Beaches, Forests, and Falls

Ryan Brown took some gorgeous pictures of Jamaica's land and water.

The beach at the Crystal Ripple Lodge.

The mountains and forests.

White River Falls

"It all begins with education."

With a tropical storm descending on them, Ryan Brown comes to the conclusion that whatever else we might need, good education has to be in there.

* * *

Yesterday we traveled over to the University of West Indies to have a small forum with Dr. David Smith, Dr. Eric Garraway, and Dr. Nickeisha Reed.  The three of them have a way with words and the ability to make you Aware of issues no matter your field of study. We critiqued and analyzed organic farming and the perception it has in Jamaica. It was like we took the concept of “The Problem of Sustainability,” from David Orr’s Hope is an Imperative and Ecological Literacy and applied it to organic farming. The discussion was a heated and friendly display of critically thinking minds, hoping to get as close to the route cause of issues with sustainability as it relates to organic farming as possible.

Following that discussion we traveled to Denbigh with Dr. Nickeisha Reed, to aid the Jamaica Organic Agricultural Movement (JOAM) and their many devoted associated farmers in setting up their displays, mock farms, and environmental discussion booths. We were truly in good company with all of the organic famers and heads of JOAM, conversing and bringing their “Green Village” to life. We reunited with many of the farmers that we have seen and worked with throughout the program.

Today we returned to Denbigh to continue our work with JOAM and their “Green Village”. We assisted the Peace Corp with a child’s village, educating the children on sustainable practices such as reusing and recycling, taught them about the affects the chemicals have on Jamaica’s watershed and water runoff areas, and the benefits and many ways of compositing. The Peace Corp and our ideas were very much in line, identifying the problems in Jamaica (from Ridge to Reef) and using education and fun as the tools to efficiently communicate with the youth of Denbigh and across the May Pen area.

In my eyes the last few days have been focused a lot of creating Awareness (the ‘A’ step of the Natural Step framework) and discussing our views on the problems of sustainability much like that of David Orr. The common thread I found between our assessment of issues with sustainability and Orr’s is the educational factor. However, we discussed education of a less formal level. Being able to reach people were they are and relate a topic to them is what truly makes or breaks, hinders or furthers the development of a concept, idea, of strategic plan. Along with having a different approach to the educational factors we also seemed to consider individual and communal livelihoods be it economical restrictions or just understanding the dynamic of the families immediately affect by the board generalization of facts and figures thought o produce more environmentally conscious global citizens.

We have come a long way since coming to Jamaica with just the Natural Step framework and articles and readings from an array of authors and studies. We have lived the sustainable and lower carbon footprint lifestyle. We should continue to strive towards assisting in communal dialogue and hope that words like that from Vandana Shiva can resonate with our audience as it did with us. Remember that Humans and other animals serve a function globally as seed carriers, whether it’s through a sticky pod attached to your pant leg or through the digestive track of a migrating bird. It is time that we began good stewards of our home.

“From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow.” – Aeschylus

It is time to plant the seeds!

So we are wrapping up our time in Kingston on Sunday, August 5^th. Before we go back to Ocho Rios and Durga’s Den, we stop to catch a glimpse at history. Just eight hours before Jamaica officially celebrates it’s 50 years of independence, Usain Bolt breaks the Olympic Record, which he set at Beijing 2008, and wins another Olympic gold. It seemed as if every person and everything in Jamaica came to a halt for about 10 minutes as they began to introduce the race and racers. The race was all but 10 seconds and once again Jamaica has shocked the world; Taking Olympic gold and silver with times of 9.63 sec and 9.75 sec respectively and pushing ever other participant in this race to close with some of their personal best. I am glad to be able to say that I saw Usain Bolt make history once more but this time from Jamaica and with the happiest people in the world.

Following such a great start to the day, our journey back to Ocho Rios was a wet one as Tropical Storm Ernesto brought heavy rains to parts of the south coast. As we drove along a riverside it was made vividly apparent that soil erosion was a big problem. It was one thing to take about soil erosion being an issue but it was another thing to see it first hand. This concept of protecting the environment and the island from “Ridge to Reef” had come full circle. The water was clear when we had gone into Kingston and now the river was running bed of coffee with two creams and three scoops of sugar. As we drove along the banks of the river all I could think of was, “So what do the people with no piped water do in this area? Drinking and bathing in water with such a high sediment content along with what ever else has rundown the ridge cannot be good for you.”

