Sustainable agriculture? In this economy? Unheard of, at least in the US. However, here in Costa Rica, organic farming is a revolution that’s just getting started. On day three of our trip to La Selva, we headed to La Finca Sura, an organic farm, owned by a man named Rodolfo. On his farm, Rodolfo produces a plethora of produce, like sugarcane, tilapia, and even cocoa. However, the highlight of the tour was the organically-grown pineapple, which was, might I add, the best pineapple I have ever tasted.
Pineapple makes up 80% of Costa Rica’s exported goods and is a 905.3 million dollar industry. However, pineapple is difficult to grow and when it has to be shipped to other countries, it is picked while it is still green. Ethylene is a chemical that induces flowering and ripening of fruits. It speeds up the process while fruits are still growing, but to achieve the more appealing yellow color, picked premature pineapples are sprayed with it. However, the fruit does not ripen once it has been picked. Even once ethylene has been added, ethylene only changes the color, not the internal quality. Pineapples will not mature after they are picked and are meant be harvested when they are ready to be eaten. The premature pineapples we have in the US may appear just as sexy as a fully mature pineapple, but it’s what is on the inside that counts. If you’ve ever bitten into a whiter-colored, minimally sweet pineapple, it was most likely picked early and yellowed using ethylene.
On Finca Sura we experienced pineapple the way it is best- straight off the plant and without synthetic pesticides. Growing pineapple is difficult and time consuming, but Rodolfo makes it look easy. After showing us some pineapple plots, he showed us how he plants it. He cut what looked like the stem of a pineapple off one of the plants already growing, walked it over to the new row, dug a small hole in the ground, stuck the plant in the hole, and that’s it. The process is sustainable in concept: taking a part of one plant to grow another. Therefore, the more you grow now, the more you can grow later. Organic pineapple requires organic fertilizer, so Rodolfo uses “caca de pollo,” showing that nothing goes to waste on this farm.
The tour ended with a tasting, of course. With a machete, the pineapple was cut from the plant and we got to eat it fresh. It was the sweetest, most flavorful pineapple I’ve ever tried, and it was much better than what we have in the US. Rodolfo cut pieces for everyone but handed me the remainder- stem and all. You could say I was a little bit excited. As much as I loved the pineapple, there is no way I could love it more than Matilda. Six years old and covered in mud, Matilda the pig was a sight for sore eyes. This sweet gal gobbled the whole fruit up in merely minutes, even eating the skin and core. Matilda can vouch for it–never will you try pineapple better than fresh off the farm.
