On the last friday excursion we went to the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. The institute works on research with organic agriculture and sustainability. They also help beginning farms, who consist on farms who have 1 to 10 years of existence. They also sell their product for a low price and convert the money to teaching projects. It's a non profit organization.
The organic agriculture consist in grow plants without using chemicals like pesticide. They also can't use genetic modificated plants. To protect the plants against pest they use mechanical traps to rodents and they made a multi crops plantation, who stabilizes the environment (attracting predators for the pests, for example). They grows a lot of things, like apple, razzberries, strawberries, cucumbers, cabbage, onions, and a lot more. Growing a multi crops plantation they are thinking in sustainability, because this is when you are thinking in the whole environment and not thinking only in make profits. They also use solar panels to produces their own energy and the are very careful about waste water.
They have a lot of programs to help the community. For example they lend money to farms and for payment all they want is a box of the farmer products. All the money that they make are converted to social causes like the teaching projects, some kind of school to kids and teenagers. In the few hours i stayed there i could fell that the people who work there are trying to do the best for the environment and the community. So, i think the institute is a good place and they have to be proud of it.
Below you can watch the promotional video of the institute.
Diogo, I really enjoyed your second paragraph. You share a lot of great information there. I agree that the people at the Institute are doing great things for the community and the environment; the more they are able to share with others, the more agriculture can be improved worldwide! Good post!
ReplyDelete