It is increasingly evident that proper actions to prevent soil erosion and water pollution need to be enacted and heavily enforced. I have come to the conclusion that everything begins with education. We need workshops and community wide initiatives to take place and make the farming practices safe for the environment as a whole. With so many of Jamaica’s farmers using chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers it would not surprise me that many of the marine ecosystems are begin destroyed and much of the marine life has began to search for new homes away from the island. Education is going to be the first line of defense against this continued water pollution from soil erosion in the hills and mountains of Jamaica. Protection for the environment needs to become a priority for the masses, whether you are a farmer or not. The consumers, the everyday Jamaican, needs to begin to demand these things so that it will inevitably stop being overlooked and pushed to the back of the nation’s to-do list. 

* * *

Hopefully, as Ryan sees the need for a more ecologically literate Jamaican citizen we can also see that we all need to become more ecologically literate. What do I mean by that? In the most basic terms, it means seeing that our beliefs and actions have consequences on and in a patterned and interconnected world. Creighton and Cortese write that “calls for students to develop an awareness and understanding of the importance of the natural environment and the effects of human activities on it, as well as an appreciation for the complexity of the interactions." Tarah Wright writes that it's "an understanding of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of human-environment interactions, and the skills and ethics to translate this understanding into life choices that promote the sustainable flourishing of diverse human communities and the ecological systems within which they are embedded." It means understanding that what you eat or don't affects the health and well-being of the air and water, the land and the creatures that reside in and on it including humans, developing a sense of duty or responsibility to consider the health of more than our selves and acting as well as we can. It's a tall order in our world.

So maybe the Jamaican people should become more aware and demand change. But a Jamaicans ecological footprint pales in comparison to an Americans. So do we we have an even greater imperative? It would be hard to convince me otherwise. You?

Organic: The Best Way to Endorse Sustainability

Melissa Peterson wraps things up.

* * *

We are approaching our final week in Jamaica. It is bound to be an interesting week, one very different from what we have experienced thus far. Before I move onto that, I will address some exciting developments in the program we experienced this past week.

Something I’m very excited about was an opportunity we had to go to the Jubilee Village to experience some of the 50th anniversary festivities. It was completely different from anything we had experienced thus far in Jamaica. I would like to begin by noting how organized the event was. To prevent parking jams in the city center, there was a system of parking lots and buses located around the city to shuttle people to the stadium venue and the Jubilee village. The system ran so smoothly, I was very impressed. Pamphlets detailing the festivities were handed out too, and I was amazed by the span of the festivities. I will note the highlights. I really enjoyed walking through the craft market. The goods were locally produced and being sold by Jamaican vendors. Unlike the touristy craft markets we had previously experienced, no one was pushy to buy anything, the goods were unique, and I had a really good time browsing and chatting with people.

Another highlight was the series of food vendors set up. There was everything from traditional Jamaican food stands, to Jamaican snack stands, to African-influenced Jamaican food, to Indian-influenced Jamaican food. It was a melting pot of smells and flavors and we had a great time exploring the different stands.

The last highlight that stick out in my mind was that we had to opportunity to watch traditional Jamaican dances on the big stage. It was a different side of Jamaica than what I had seen thus far, and I was grooving out to the music. I was amazed by the talent on stage. One young man, just a preteen, gave a moving monologue. I don’t know what he was talking about, but I was captivated by his performance from start to end. His passion resonated throughout the entire venue. I was also very excited to see prime minister Porsche Simpson and some other important attendees in the crowd. All in all, it was an exciting evening, and I’m glad I got a taste of a different part of Jamaican culture.

This last morning we went to the University of the West Indies for a lecture by Dr. Garraway. Needless to say, the entire group was excited to see him, Dr. Smith, and Dr. Nickeisha Reid. The lecture turned into an amazing two hour discussion on different aspects of organic farming, perceptions of organic farming, and inspiring farming changes through informed consumerism. I learned so much from the discussion between all of these individuals with such diverse experience. 

I really got to thinking: If me refusing to buy a blemished fruit in Pennsylvania is a message to a farmer in Jamaica to produce hardier fruit, at the expense of it not tasting as good, I want to make a difference in the market. I want to be an active, informed consumer who chooses products based on what I have come to see as most important: sustainability. Organic is looking like the best way for me to publicly endorse sustainability by helping to drive demand for more organic food. Since growing organic is considered sustainable, I would call that a successful direction for the market to move in.

