View from a visitor.

COMMENTS FROM ENGLISH JOURNALIST TOM IDLE, BROUGHT BY RAINFOREST ALLIANCE 

After a four-hour drive from the capital of Costa Rica, San José, we arrived at the town of Siquirres. From the window I see children playing soccer in the street, houses, and rudimentary buildings that serve a small population of farmers and their families. Agricultural land is king here. A rich and lush mix of banana bushes, large expanses of pineapple and cocoa trees dominate the scene on the journey to our final destination. I am one of several environmental journalists invited by the Rainforest Alliance to visit what is considered a sustainable banana farm. San Alberto, a group of three farms producing bananas on 700 hectares, has been certified by the Rainforest Alliance since 1996 (an Eco-Ok certificate, the precursor to the Rainforest Alliance certificate, is proudly placed in the San Alberto meeting room), meaning that they comply with a series of environmental and social standards.

We are welcomed with open arms by Don Agustín Herrera Navarro, president of La Estrella, one of the three farms in the group, and Jorge Guerrero, the sustainability coordinator for San Alberto. Walking proudly among the three-meter banana bushes (strange, I had always thought that bananas grew in trees), inviting the group of journalists and representatives of the Rainforest Alliance to follow him, Jorge begins by explaining the continuous cycle of production of the beautiful floors. Every nine months the bushes (mother) produce several children and the decision is made as to which one will produce the best fruit. The other sons are eliminated to let "the chosen son" emerge. Nine months later the bunch is ready for harvest and is cut with a machete.

Then the next child comes and the process begins again. "Unlike other plantations, we very rarely have to reseed our bushes. Keeping them in good condition, they continue to produce" says Jorge with a smile. To maintain the plantations in good condition is essential to maintain the fertility of the soil. The ground under our floor is a green blanket - weeds and grasses that one would not expect to find here. A brown ground blanket is the most common in similar plantations. Instead of competing with the banana bushes for nutrients (a myth according to Jorge), the soil cover for erosion and keeps the fertilizer where it belongs - at the base of the bushes - instead of being washed into the river. By the way, I have never seen such crystal clear water passing through an agricultural site; not an ounce of mud or chemical fertilizer was seen. In this humidity, it is tempting to grab an oar.

Maintaining farms monthly requires more labor, so it is more expensive than applying herbicide. But it is a method that is maintaining productions in San Alberto. “On other farms that don't do this, they have to renew the bushes all the time to increase productivity. But we have done very little renovation in the last 30 years and our productivity has remained the same ”; Jorge says. More than 3000 boxes per hectare On average, they are produced in San Alberto, the vast majority are bought by Chiquita and shipped to the United States. Those are a lot of bananas.

We go deeper into the farm by cableway that runs throughout the area, helping the harvesters transport the bunches to the packing plant. Jorge tells us that he has been in the banana industry all his life. He remembers the days of the banana plants before the certifications and environmental awareness; These were the days of blue bags filled with chemicals and designed to protect nearly ripe fruit from the sun and insects. - were burned, sending harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. The 1980s and 1990s were a time when banana farm workers had serious fertility problems due to the use of fertilizers and chemicals without protective clothing. All of that has changed, he says. "But it's hard to see people get sick." Certification - with the advice and audits that lead to the fact that farm owners question field practices. We spoke with Olger Rojas Díaz, a 38-year-old field worker, who showed us his machete and the new fist designed to keep his sweaty hand from slipping and cutting while he works. This is not something required for Rainforest Alliance certification, but rather for a new-minded administration. Olger tells us that he earns between $ 30 and $ 40 a day depending on how many bunches he harvests. His payment is subsidized because San Alberto can charge buyers more for certified bananas. He also receives a bonus of $ 0.33 per bunch for good quality - a reminder of how picky consumers are, only the most beautiful fruit is acceptable.

We arrive at the end of our tour - the packing plant where the fruit is washed and selected (damaged fruit is sent to a different container where it is sent to a children's puree factory), it is washed again and packed in boxes with the Rainforest lake in each hand. The boxes are loaded onto trucks, then onto ships, and finally, other trucks that take them to supermarkets. Before we left, we visited the houses built by Chiquita 100 years ago when the company produced cocoa in the region. A third of the 400 employees of San Alberto live here, in houses that the farms own at no cost to the worker. They only have to pay for the electricity they use. San Alberto is a great example of how to do things well, with the worker's environment and well-being in mind. Sustainability certifications were not necessarily the initial cause of San Alberto managing the farms in this way, it seems that there is an affinity with nature among those in charge of the farms. But by achieving the Rainforest Alliance criteria, I support the maintenance of the highest environmental, health, and safety standards that are crucial to protect these types of farms - under constant pressure from climate and demographic changes ¬ in the long term. It was a pleasure.