the morning of my arrival, as we entered the highway on the way to our first destination, i saw the familiar green exit signs with white lettering, the billboards that displayed a plethora of advertisements for local companies, and miles and miles of concrete road ahead of us. as we exited the highway, i began to realize it wasn’t quite as familiar as i had initially thought.

we passed colorful, expansive orchards, ones like i had never seen before; although, it is hard to tell what is growing on the trees when you pass thousands of them at 50 miles per hour. i asked one of the drivers what kind of trees were on the left, expecting to hear some kind of fruit — turns out, they were almond trees.

i was dumbfounded to say the least. not only did i suddenly realize how little i knew about food, but also how little i actually thought about it. i had no idea that almonds even grew on trees, and never had the impulse to wonder where they came from either. it’s funny because i love almonds; salted, covered in rich, milk chocolate, plain, or even as a milk substitute for my cereal or coffee.

this realization made me question everything. had i ever seen an almond tree before and just not realized? why am i so quick to judge a place? my eyes were opened and i understood that woodland, california, located smack dab in the middle of — yes — yolo county, is like no place i had ever seen before this trip.

i welcomed this perfect wake up call and was thankful that it happened at the beginning of the trip. it helped me understand that things can be equally similar and different, and that nothing can be understood from just a surface view.

my thoughts were interrupted as we arrived at the morning star company — a tomato processing plant. they handed us goggles, hard hats, and asked for us to remove any jewelry. i entered this facility with no knowledge of what tomato processing was, and once again came to the realization that i have never thought about it much before — a product of growing up in pre-packaged, pre-processed america. this time, i tried not to make any assumptions.

one of the students pointed out that she loves the smell of tomatoes. i tried to imagine what i thought tomatoes smelled like, before taking a big breath in through my nose. to my surprise, tomatoes did have a very distinct smell, and it was pretty overwhelming at first. it is now also a smell i will never forget. gigantic trucks, each towing two industrial sized dumpster-like things, piled high with red, orange, and even green tomatoes, filed into the production plant.

even after a full tour of the plant, i could hardly picture just how huge and complex this operation was — from farmers, harvesters, and truck drivers, to quality check or teams who work in the offices keeping track of all the transportation, temperatures and each machine. the operations at the plant go nonstop, 24 hours a day, for about three months on end. i had never considered how much human energy, time, and money goes into the operation in order to supply the demand for things such as packaged tomato sauce that we use on spaghetti or pizza whenever we want it.

the tour guide informed us that the time it takes for the tomatoes to be harvested, inspected, and processed is approximately one hour. one hour from farm to finished: and ready to be sent to companies like campbell’s or heinz. i also was surprised at the company’s willingness to give students a complete tour of their operations and answer all of our questions. the operation is almost completely zero-waste; any parts of the tomato not suitable for processing are used for animal feed or composting. for certain products, they can use the yellow or green tomatoes depending on what the company is and the demand they are processing it for.

after the tomato processing plant, we continue to work backward through the journey our produce takes on the way to groceries and markets. next, we visited schreiner farms, which grows the tomatoes for morning star, along with other crops for other companies. the farmer, eric schreiner, seemed excited to talk about his work and answer our questions. with us was a seed sales representative, who had set up a meeting with the farmer. they started the meeting with a little small talk, and delved further into seeds, changing prices, competitors, and many other things that take part in making the production succeed.

schreiner is a third generation farmer, trying and seemingly succeeding at keeping up with the competitive and risky business of growing crops. he has to stay on top of the technological advances happening in the farming industry in order to make his work as efficient and effective as possible. he showed us his recent investments, which included a big harvester with sorting technology, and a scary looking machine that removes old drip tape. he explained that farming today is nothing like what the generations before him had done.

schreiner farms has seen three generations of extensive change and adaptation in the agricultural sector of this nation’s economy. before this trip, i had no idea how complex and overwhelming the agriculture industry had become. the technology farmers use today is more advanced than i could have ever imagined; including things such as gps navigation, drones, and radars that can detect disease-ridden plants in the densest fields, or even biologically/genetically engineered seeds that can withstand the toughest cycles of nature.

