Guatemala's Healthy "Underground"

Update from the Field by the Orners



This week the Orner Family (Rusty, Claire, Walker and
Ashton) dove full force into sharing their sustainable farming passion with new
friends from Guatemala.  The first audience
included Agros school students.

By creating hands-on activities
for forty-eight students total (21 ninth and 27 eighth/seventh graders on two
different days), soil health became the core of the excitement. The Orner Family handed out placards for each student who acted
out their scientific roles.  These
theatrical roles included the following:  plant, sun, soil, water, sugar, extra sugar, beneficial
bacteria and fungi, non-beneficial bacteria/fungi, potassium, nitrogen,
phosphorus, trace minerals, compost, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizer.  The interactive activity engaged students to
be and to see how their role was influenced by conventional and sustainable
farming methods.  For example, in a sustainable farming
scenario, the extra sugar created during the plant’s photosynthesis was fed to
the beneficial bacteria and fungi which in turn opened up a conduit for the
plant’s root hair to receive their nutrients and water.  In comparison, during conventional practices,
the plant depended on the “fast food” of synthetic fertilizer to receive its
nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and trace minerals.

José Cano, the Farmer-to-Farmer Country Director in Guatemala (pictured above), has been very
helpful translating the soil food web lessons from English to Spanish.  Walker Orner is responsible for this amazing photography.

 

Note from Partners: Claire and Rusty Orner (accompanied by their two children, Walker and Ashton) arrived to Guatemala on February 9 to begin their 2.5-week assignment to work with host organization, Agros Ixil. Rusty's assignment focuses on reducing farmers' reliance on conventional agricultural by training producers in organic farming techniques and methods while Claire's assignment focuses on assisting producers identify and strengthen opportunities to gain greater access to adequate amounts of nutritious, safe, and culturally appropriate foods. Check back for more updates!

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