Don Roberto’s farm

 By Karen Weinstock

A few days ago we visited Don Roberto’s farm and learned about his life as a coffee farmer. He owns a large amount of land, and he donated a portion of it for conservation efforts which is really cool because it marks a shift in the attitude towards farming—not all land needs to be used, and it’s healthier for the farm if the unused land is conserved to protect the streams and water sources. Most farmers, however, try to squeeze all of the resources they can out of their land, effectively stripping the land of nutrients and growth potential.

Don Roberto is an incredibly kind and hospitable man, who was very patient with our questions and fed us fresh fruits, fresh chicken, and home-squeezed sugar cane juice (which is literally just dissolved sugar). His dogs were so cute, and there was a teeny kitten that loved sitting in our laps, and little baby chicks. We watched a hen lay eggs in el horno! Don Roberto’s life is humble, and his farm reeks of chicken droppings, but he seems very happy with his farm and living off his land. The pay from growing coffee is enough to survive, not enough for luxuries. He sells his coffee to a co-op, which pays him $30 per pound. For reference, a pound makes 300 cups of coffee, which you buy at Starbucks for $3. Do the math! After watching a documentary about the terrible conditions that coffee farmers in Ethiopia endure, it’s clear that the Western culture of coffee elitism is incredible destructive, and coffee industry reformation is a crucial human rights issue.

            We came back the following day to help with a long-term coffee experiment that Mau has been running with his student. The experiment is looking at the interaction between ants and coffee bean predation, under the assumption that ants protect coffee plants from beetles. The first part of the experiment was laying down tuna as bait for the ants at the base of the trees. We set 10 traps down and paced back and forth to record how long it took for the ants to discover the bait, and how many ants were there after 45 minutes. The second part was collecting 250 coffee beans to detect herbivory. My strategy was to sit in one spot and rake through the leaf litter and dirt until I found beans. I had a moment when I was raking through leaves where I realized how totally content I am, and how even this (dare I say) monotonous task was enjoyable, and something I can picture myself doing for the rest of my life. I went into this program knowing I wanted to do something in health, but now I’m pretty certain I want to spend the rest of my life studying how the environment interacts with human health and how conservation can mitigate the surge of tropical diseases. Ironically, sitting in a nest of fire ants didn’t spoil this epiphany, though having fire ants crawl up my legs was an incredibly stressful experience. At least they weren’t bullet ants… but that’s something I’ll worry about at La Selva.