Touched Down in Haiti!

We have arrived! This morning we flew out of Fort Lauderdale early and arrived in Haiti a little after 8 AM. We spent most of the morning bouncing around in the Land Cruiser making our way from Port au Prince to the community of Caiman where we enjoyed Haitian spaghetti. We were able to take in much of the landscape on our trip as well.

After lunch JeanJean took us out for a sugar cane adventure! We made our way to a small sugar cane plot and processing area. There we observed a farmer pressing the cane juice out of the stalks with a press operated by bulls. After watching a little while we jumped in and tried our luck at pressing sugar cane. From there we checked out a similar iron press. We capped off our sugar cane experience by sampling cane right out of the field.

Following our time with JeanJean, Kristie took us for a tour of campus and gave us some background of how UCI was started. We got to take a look at the demonstration gardens, irrigation plots, and the greenhouse we will work with more through out the week.

Now we are sitting outside under a tree reflecting on our day and preparing for supper. We look forward to another great day tomorrow. Check out our Facebook page later tonight for pictures from the day.

Growing Haitian Agriculture

Today we departed for Haiti! We won't actually arrive in Haiti until Saturday, but our travels started on Friday. Today we made our way from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Chicago, Illinois to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Tomorrow morning we make a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Haiti where we will meet the students and faculty at UCCC near Caiman to develop agriculture practices in Haiti. This evening we enjoyed a great meal outside on the patio of the Ale House. The group looks forward to catching just a couple hours of sleep before we are back to the airport and Haiti bound!

Check back over the next couple days to follow our adventures in Haiti!

Enset: The Tree Against Hunger

This week we take a look at an article highlighting enset. Enset, a cousin of the banana tree, is a native plant to Ethiopia and can provide many benefits to the region and it's people. Read over the article: Solving Hunger in Ethiopia by Turning to Native Crops then use the discussion questions below to guide your conversations. At the end of the article there is a short two minute video that discusses some additional initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is enset such a valuable crop in sub-Saharan Africa? Consider diets, other crops, soil, hunger, etc.
2. The article mentioned that enset does not have the potential to raise farmers out of poverty. Why is this?
3. How do sub-Saharan African farms yields compare to yields around the world? Be specific.
4. Kippie warns against fully committing to "green revolution" practices. What is his reasoning?

Global Ag: Did you know?

This week we feature a piece from agriculture.com that highlights 10 facts you may or may not have known about agriculture globally and how they relate to the United States. I encourage you to view the slide show 10 Global Gleanings and share with others then go through the discussion points below to start up a discussion..

Discussion Points

1. Which slide/fact surprised you the most and why?
2. Were their any slides you found alarming? Explain your response.

We encourage you to do further research as a group or individually on slides that surprised you or alarmed you. What are the facts behind the slide. Do you see this holding constant or changing in the future? Are there things in the world that will change this?

Eggs: To Refrigerate or Not?

The way eggs are stored and produced in the United States and Europe differ greatly. The linked article below does a grade job of comparing production, processing, and storage of eggs and the reasons behind each's practices. Read through the article: Egg Production and Practices: U.S. and EU then use the discussion points below to guide conversations.

Discussion Points

1. How does production, processing, and storage of eggs differ between the United States and the European Union? Why do they do things the way they do?
2. Would you feel comfortable eating eggs produced/processed in the manner opposite of what you are accustomed to? Justify your response.
3. Do some additional research. Research food born illnesses per capita in the United States and the European Union (e-coli, salmonella, etc.). Report your findings and hypothesize why each had the numbers they did.

China Rejects Corn, Lawsuits Follow

Recent shipments of corn to China have been rejected due to genetic modification. ADM (Archer-Daniels-Midland) and other companies are suing Syngenta claiming that Switzerland based Basel sold seed corn with unapproved traits for China ports and did not take the proper precautions to keep corn from co-mingling with approved traits. Read the linked article below and use the discussion point to guide conversations.

ADM Sues Syngenta

Discussion Points

1. Who do you feel is responsible for this? Syngenta, ADM, or someone else? Justify your response.
2. What are the possible effects this mix up could have down the road for producers?
3. What should be done in the future to avoid mistakes like this? What checks and balances would you implement?

China's Record Corn Production Halts

Since 2010 China has seen record growth in corn production as a country. This past year that has slowed and production has fallen. The linked article talks about the reasons for this and the effects on Chinese farmers and the global economy. Read through the linked article and use the discussion questions below to lead your conversations with others.

China's Record Corn Harvest Run Ends

Discussion Points and Questions:

1. The article stated that China is becoming less able to grow as much corn as it consumes. What will the effect of this be on agriculture globally?
2. The article also shared the fact that in the last decade the China economy has exploded. What has this done to the demand of meat in China? 
3. Although China is seeing a decline in corn production this year the article stated that there is not likely to be a large impact on prices globally. Why is this? 
4. What has corn production (decline or growth) looked like since 2010? As a result to this what has the Chinese government done for farmers in China? Should the government continue this practice? Explain all of your responses.