Philippines Diaries, Day 3, Part 2 - Interviewing Indigenous Farmworkers

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jun 11, 2011 at 07:12:01 AM PDT

You can see previous diaries here:
Days 1 & 2: Arrival and Travel to Isabela
Day 3, Part 1: Pesticide Shopping in San Mariano

Philippines Diaries, Day 3, Part 1 - Pesticide Shopping in San Mariano

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jun 11, 2011 at 01:43:55 AM PDT

You can see previous diaries here:
Days 1 & 2: Arrival and Travel to Isabela

Philippines Diaries: Days 1 & 2 - Arrival & Travel to Isabela

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Jun 09, 2011 at 15:35:18 PM PDT

Home from the Philippines

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jun 08, 2011 at 12:27:50 PM PDT

First World Problems

by: Jill Richardson

Sun May 29, 2011 at 01:00:30 AM PDT

I boarded my flight to Tokyo and sat down next to a man who spoke no English. But not to worry. He was Chinese, and I spent four years in a fancy private university getting a world class education that involved learning Mandarin and spending a summer in Beijing. So all was well... for a few minutes at least.

The pilot announced a "small" problem with our landing gear, and soon it became obvious that the small problem was a big problem, and the plane landed again in LA. Mechanics were called, and we sat on the plane, in limbo. Then we got off the plane. Flight canceled. We were all spending the night in LA.

The flight took off at 1pm but it was not until 6:30pm that the airline finally rebooked us, gave us hotel vouchers, and got us to the hotel, and the hotel checked me in and I dropped my stuff in my room. I was starving. The hotel's food was lousy, but I used my $12 of meal vouchers from the airline to get a "farm fresh veggie" pizza (what abuse of the term "farm fresh"!) because I was too hungry and too tired to wait for a better option. Then I took a shower and went to bed.

All of that sucked. A lot. But I realize that I am lucky to have these problems. My plane ticket cost $1500. A peasant in the village I am visiting would have to work for a year growing 5 hectares (12 acres) of corn to save up that much money. I was inconvenienced for a day, but I had enough to eat even if I didn't like the food, and I slept in a comfortable bed and showered in an excellent shower. At every point during the day I had access to potable, running, hot (if I wanted it) water, and toilets. So many people in this world are not that lucky in their entire lives.

Since I fell asleep at 6am, I woke up at 5:30am - a VERY lucky accident. I ate early, went to the airport early, and learned early that our new flight was ALSO canceled. I called Delta on my cell phone and got rebooked on American, walked over to the next terminal, went through security, got an ice latte, called my parents, tried again to use the internet (goddammit LAX!), and ended up instructing my mom over the phone how to email my contacts at my destination to let them know that I was still arriving at the scheduled time even though my flights had changed once again.

So now I'm in Tokyo's Narita airport. The food on the flight to Tokyo sucked beyond my wildest imagination (the half a cheese pizza I ate made my stomach hurt), and I sat next to a guy who barely spoke English. I watched three highly enjoyable movies even though doing so gives me a migraine (I already had a migraine, so why not? I NEVER watch movies so the joy I get when I do is overwhelming). Then I read most of Barry Estabrook's new book Tomatoland (incredible! a must read! will review it soon...) and, at last, landed in Japan.

By sheer luck, Delta booked me on business class for my next flight. I think I have a window too, and I can't wait. I'm exhausted and will soon be very jetlagged. But these are all first world problems I'm having, and most of the world is not even lucky enough to have them. A real problem would be getting malaria and having no access to medical care, or having your crop fail and having no way to eat throughout the year, or having some greedy foreign corporation come in to buy up your land for an agrofuel plantation and kick you off of it even though you are illiterate and have nowhere to go. The last two days have sucked, but I know how lucky I am that this is as bad as it gets for me.

Some Background on the Philippines

by: Jill Richardson

Thu May 26, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM PDT

Great News for Filipino Mosquitoes

by: Jill Richardson

Wed May 25, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM PDT

The occasion for the trip is a sad one. I'll be visiting an area called San Mariano in the province Isabela, in the north part of the country. The area is home to a number of peasants who each farm, on average, a little less than a hectare (2.47 acres) per person (which translates to a few hectares per family). Currently, they earn about $320 per hectare per year by growing and selling corn. My hunch - although I have not been there or seen it yet - is that they probably grow their own food and eat a healthy diet, provided they grow enough food each year. It's a meager living, but things might soon be worse.

