Be it the vision of the Amazon, or a view from the shore of a different sea…soil of a different texture or a tree with bark made of colors we have never before witnessed…a language we don’t know or a new alignment of the stars…may we be thankful for the time to reflect, and the chance to stand in wonder of life, to bask in the newness…thankful for the reminder that we are alive.
Costa Rica has developed an international reputation for being an especially green, environmentally-minded country. It’s reforestation efforts, extensive national park system, wildlife protections, and renewable energy goals have made it a leader in environmental management.
Unfortunately, the agricultural and food production practices employed by the country’s large-scale producers (and increasingly many small-scale producers as well) are not aligned with these policies.
Food production around the world faces a major threat: the disappearance of pollinator species. Why, rather than shrinking at the possibility of a multi-faceted problem, we have not responded with multifaceted solutions?
If we are going to continue to be able to grow food on this planet, then we need to begin paying attention to nature once again—relearning how to mimic her in order to provide for future generations.
Commercial fishing is not the only “big industry” ripping apart Costa Rica socially, economically, and environmentally. Industrial-sized monoculture farming, imposed by several politically powerful global companies, is swiftly destroying the land and wrecking havoc on the health of the local people as well.
No one should have to die for common sense policy to be put into place. But they already have. Now it is up to the rest of us to take a stand.
There was an National Geographic article recently published highlighting the emergence of new scientific evidence supporting what I think most of us have known all along: nature is good for us.
“To live in peace in this world requires acknowledging and embracing a concept of shared destiny (and origin).”
