Today,
we went to a sugar cane and rice plantation. It was fascinating to learn about
the industries and how they work. The first stop was the sugar cane plantation,
which as Mau explained it seemed like an abusive corporation. The large
plantations rely on migrant workers from Nicaragua to do the laborious work
that Costa Ricans don’t want to do, such as harvesting the crop with machetes. The
large plantations use fire to remove weeds from the ground and soften the sugar
cane plant, and then spend the mornings and afternoons cutting down the stocks
for harvest. Workers get covered in ash from the harvest fires, develop
respiratory problems, and end up receiving treatment in the Costa Rican health
care system, which builds a stigma against migrant workers. They are temporary—just
for one zafra (harvest season)—and
therefore do not have unions. Contractors are required by law to provide social
security, vacation days, water, and basic necessities to the workers, but
disappear when faced with law enforcement agencies. My main take-away was that
something needs to be done to protect migrant workers, who are desperate and
willing to endure an abusive system in order to bring home some money.
Unfortunately, the systems in place to protect such workers cannot be enforced
if the people responsible flee from anyone who tries to uphold ethical work
values. 
While
we were there, we heard about Mau and Cris’ experiences on sugar cane
plantations, as Mau worked on one for a couple years and Cris grew up on one
and helped his family with the crops. They both cut down some sugar cane for us
to try and it was delicious.
Rice,
however, is more of a family run business, or at least the rice farms we visited.
We learned about the Bagatzi project, which provided family farmers with land
to cultivate rice and created a near-by town for the farmers to build houses,
schools, and stores. The system is set up as a co-op, and the families are
taught how to properly grow rice. We heard about the labor that goes into
preparing the soil, planting the seeds, and growing rice. It requires a lot of
water, which is provided from a canal that the farmers pay to access. Since the
canal drains into the Tempisque river, pollutants such as pesticides and
fertilizer are spread down the river, which can affect Palo Verde National
Park. Then, we visited the mill, where we saw the machines that peel the outer
layer of the rice and process it for distribution, though it can be peeled only
after 120 days of growing and 60 days of drying. Lastly, we stopped by the town
that the farmers live in. From what we saw, it was a very small town. To be
honest, I was mostly fixated on the stray dog (I miss dogs!), but we saw a
little canteen/ store and a few houses. It was very rural and minimalistic,
with a dirt road and small houses surrounded by vegetation, but the people we
saw seemed happy.
It
was fascinating how well this project gives back to the community. Not only
does it give family farmers a plot of land to grow rice, it educates the
farmers on proper farming of their crop and provides them with a home away from
the farm and free of rice-farm pollutants. More so, the Costa Rican government
provides a free lunch of rice and beans for students who need it, and that rice
is purchased from family farmers such as these. This is a stark difference from
how the lack of social benefits for sugar cane corporation workers and
mistreatment they endure.
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