Japanese and Taiwanese corporations are trying to buy several thousand hectares in the area to establish a sugarcane plantation. The sugarcane will be used for ethanol. I'll be on an international fact finding mission to find out what's planned, and how it will impact the peasants who currently live on the land.  In all probability, the answers won't be good news for the peasants. I do not know yet what rights the peasants have to their own land, or how the corporations intend to throw them off of the land. I will also look into what will become of the peasants if they do lose their land. Unfortunately, this is part of a global trend. Foreign companies are buying large swaths of land in poor countries all over the world, displacing the peasants who live there. Here's an interesting article about this trend in general, and here is another one about land grabbing in Mali, telling how it will impact the peasants there. At present I have very little information about the Philippines... but that will soon change!

Photo Diary: A Homegrown Meal

by: Jill Richardson

Thu May 19, 2011 at 21:26:08 PM PDT

My harvest: Green onions, fava beans, lettuce, beets, and chard. Not in the picture: Strawberries.

Chicken Blogging: Chicken Personalities

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Apr 26, 2011 at 18:02:10 PM PDT

San Diego Has a Food Swap!

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Apr 23, 2011 at 18:57:14 PM PDT

I wondered what on earth I should bring. Right now is the season for strawberry jam, and if I could get super-ripe organic berries for $1/pint or less (which is possible at the end of markets, when the farmer has to sell them for cheap or lose them altogether), it would be worth it. But then I remembered the mountain of lemon marmalade piled up in our cupboard. So I RSVP'd, noting that I'd be bringing lemon marmalade to swap.

My table of lemon marmalade, with spoons for samples

Chicken Blogging: Busted

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 14, 2011 at 17:30:26 PM PDT

My impression, up til now, was that the city tolerated chickens so long as your neighbors don't complain. I don't think our neighbors complained because we talk to them and we know they don't mind the chickens. I've even checked with the mailman, to make sure he doesn't mind them. He replied that dogs on his route might bite him but our chickens never will.

I like our neighbors, and I appreciate their tolerance of our chickens, so I won't complain about their dogs. But it strikes me as absurd that their chihuahuas, which bark 24/7, are okay while my quiet chickens are a problem.

Chicken pics below... the babies are getting bigger!

Chicken Blogging: The First Egg!

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Apr 02, 2011 at 16:01:26 PM PDT

Story and more pics are below.

Chicken Blogging: Baby Chicks!

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Mar 23, 2011 at 18:35:15 PM PDT

I got four unsexed chicks from a local breeder today: Black, blue, and lavender Ameraucanas (one of each color) and a Silver-Laced Wyandotte. They are all nameless thus far, particularly because my roommate is talking more about eating any that turn out to be roosters.

The new girls (well, we hope)

Eating Rainbows

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Feb 20, 2011 at 20:50:29 PM PST

But today, I gave cooking a shot. I was inspired when I saw the most beautiful bunch of rainbow chard (truly in all shades of the rainbow, except blue) at the Archi's Acres booth at the farmers' market. Then I got yellow carrots, red and green lettuce, and a green bell pepper at Sage Mountain Farm. And then I called my room mate and told him I was making dinner.

When the kids got home, I told them we were eating rainbows for dinner. We began with a rainbow salad (at least, three of us did... the fourth decided that that many vegetables in one bowl can't be a good thing) made from cooked red and chioggia beets, cooked orange sweet potato, yellow carrots, green bell pepper, chickpeas, walnuts, red and green lettuces, alfalfa sprouts, and a hard boiled egg. Our chef made the dressing (I know when I shouldn't push my luck). We followed that with rainbow colored pasta (dyed with veggies) topped with a tomato sauce, and sauteed rainbow chard. It was a fun meal, although I'm sure I enjoyed it more than the kids did.

Gardening with a Four-Year-Old

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Feb 17, 2011 at 01:55:56 AM PST

There's something about preschoolers that goes away at some point. I don't know when, but it seems to be before age seven. I can suggest something - anything - to my four year old friend, and because I'm cool, and I said it, my idea is always cool. I can say "Yummy! Daddy makes the best broccoli," and scoop a big bunch of it into my mouth, and Ms. Preschooler, who does not necessarily want to eat her vegetables all the time, will do the same. We'll agree that Daddy is the best chef in the world, and we'll both eat all of our broccoli.

Her much cooler, more knowing older sister would NEVER fall for that one. If I think the broccoli is delicious, well, she knows that actually broccoli is disgusting, and Daddy and his roommate are WEIRD. No way I could get Ms. Cool Pre-pre-teen out into the garden with me (most of the time... once a year or so hell freezes over and she gets interested in it). But the little one's been gardening with me since age two.

So today, when I headed outside to the garden, Ms. Preschooler announced she was coming with me.