We also had an opportunity to speak to Dr. Robinson, former chairperson of the Jamaican Organic Agriculture Movement, yesterday evening who provided some quality insights into the positives and negatives of organic farming and on his perspective of JOAM. His lack of apparent agenda made him easy to communicate with and a valuable resource to help wrap up our course on organic farming.

In the future, I genuinely hope to stay in touch with many of the individuals I have met through this course. The faculty in and of themselves have divulged a massive amount of knowledge and have given me ample food for thought.

This coming week should be interesting. We had a lot of assignments to get cracking on, but first we will be attending the big farming fair, Denbigh, tomorrow. I’m so excited to see how it comes together as a final product and how people are led through the fair. I hope that it can provide valuable information for farmers who are interested in being organic or sustainable (or both) and educate those who have never heard much of it before. I am also very anxious about Sunday. I am so excited for the track finals! Monday and Tuesday will be interesting as well, with a hurricane brewing in the distance, and with us laying in its projected path. Different parties around Jamaica have already been preparing for a hurricane force winds. I hope the storm mostly misses us, I’m not looking to weather out any hurricanes when I should be enjoying the wonderful Jamaican sun. The rest of the week will be a wrap up for us, and I’m curious to see how the entire week plays out. 

National Pride

The following reflections come from Ryan Walker and Melissa Peterson on Friday August 3rd as they headed into Kingston amidst Jamaica's celebrating 50 years of independence. This "milestone" as he calls it, was tainted by how homogenized Kingston. Some call it development, some globalization, some Americanization, and some McDonaldization.

* * *

This weekend marks the beginning of the country’s Jamaica 50th year of independence celebrations. Today we arrived in Kingston and settled in to a new hotel, met another professor from the University of the west Indies who talked about organic farming in Jamaica, and for the evening, we went to Jubilee Park at the National Stadium to experience Jamaica’s celebrations of its fiftieth year of independence from British rule. I must say that this experience tonight was once in a lifetime. If you can imagine a state fair or county fair back home in the US, that it what is was similar to, but this party is for a whole country. Never before have I been looked at so much just because I was white. This sounds racist but I can assure you it was not intended to be that way. As an American tourist, I viewed this night and experience in a very different way than ninety-nine percent of those people gathered at the National Stadium in Kingston.

For me, this night was a celebration of achievement, not a night of national pride. During the three and a half weeks that I have been here, I have experienced, witnessed, and analyzed much of the industries that fuel the Jamaican country so I feel a bit patriotic to Jamaica at this point. Coming from the United States, which is two hundred and thirty-six years old, fifty years is not that much, but it is still a significant milestone. It was fun to interact with the food vendors and gift shop owners and not have to worry about getting graded or having to study for a test. I was a true spectator of a nation celebrating its identity and independence.

I was able to experience much of Jamaica’s cultural history through song and dance performances from the different cultures and time periods that have shaped Jamaica, a country whose motto is, “Out of many, One People.” Although many Jamaicans probably would not agree with me, it was interesting to see national pride that I feel for the United States, experience a culture that made up of unique cultures like the United States, and get to experience a nation celebrate its history like I do during the Fourth of July. But, as we were driving back to our hotel, I looked at Kingston's neighborhoods, stores Kingston, and its architecture.

I began to notice something.

I noticed that the area of Kingston we were in looks like much of America’s big cities.

Yes, the tropical plants and lush scenery are different, but chain restaurants like Dominoes Pizza, T.G.I. Fridays, and Kentucky Fried Chicken could be found on some street corners. The neighborhoods were laid out in a similar fashion, with gridded streets and single to two story houses built close to one another. And then I realized that Kingston had been modernized in an American fashion. And so I thought about the pride of the Jamaicans I saw at Jubilee Village and the pride they had in their Jamaican identity. And I asked myself, how much has my American way of living changed places like Kingston and many others over the world? That’s a tough question to ask oneself but unfortunately for us Americans, it's a bit a truth. Our society has left its foreign mark on many other societies and peoples all over the world, whether we like it or not.

~ Ryan Walker

* * *

We’re now heading into our final phases of the abroad program. The freshmen have gone home and we are back to the five of us. This means the advent of more assignments revolving around our lived experience in Jamaica. I would really like to highlight the cultural depths we have experienced thus far in light of some exciting upcoming events.

