| SOIL,
FOOD, & PEOPLE CONFERENCE
March 27-29, 2000
GROW BIOINTENSIVE conference on the U.C. Davis campus
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PRESENTATIONS
Children's Nutrition
Padre Julio de
la Garza | Mercedes Torres Barreiro
| Dr. Romolo Rizzo of UNICEF-Mexico/Cuba,
who was originally scheduled to made this presentation, was
given a last-minute assignment in another country. Two of the
conference participants spoke instead. They
were introduced by Juan Manuel Martinez, who explained that
every six years the Mexican government changes and the people
experience the crises of inflation, devaluation, and greater
malnutrition.
He said that right now people are not able
to afford milk, cheese or meat or even the traditional foods:
tortillas, beans or chiles. Many are forced to exist on noodle
soup, which does not provide needed protein or calories.
He went on to describe
the effects of the first, second and third stages of malnutrition
and still there is another stage called "adaptive,"
where a person adjusts to less food by being smaller and weighing
less. But those people in rural areas who have learned GROW
BIOINTENSIVE methods break this cycle of malnutrition "to
the degree of their efforts". |
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Padre Julio Caesar de la Garza,
is one of the biointensivistas, works in Nuevo Leon state, in
a very poor area of Mexico. He told of just starting his priesthood
in 1989 and having a child die in his arms of malnutrition. |
Padre Julio said that he is not an agricultural
technician, but started in his own way to try to plant food in the
desert when "providentially" his bishop received a copy
of How To Grow More Vegetables from John Jeavons. The bishop had
been moved by the saying in the book: "Take care of the soil
and it will feed you."
With two other people he started an organization
called "La Milpa." The first tools they had were made
out of the structure of a former rabbit project. Padre Julio was
ordained and promised himself that he would be a "GROW BIOINTENSIVE
priest."
He and his group started a demonstration garden
in his area and then in another one. He said that in the 10 years
since they started this project, 1,000 farmers have been trained.
Although malnutrition still exists, he continues working to convince
people that GROW BIOINTENSIVE is an alternative for the world, but
especially for the poor.
Someone from the audience asked how you can teach
poor people, when they do not have time to wait for their food.
Padre Julio answered that after only 30 days, a person will have
radishes to eat, and their life changes.
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Mercedes Torres Barreiro, from
Quito, Ecuador, spoke with such passion that the audience was
deeply moved. |
Torres spoke of the current financial crisis in
Ecuador, "the greatest crisis in all of its history,"
which has left the country in extreme poverty.
Torres said she felt a great responsibility, because
she wanted to be the voice of 9 million Ecuadorians. She described
herself as a wife, mother, and independent Latin American consultant
whose life savings disappeared when the bank failed. She said the
same thing has happened to millions of the men and women of her
country.
Torres talked about going to a restaurant with
her family and ten skinny children peering in the window at them.
Her family took their meal outside and shared it with them. She
also told about people fighting over the food there because "there
is no food in the countryside."
She said people have been left not only without
food but without hope or self-esteem. But they feel that solidarity
among themselves will bring back the hope to their villages. Torres
said that some nuns in a convent close to town have offered 1 hectare
of land where people might grow their food.
She feels that receiving training in the GROW
BIOINTENSIVE method will nourish the bodies and spirits of her people.
She said that even though she does not have a project right now,
5,000 families are expecting an answer from her trip to the conference.
She stated that when there are no economic problems,
we do not believe we need anyone else.
[Note: Over $2,300 was donated by Conference
participants for Padre Julio's and Mercedes' projects.]
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