Awakening and Recovering Agroecology
Yolanda: I grew up as a farmworker in the Florida citrus fields, working during the harvest. Through Via Campesina I had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala in 2010. I learned about the living conditions of peasant families there. The visit reminded me of my childhood, and it helped me to be more aware of our practices back home.
Blanca: Working in agriculture was not anything new to me, but when I went to Cuba to participate in an agroecology encounter, we visited several places, and I saw the way people worked in the fields. They used everything. They pulled the weeds out but left them in the ground to keep the moisture in the soil. I understood clearly how they practiced agroecology.
Yolanda: Learning exchanges are important spaces to share ideas and experiences about everything that is related to producing food. I close my eyes and remember other peasants sharing information about their communities. They showed unity as they worked together to put their agroecological knowledge into practice.
Yolanda: I see agroecology as an opportunity to recover, recuperate, and reawaken the knowledge that we brought with us; the knowledge that was sleeping in our consciousness. We use this knowledge in the daily life we lead in this country, because we came here to work to achieve a better life.
Blanca: Agroecology is an interaction between agriculture (food production) and the environment. I understood agroecology as the traditional agriculture practiced by our ancestors — what they used to do — which we are bringing back. But, this time we are doing it with the responsibility to protect the environment, looking to the well-being of the Earth, and to produce healthy food.