In Belize, I have learned a lot about Mayan farmers and how their surroundings and culture impact their production. The type of production done in Belize is a sustainable goal to have a constant influx of food to feed their family. To me, sustainability is something that I learned about in a university setting. To be sustainable is to be constant in one form or another. Most Belizean farms are not an example of a sustainable business since most farms do not even sell their crops, but keep them to feed themselves and their families. The farms, however, are a sustainable source of food mainly due to the simple fact that the Belizean culture and environment have allowed for continued production.
To a farmer in Belize, the farm may be to one and only source of food, so it must be sustainable. These farmers did not learn their sustainability knowledge from a university, but their family and communities. At Polo's farm, Polo had over 30 crops all being grown at one time. This gives Polo and his family a way to harvest different crops at different times, and have a constant influx of food for the family.
The farming at Manuel's farm included what is called the three sisters farming practice, where corn, beans and squash are all grown together because of the benefits they all have for each other. These methods were passed down to him from his elders and have helped the crops bring in a good yield for Manuel.
Sarah Miller is an Agricultural Science major at Penn State
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