My general assumptions about the spirit of Jamaicans is that there is so much pride. There is pride in Jamaica as an island, Jamaica as a country, Jamaica as a people. Every time I am approached (as an obvious visitor), I am asked if this is my first time in Jamaica. Whoever I am talking to asks how I like Jamaica. I generally respond, “I love it here.” It’s a pretty general response, but it’s always accepted. Once the conversation gets past that and we sort out where I have been and what I have seen, I turn the conversation around and start asking questions.

I love hearing about how far away people live, asking about professions, family, education and training, thoughts on the environment, thoughts on government policy, views on my country, ideas about the future, the list goes on. What really strikes me is how open people are. Everyone I’ve talked to has been super open to me about their life. There is pride in livelihood, family, nationality, and it’s so refreshing. That pride and passion in everything they do is something I want to take home with me. On the other hand, when we were at Dunn’s River Falls, there is a craft village, and the way people talked to me there was completely different. There was something artificial that felt strange when I was there, and it came out when I was talking to one man. One of the merchants started talking to me, trying to get me to visit his shop, but he ended up telling me all about how they go to a school or workshop to be trained in how to talk to tourists so that they don’t make us uncomfortable. I thought this was especially interesting because being in that craft village was the most uncomfortable I had been since I had gotten to Jamaica. Once the other students started to talk to the merchants, the experience seemed a bit more genuine. After we talked amongst ourselves though, it seems as though even many of those conversations were forced: some of the information just didn’t match up and it seemed as though some of the merchants may have been using the opportunity as marketing techniques. All in all though, I’ve been fascinated by the openness of most of the Jamaicans I have met. It’s different from many of the other places I’ve been to and at home, where people are very cautious about sharing anything about their lives to strangers.

Now tonight is the anniversary of the emancipation. I am really hoping that we will get to go out and witness the festivities, because I feel like this is a part of the culture that is very foreign to me. It’s something that at home, we never really paid attention to outside of history class. Here there is so much more discussion about slavery and how Jamaica is today is traceable to those plantation roots. I feel like for me to understand mindsets and culture here, emancipation day activities are something I need to be involved in. I really hope we get to go out and listen to the emancipation document being read and see all of the festivities that go along with that. I want to know if it’s a joyous event or if it is more contempt at colonial rule. (we did not end up going)

This week also marks the start of track and field events. Jamaica is home to the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt. I’m really hoping we get to watch the events and that something amazing happens for Jamaica. I would love to see celebration and pride stemming from something that I consider to be as momentous as the Olympics.

Next week marks Jamaica’s fiftieth year of independence from the British. It is being called Jamaica 50 and the Golden Jubilee. I was talking to one of our Jamaican friends, Shanique, when she was with us at Durga’s Den, and she said that some families get really into independence day and others don’t pay much attention, but she thinks the 50th could get very exciting. I would love to see pride in the 50th celebration along the lines of what we have on independence day in the US. Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays at home, much of what stems from my patriotism; but I want to see how that manifests in a country that is so different from mine and where independence was gained so much more recently. I feel like I’m in Jamaica at such an exciting time and I really want to see how Jamaicans respond to these events and feel how Jamaicans feel in response to them.

~Melissa Peterson 

* * *

If you are interested in seeing more of Ryan's thoughts on these matters, see his other recent post on the "All-inclusive, All-exclusive Resort." Have you had experiences like these? Can and should "we the people" do something differently?

The All-Inclusive, All-Exclusive Resort

Ryan Walker takes a hard look at tourism's impact on Jamaica.

* * *

For those Americans living near the coast, imagine, if you can for a second, your favorite beach spot. That beach is pretty nice, isn’t it? You like it because it may be the best beach in your eyes, or you went there for spring break or a senior trip, or it may have been the best one back when your parents used to go there as kids. Now, take that beautiful image of fun on the beach, catching waves in the tide, and getting a nice tan and throw it all away. Imagine that beach is now property of some resort and the only way to get to back to that beach is pay an outrageous fee to get into the resort. That is the reality for Jamaica, home of Caribbean honeymoons, wild Spring Break trips, and tropical paradise.

This tropical island has had its best beaches taken away from it so that American, and other tourists, maybe like yourself, can come and enjoy the best of Jamaica.

Offended?

If you have never been to a resort in Jamaica, or the Caribbean for that matter, then maybe you have that right, but for those that have, please read the rest of this article. In the 1960s, Jamaica gained its independence, August 6, 1962, to be exact. At about the same time, the government of Jamaica realized the “value” that could be had from developing a tourism industry that catered to tourists around the world, but mainly from the United States. As a result, development began all over the island, most heavily along Jamaica’s Northern Coast. International hotel management companies invested in large, resort complexes that provided their visitors everything they might need with the resort wall. Companies paid bottom dollar for construction cost and labor wages, and the environment was the last thing on most developers mind.

