FAC Goals
The main goal of this demonstration farm, managed by
the nonprofit Fundacion Agroecologica Cotobrusena (FAC), is
to promote organic, sustainable agricultural production in all its aspects - and using
these methods, to promote such concepts in the local community. The cabina we have built
uses the same hardwood grown on the finca, and is available
for rent here.
 
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Views of finca
What is Organic?
Organic refers to methods of growing and processing foods that rely on the
earth's natural resources. Pests and weeds are managed using earth-friendly means such as
beneficial insects and mechanical controls. Organic farmers work to build natural
nutrients in soil which help fertilize plants without reliance on synthetic fertilizers.
...offers food produced within nature's own balanced and fertile system.
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Helps keep our air, soil, and water free of toxic chemicals. |
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Ensures that animals are humanely raised, without synthetic hormones or antibiotics, and only fed organic feed. |
Organic products sold in the marketplace need appropriate certification
- see Organic Certification page for some
organizations regulating organics.
What is sustainable living?
* Minimize use of all resources especially non-renewable ones
* Avoid toxic or non-recyclable products
* Maximize reuse and recycling of all products after waste reduction
* Use local labor and materials
* Sell and process goods locally
* Use value-added, vertical integration or parallel processing to enhance value of raw
goods
* Avoid reliance on a single product (product diversity = resilience)
* Utilize the best available sustainable development technology for any particular
activity
* Support the health and well-being of the local community from net returns or goods and
services
* Provide educational and employment opportunities for all segments of society
* Take into consideration the long-term impacts to the extent that they are known
* Use land for its most suitable purpose and coordinate land uses efficiently within a
given landscape
Some Links:
Univ of Calif at Davis: Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education Program
Excellent list
of links for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other groups, from...
Certified organic coffee
Organic coffee is grown without any synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or
pesticides. Organic farmers believe that using synthetic chemicals will disrupt the
natural balance of their farm ecosystem and is healthier for their soil, their waters,
their families and the end consumer.
Mexico, Central America and Peru are the coffee-growing regions most active in receiving organic certification from outside independent agencies. In Africa and Asia, many growers farm organically but have never been certified. This is frequently referred to as "organic by default". Other farming communities that are working towards certifications and are growing organically, can be considered "transitional" if they are meeting standards that fall within organic guidelines.
The loss of migratory songbirds in the U.S. is actually due to the
manner in which commercial, non-organic coffee is being raised in Latin America and is
linked to deforestation. The same holds true for the Monarch butterfly with regard to
decline by agrosystems change. Formerly, coffee was 'shade grown' in a 'holistic
agriculture forest system that differs greatly from the system now in use. The Smithsonian
Migratory Bird Council describes these former forests as: '(with coffee as the
understorey shrub, a mixed shade cover of fruit trees, banana plants, and towering
hardwood species.... Such an agroforestry structure results in a fairly stable production
system, providing protection from soil erosion, favorable local temperature and even
humidity regimes, constant replenishment of the soil organic mattter via leaf litter
production, and home to an array of beneficial insects that can act to control potential
economic pests without the use of toxic chemicals. Traditional coffee, in fact, has been
cited as (Northern Latin America's) most environmentally benign and ecologically stable
agroecosystem.' It is also this agroecosystem that provides habitat for the migratory
songbirds of North America.
In contrast with this system, used by small farmers, larger coffee farms use no shade
cover, and produce an 'insipid' bean that now dominates the commodity market and allows
profit through volume. This 'techno' coffee, as it is called, is harvested by use of
mechanized means by the large agrobusinesses. Conversion from traditionally grown coffee
to 'sun coffee' requires cutting down or thinning the shade trees that not only produce a
higher quality of coffee, but also provide for the natural habitat for migratory
'songbirds'. As more and more coffee *fincas* are converted from shade to sun production
it has caused significant tropical biodiversity loss including that of neotropical
migratory songbirds, e.g., Baltimore orioles, warblers, and vireos, that summer in the
United States.
(Some information provided from: 'The Coffee
Book, Anatomy of An Industry; From Crop to the Last Drop' by Gregory Dicum and Nina
Luttinger - 1999 and 'Uncommon Grounds' - The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our
World' by Mark Pendergrast - 1999)
Organic coffee sites
Below are some sites related to organic coffee,
mostly sales-oriented but some have a lot of info included
Examples of Organic Agricultural methods
Here are some sites related to the basics of organic growing...
1. It's OUR
GARDEN - A Homeowner's Guide to Organic Growing
2. Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) The
International WWOOF Association is dedicated to helping those who
would like to work as volunteers on organic farms internationally. The aims of WWOOF are
to ...
* enable people to learn first-hand about organic
growing techniques
* to enable town-dwellers to experience living and
working on a farm
* to help farmers make organic production a viable
alternative
* to improve communications within the organic
movement.
3. Community Supported Agriculture Community Supported Agriculture or CSA is quickly
becoming a direct marketing alternative for small-scale growers. In a CSA system, the
farmer grows food for a group of shareholders (or subscribers) who pledge to buy a portion
of the farm's crop that season. This arrangement gives growers up-front cash to finance
their operation and higher prices for produce, since the middleman has been eliminated.
Besides receiving a weekly box or bag of fresh, high-quality produce, shareholders also
know that they're directly supporting a local farm. CSAs also allow shareholders to
re-establish a connection with the land that many people feel they have lost.
(We're not finished adding sites...)