the use of engineering and technology in agriculture is needed in order to keep up with population growth, increasing hunger, and decreasing access to fresh fruits and vegetables. if this kind of technology was implemented within agriculture, it would be simply an adaption to the ever-changing world around us.

farmers like schreiner, who dedicate their life to the efficient and sustainable production of the nation’s food are undeniably necessary. farming is universal, but also communal. as consumers, we need to further educate ourselves on the complexity of the networks that provide simple things such as almonds or tomatoes. by understanding the time, effort, and labor it takes to produce a farm-to-table item, it allows us as consumers to reconnect with our food and therefore creating a level of appreciation and respect we never would have perceived before. to put it simply, wasting these products is a waste of this effort.

it’s dusk on a tuesday night at kalu yala, an eco-town in the panamanian jungle. at the sound of a double-blown conch, interns, staff, and visitors, sipping cocktails out of mugs and mason jars, abruptly abandon their conversations and form a cafeteria line for the evening meal: “plasagna.”

the dish, plantain lasagna, is a delicacy in the jungle town and educational institute. it consists of layers of thinly sliced plantains, tomato sauce, vegetables and cheese, or a cheese-less option for the numerous vegans here.

but this isn’t your average cafeteria line.

kalu yala, striving to be the world’s most sustainable modern town, embraces that title in the kitchen through its farm-to-table menu and culinary program.

local

since kalu yala is not yet a fully farm-to-table operation, the focus is on eating locally. esteban gast, the director of the kalu yala institute, said more than 80 percent of their food once came from less than five miles away, encompassing the kalu yala farm and the local community in san miguel. however, executive chef brigitte desvaux said this number has likely gone down to a more realistic 30 percent as the town’s population has grown. but looking forward, plans to grow the farm include developing substitutes for commonly used products and protein sources.

“the name of the game where we are now is import substitution,” gast said. “we are a business, and in terms of both the business program and us as a business that functions. so we buy peanut butter, can we buy peanut butter here? can we make sunscreen here? can we make coconut water here? those are the questions that we are obsessed with, because that is how we become sustainable, that’s how we start businesses, and that is how we become successful.”

peanut butter is a controversial topic, desvaux said. interns can often be spotted eating peanut butter from the jar, and it makes a great snack because it’s protein-rich and it doesn’t go bad. but it comes from across the world and doesn’t quite match their standards of sustainability, she said.

“what is the purpose that we’re bringing (things like peanut butter) in: for convenience, protein, for a quick snack, for ease on the kitchen crew? so looking at those things and thinking, ‘ok, before we eliminate it, let’s find a substitute to replace it with.’”

the kitchen’s head chef, pulum, has been developing “bean butter,” a peanut butter substitute made from white beans, that desvaux said has the same flavor and protein but is produced on-site in a much more sustainable manner. on the other hand, it doesn’t contain preservatives so it must be made much more frequently. they’re looking into natural ways to preserve it, such as by adding citrus juice or freezing it, she said.

alternative

kalu yala is a place where alternative diets thrive. sarah diamond, an intern in the culinary program, said most of the foods they learn to make are vegan and gluten free. some of the meals served in the kitchen contain eggs, cheese, and occasionally meat, but there are always vegan and gluten free options served alongside them.

“we’ve done so much with alternatives,” diamond said. “i think that showing people that like, vegan for example, is just as good and often times a lot better, that’s such a great way to make a difference. eating is, when you’re talking strictly about environmental impact, that’s a humongous thing for someone to change their diet.”

the meat and eggs mostly come from the chickens that roam around the town like pets. (one intern found that a certain chicken likes to leave eggs in her bed.) last semester, interns had the opportunity to participate in a chicken slaughtering to better understand where their meat was coming from.

