Today we went back to the heat. Although, this was my favorite tour yet. The tour guide was funny and let us have so much pineapple (fresh out of the plantation). On top of that he gave us pineapple snacks and fresh pina colada.

Learning about pineapples and bananas made me realize that they’re very similar but pretty different to growing coffee. I think the biggest difference was how complicated the coffee making process is compared to pineapples and bananas. Not only do you have to pick the right coffee beans but you have to peel them, dry them, and even roast them. Now for pineapples and bananas all they must do is make sure they pick the right ones. Another difference was no matter which coffee company we went to they explicitly stressed how they don’t compete with each other and all work together to export the best coffee out of Costa Rica. On the other hand, with pineapples and bananas it was extraordinarily clear that Chiquita and Dole were considered the best.

The similarities between all three did come in when it came to the conversation of sustainability. They all focus heavily on minimizing waste by turning whatever they don’t use to fertilizer or natural pesticides. Although, the pineapple company goes above and beyond by not using pesticides at all and growing almost completely organic pineapples.

Lastly if I had to pick which one of the plantation workers I would rather be, even though I really do love pineapples I would have to go with a coffee plantation worker. A big reason would be because it is a lot shadier and the cooler in the mountain. Most importantly though, the working conditions any coffee plantation are said to be better than most jobs of heard of.