ECHO

     "For the 925 million people who are hungry today, the world is a challenging place, both in the cities and in the countryside. The urban poor face high prices and low incomes, making nutritious food unattainable. Rural families are often malnourished because of a lack of diverse nutrients in their diets, if they have enough to eat at all. In both cases, children suffer the most." (echonet.org)

Entrance of ECHO

      ECHO is an organization with ample amounts of knowledge and information, and shares that with development practitioners across the globe. They gather successful solutions to hunger problems from around the world and disseminate them to their active network. Well tested and proven to be successful, they "promote sustainable farming techniques, nutritional plants, and appropriate technologies." These development practitioners then take this knowledge to impoverished countries and teach those in poverty how to farm effectively and sustainably in order to be able to feed families. Those new farmers can then teach other, hence widening the ECHO network.

Cool turtle we saw on our tour!

       I really enjoyed visiting ECHO, and I thought it was great that they put so much effort into helping those who cannot help themselves. It is also great that they teach the most sustainable methods in order to keep the environment protected. Our tour was given by a man named Vic Estoye, who seemed very passionate about what they do at ECHO. My only complaint was that he was very hard to understand at times, and our class did not quite seems to get a lot of his jokes; but he was a wonderful man and provides us with lots of information! 

        Helping the families in urban and rural low income countries by teaching them how to grow food on their own is a great way to benefit the entire earth community. Instead of spending the money to give food to impoverished countries, it is a much more beneficial learning experience. By teaching them these methods, they are able to feed themselves and their families. This teaches responsibility, and it is very rewarding to be able to help their families and other learning farmers. Plants such as the moringa tree, that we learned about from the Food Forest, can greatly benefit these areas by providing high amounts of vitamins, nutrients, and proteins to help them maintain a nutritious diet.  

        The facilities were beautiful, and me planning on growing some of my own food in the future, it was nice to see how many kind of fruits and vegetables can grow in the South Florida climate. And learning the most sustainable methods of farming will always be most beneficial to the environment. 

Kale: One of the many common foods that can be grown in your own garden.

       One interesting sustainable farming method that Vic showed us was how they use animal waste to create a very green form of energy. They use large blue barrels, where the waste ferments and can be used as an alternative form of energy. The technology they used was even very sustainable, including using "working pigs" to plow up land. Vic also mentioned that none of the plants on their property were invasive, assuring that no plants or animals get taken over by other plants.

Barrels used to turn animal waste into sustainable fuel



"Working" Pigs

        We can incorporate some of the practices individually by planting our own foods in a sustainable way, and locally by teaching other around us. Teaching how to farm sustainably is important because even if people think growing their own food is sustainable, maybe some of their methods are damaging to the environment. As we get ready to volunteer with Lakes Park for the Garden Gala, we can take this knowledge and pass it on to the children that attend the event. Given what I am doing for my service learning project, this was a great field trip to attend prior to the event. This helped me to have a better grasp on what they will be teaching at the event.

Instead of creating waste by throwing out tires, ECHO used these tires as recycled planter pots.