Facing Agricultural Issues with Natural Solutions

 I learn through observation based on imagery and physical experience the best. So when it came to learning about our food system in the United States, it served me best to go to the locations where agriculture and food processing were actually taking place. Bear from Swanton Berry farms was one of the first presenters that caught my full attention because of the animated way he spoke and how passionate he was concerning strawberries. I had no idea that pathogenic science would play such a big role in my consumption of strawberries. Not only did I learn about fumigation and the 4 year cycle of migrant workers having broken backs, but that these problems were solvable in natural ways.

The first evidence that there were natural solutions to these problems came through my imaginative abilities to see that if strawberries were raised high enough, the workers wouldn't break themselves over harvesting. I was encouraged by the fact that the workers at Swanton Berry Farm were supported with being part of a union and the farm had paid services and paid vacations for all their workers, even the undocumented ones which Bear explained to us that they didn't check anyway. I enjoyed conversing with my fellow peers on the issues that were brought up during the trip because it allowed me to recollect what I had learned into something more collective and solution based. I found it most useful for me to hear solutions so that I didn't feel hopeless.