Farmers in Puerto Rico are Growing a Culture of Social Justice and Climate Resilience

After Hurricane Maria, hundreds of young farmers, many women, have established bold approaches to agriculture—and their ideas are resonating beyond the island.

BY JAKE PRICE
Agroecology, Climate, FARMING, Local Food
Posted on: March 11, 2020Published: Civil Eats

  

June 9, 2019 was an important day for farming in Puerto Rico. It was the first time hundreds of independent farmers from across the island came together for The First Congress of Independent Puerto Rican Farmers.

Organized by Ian Pagan-Roig, a farmer and a collective recipient of the 2018 Food Sovereignty Prize for his work in agroecology, the congress took place at Hacienda La Esperanza, a former sugar plantation lorded over by a slave-owning sugar baron named José Ramon Fernández in the 1800s.

After 200-plus years of operating as a plantation, it was fitting that the space hosted the progressive farmers who are turning around many of the economic, social, and environmental injustices that originated with the Spanish conquest and have persisted through decades of U.S. policy, culminating in the multiple crises following Hurricane Maria.

Pagan-Roig founded The First Congress—as well as the agroecological farm El Josco Bravo, located in the mountains along the northern coast of the island—in response to climate change. “Because of the climate emergency, we truly believe there is a sense of urgency,” he said. “It poses a serious threat to humanity, and agroecology offers alternatives. If we want to stop and reverse what is happening, we have to take drastic measures.”                         To read the full article, please go to :  https://civileats.com/2020/03/11/farmers-in-puerto-rico-are-growing-a-culture-of-social-justice-and-climate-resilience/