“i knew that i wanted to do it because i think that even if you don’t eat meat, living in a society that is so meat-heavy,” diamond said, “i just think it’s an important thing to know what it’s like to actually kill something, if you live in a world that kills animals.”

this upcoming semester, all chicken meat and hopefully eggs will come from the kalu yala farm, desvaux said. the culinary staff purchases pork and beef from two farmers in san miguel, but interns and staff also are investigating alternative animal protein sources to introduce on the farm, such as iguanas, rabbits, and tilapia. the fish hopefully will be ready to harvest by august or september, desvaux said, and likely will serve as a weekly protein to replace pork or beef.

“there’s so much deforestation happening throughout panama because of cattle, so we’re really looking into alternative protein to set that example,” she said. “the three (main) proteins are not the only ones that are available. there are other animals that we can raise humanely and sustainably and introduce into our diets. it doesn’t mean that i necessarily want to eliminate (pork or beef) fully, more so that i want to make sure we’re consuming it in an environmentally friendly way.”

integrity

another big aspect of sustainable eating is reducing waste from food. leftovers from meals often are reincorporated later and lingering food scraps are composted. culinary director karri selby said she also emphasizes using 100 percent of each ingredient to minimize waste and maintaining its integrity to pay respect to the farmer by not cooking away all of its nutrients.

while the vision of a fully farm-to-table operation is founded on sustainability, interns and staff recognize that there may need to be some exceptions.

“there are other things like coffee, and we drink a lot of coffee, that we get from boquete, which is in panama, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to grow coffee here,” a biology intern explained. “boquete is in a higher climate, it’s colder there. they can grow coffee better there, and by supporting them we are supporting a community in panama. if we tried to grow coffee here, it would be a lot of resources, a lot of our time, and not really supporting the areas around us as well. it’s a balance of doing things ourselves but also supporting the communities around us.”

even if not every ingredient comes from their farm, kalu yala’s kitchen will keep serving delicious and sustainable fuel for innovators – 300 of them this summer semester.

“i feel really lucky that i get to be the one that is in their life for such a short period of time but hopefully they walk away from this experience having a bigger appreciation and love for food and what it takes,” selby said. “yesterday that lasagna, i mean, that is a labor of love, and you have to make like eight of them because we’re feeding so many people, so when you see people that are really excited and happy, you know, just for the food, for some people that’s the highlight of their day.”

———

culinary intern liv rushin’s almond feta cheese

ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups almond meal
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tbs olive oil
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt

directions:

1. chop garlic into thin slices.
2. juice two lemons (or any citrus fruit; at kalu yala they used sour oranges).
3. combine all ingredients in a food processor and mix on regular power until smooth.
4. taste, add any more ingredients as you wish.
5. optional: remove cheese from food processor and wrap in cheesecloth and place in a bowl.

refrigerate, or enjoy right away. makes a delicious, creamy spread on toast and also is great on pasta!

with a sharp knife to its throat, the chicken that 21-year-old sarah diamond helped raise lay dead.

kalu yala, the small eco-town where diamond participated in a 10-week long internship, serves meat about once a week. but, that night was starkly different from the rest.

diamond and her culinary class raised chickens for livestock, killed them, plucked their feathers, butchered them, and then served them to the rest of the interns and kalu yala’s program directors for that night’s dinner. diamond ate the chicken but the experience made her further consider today’s food industry and led her to fully embrace veganism. it also affected her in another, more unexpected way.

“the language that we used — thighs, head, neck, stomach, fat — it was all the same language we use when talking about our own bodies. and that was eye-opening for me. how can we treat our bodies with respect if we are eating other bodies?” diamond wrote in a reflection on her personal blog called “a spoonful of the universe.”

many people go to kalu yala looking for an escape to utopia. and with the promise of a sustainable settlement in the luscious jungles of panama, it is hard not to expect that. entering the culinary program, diamond’s interest in the small eco-city and its internship program was similarly optimistic, she said. but her motivation was centered around her struggle with, and passion for, food.

she came to kalu yala with an unhealthy relationship with food but the place and program offered diamond a restorative experience. walking around the town, the experience with body image is remarkably different than in american society. at kalu yala, poor self-image is hard to develop. there are no mirrors to lose yourself in, no makeup to cover yourself, no stores to define you as a size, and no media portraying people to compare yourself to.

