if we could make the argument that we still need people to tend the earth and cultivate crops, it isn’t right to expect the farmer’s children to sacrifice what they would prefer so that we can live our high lives while they toil in the sun.
My final point is on why community matters. The answer for me is simple: there’s an itch inside of every human that can only be relieved through engaging with others around a common interest. Today, we painted the inside of a small school. Collectively, the twenty of us and the members of LIFE Monteverde who were there were all one community. Although the task was difficult and long and we all ended covered in paint and sweat, it was rewarding because it gave us an opportunity to share a victory. That is what community means to me- sharing a victory. Sometimes, that victory can just be the joy of each day, sometimes it can be something more substantial. In this case, our work will be experienced by the schoolchildren for years to come. That on its own is incredibly rewarding.