His goal, he says, is to give Cuban farmers a way to make a living at a time when so many have given up on it and moved to urban areas. "If we don't want foreign companies to come in and dominate Cuban agriculture all over again, that means we need to give Cuban families a way to stay on their farms," said Funes, who grew up at an agricultural research station where his father, a crop scientist, and his mother, a biologist, both worked.
“People are getting proud again. They are like, ‘Oh yeah, I used to do this. I used to eat that. My father taught me how to build a fence.’ That’s why we call it back to the roots,” said Grettel Solórzano.
Costa Rica's third country organic accreditation with EU countries allowed local organic producers to send coffee for the first time to Estonia last year, while pineapple producers sold for the first time to France and Switzerland.
The supermarket chain’s new "Responsibly Grown" produce rating system was launched earlier in October and divides fruits, flowers and vegetables into three categories: Good, Better and Best, based on suppliers’ farming practices.
Love organic produce, but don't love getting up at the crack of dawn every weekend to go to the market? San José organic food lovers can add a new afternoon produce fair to their list starting in September, as the Feria Orgánica El Trueque expands into the southeastern San José neighborhood of Zapote.