“there’s none of that,” diamond said. “and that’s been so healing and awesome.”

the lack of these “additives,” as she calls them, highlighted only part of diamond’s transformative time at kalu yala. her experience also was largely defined by a newfound discovery of mindful eating, which was the focus of her final project. to diamond, mindful eating means being “extremely aware of the fact that you’re eating.”

kalu yala provided a space for diamond to explore her affinity for mindful eating, a way of eating that concentrates on enjoying food in the moment and understanding where it comes from. but she also devoted energy to creating a project for others to do the same. every intern at kalu yala is tasked with a final project to complete and present by the end of their internship. for her project, diamond painted a sign with a “short eating meditation” that was hung right next to the kitchen for others to reflect on before getting their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. the meditation is at the right.

“i wanted it to be long enough that you have to actually stop and read it … but also not too long that you don’t want to read it,” diamond said. she hopes to use the sign, along with her online blog, to spread the practice into others’ lives.

in the dominant american culture, mindful eating is hard to practice. diamond, who is originally from boston, points out that eating is often just part of multitasking within busy lives: plenty of people eat on the go or in a rush at best.

“(in america) we have no idea where (our food) is coming from; we have no connection with it whatsoever; we have no idea who grew it. it’s from probably the other side of the world, literally, or at least from another country,” diamond said.

that standard starkly compares to kalu yala’s farm-to-table initiative. edible plants grow all over town, from basil to katuk, the minty leaf that has become a staple in kalu yala salads. some grow alongside the rancho that constitutes the culinary classroom, but most are in the expanding farm that is just a walk away from the kitchen.

“it’s been really healing to be able to get food from the farm. culinary allowed me to really learn about (farming) deeply,” diamond said.

kalu yala’s sustainable practices and farm-to table plans are in development. “there’s still a lot of work to do to make the farm totally produce enough for us, but it’s also really amazing to see … how difficult that really is,” diamond said. plenty of the food used in the meals at kalu yala is not grown there. in fact, most is from local farmers and, at the very least, from within panama.

beyond mindful eating, diamond’s time at kalu yala taught her the extreme difficulties surrounding food systems, even one that is set up to work sustainably. “you learn about the farm and you learn how much it can actually produce totally organically. we can’t just ramp up production with pesticides. so that’s been very interesting and humbling to realize,” she said.

diamond ended her semester at kalu yala with a stronger relationship with food and body image. in addition to this personal healing, however, she also gained knowledge on how a food system runs. with an interest in food politics, experiencing kalu yala’s approach to food was eye opening to diamond.

 “what i wanted to learn” from kalu yala is what it means for a food system to be set up well, diamond said. “our usual society is kind of (intended) to not work … and for it to be super environmentally destructive, and destructive to animals, and to just mess with your brain.”

kalu yala provided a case study for what diamond already believed. “having food work well, i think, is the backbone of a healthy and good society,” she said.

this vision of needing a system that works well fits into the ideas motivating jimmy stice, kalu yala’s founder and ceo. he launched this real estate and educational project with the mindset that “if they come they will build” instead of the traditional real estate mindset of “if you build it, they will come.” stice’s approach to making a sustainable town parallels diamond’s frustration with the current food system.

“people operate in systems,” diamond said. “they do whatever is set up for them.” her goal is not far off from the entire ideal of kalu yala: change the system.

a local montgomery county business, sustainable waste solutions, employs single-stream advanced techniques to increase the rate of materials that are recycled. this eliminates byproduct waste that may end up in the landfill. and for materials that can’t be recycled, the company employs energy-from-waste processes that create energy from the combustion of solid waste.

to learn more about how montgomery county community college is “going green,” visit mc3green.wordpress.com.

“think of the pollution and the global warming caused by its transport. think of the
ascendancy of corporate agribusiness over family farms. think of the loss of
nutrients during a weeklong journey from soil to supermarket.” – time.com