Over the course of my trip to Costa Rica, I have been able to learn so many new things that I knew absolutely nothing about. I’ve never been very interested in agriculture, but this trip has opened my eyes to how truly complex the industry can be. While on the farms I had the opportunity to learn about the many different techniques they use to sustainably grow crops whether that be by rotating crops or making your very own biodegradable fertilizer. In terms of how things are made on the farm, I would say the most important thing that I learned about was how automation can be used to increase volume, but oftentimes at the cost of quality. This can be seen when Costa Rican farmers hand-pick all of the coffee cherries as opposed to farmers in Brazil where they simply harvest everything at once.
When we visited the processing mills, I actually found that the automation is what made the job a lot easier and more efficient. Not only that, but many of the advancements made through this automation allowed for a more concise quality control. However, at the end of the day using too much automation is not sustainable, so it is important for people who manage processing mills and are in charge of distributing final products like chocolate or coffee that they always think about ways to improve sustainability in the making process. Whether this be by automatically shutting machines off or by improving the energy these machines run on, it is critical to the life and growth of the environment that we take care of it as best we can.
A similar notion to this can be found when we take a look at coffee roasters and retail stores or cafes. Many of these companies that we visited have a sustainably focused mindset that allowed me to gather some good ideas on how sustainability can be improved not only in Costa Rica, but also back home in the US. An excellent example is how the owners of Sibo Chocolate went out of their way to create packaging that used what the earth had already given them; cacao bean husks. By taking ideas like these, building on them, and potentially introducing them back into the US, I believe that large corporations could potentially save on costs of materials and improve their position on sustainability.
Finally, as a customer myself, I must say that getting to take an up-close look into how all these crops and products are made starting with the farm, going to be processed, and finally being packaged and sold allowed me to truly appreciate the things I buy everyday. There’s a whole world of production going on out there that we don’t know about as consumers since we only see the end products. I think changing that is going to be crucial to seeing any real or lasting improvements to the manufacturing industry. If customers take the time to be conscious of what it is that they are supporting by buying certain products, then many large corporations will be forced to change their not so sustainable practices. This trend has already started to take shape as many companies are held accountable for the way in which they operate, which is a sign that the majority of the public is interested in preserving the earth for future generations.
To wrap it up, I had so much fun in Costa Rica! It went by in a flash, but it also feels like I’ve been here for forever. It’s been a real character building experience where I got to meet and make friends with some amazing people! I’ll miss you Pura Vida! This is Genevieve Echternach, officially signing off!