Fifty years later, those same resort walls and gated entrances with security guards liter the highway from Montego Bay to Port Antonio. These walls serve as a physical barrier keeping Jamaicans out, and sheltering tourists. The best of Jamaica’s coastal and maritime landscape was either taken from its people, or destroyed as a result of environmental damages from environmentally irresponsible development. That statement may be enough to get a few hits on the internet from concerned Americans, or a second thought about booking that vacation to Sandals in Ocho Rios, but other than that, there may not be much change. So the favorite beach spot metaphor didn’t strike the strongest chord? Now imagine the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, or Yellowstone National Parks and all their natural beauty being privatized as resorts. That gets a better reaction, does it not? Those are our national beauties.

So what does this issue of the all-inclusive resort have with sustainability? Besides the glaring environmental impacts of beach, and in some cases, water side development, there is a troubling issue of social sustainability. By creating resorts that have excluded Jamaicans, the Jamaican society is already feeling the side effects. Jamaicans no longer have public access to many of its better beaches, creating a rift the sense of ownership that is inherent between citizen and native landscape. Many towns that have all-inclusive resorts in or near them have experienced financial struggles. In Ocho Rios, the number of restaurants has gone down based on a lowering demand for food services. Many shops have also closed because tourists are getting their shopping needs within the resort itself. The impact has reached even agriculture, where farmers are no longer providing food for these resorts, not being able to compete with the prices of imported food that go straight to the resort kitchens.

The true impact of all-inclusive, all-exclusive resorts is one at the social and cultural level. These impacts have robbed many Jamaicans of their land, their livelihood, and the prospect to sustain themselves and their families.

Cockpit Country. Jet Cockpits.

Just a few days ago we visited Cockpit Country, a region of Jamaica located more towards the west side of the Island. We left Durga’s Den at 6:46 a.m., while the LEAP students stayed at the farm, learning things about permaculture, agroforestry, and natural building. We arrived in the Alps community of the Cockpit Country and were greeted by Nikisha Reed, Dr. Garraway and Dr. Murphy from the University of the West Indies, and local community members from that area. The day began with a presentation by a member of Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency. The presentation covered information regarding the landscape of Cockpit Country, possible impacts of climate change to the area, current farming practices and threats to that environment, and what the agency is working on.

We then were lead into a more remote setting where we began a hike around primarily untouched forests. Our guides stopped frequently to point out various medicinal plants, which were plenty, and many endemic species. Some of these species were not endemic solely to Jamaica but to the Cockpit Country alone. It was amazing to think that we were seeing species that exist only to that tiny part of the world. It is another factor which makes me realize how special Jamaica is.

This guided hike was an example of eco-tourism, which is an alternative to traditional tourism which tends to cause harm, rather than benefit, the country in which it is occurring. Eco-tourism is a way to expose people to a new landscape/ country in a sustainable manner. People can experience the area and benefit from it and at the same time gain an appreciation for the well-being and preservation of that place, its bioregional uniqueness, and how people can fit into it more harmoniously. It was good to be exposed to eco-tourism, to know that more sustainable responsible tourism is in the works. 

~Gabrielle Reese

* * *

Gabrielle brings up something that to think about more carefully. Eco-tourism is pretty hot right now. It is being termed "sustainable" because of its attempt to fit people's desire for travel into ecosystems without destroying them. But there are some complications. I'll only say a quick word about one of the issues.

Earlier this summer we listened to an interview with James Garvey on on the ethics of climate change. There are arguments against tourism as we know it because of climate change. Jet set people contribute a considerable amount of CO2 to the atmosphere, thereby escalating and exacerbating climate change. 

Using the TerraPass carbon calculator, our five intrepid visitors to Jamaica will have generated over 8,000 pounds of CO2 to travel by jet from Philadelphia to Montego Bay and back. That's roughly 1/5 of a typical American's total annual carbon footprint, about 2/5 of a typical Brit's, about equal to a typical Chinese citizen, and 4 times an Indian's. [Look at the U.N.'s 2007 CO2 footprint per capita by nation here.] We know our carbon intensive economy causes climate change with high degrees of certainty. 

Can we call eco-tourism "sustainable" we commandeer our way through the air from the jet cockpit sustainable? Is it "greenwashing?" Will most of us have to abandon long-haul jet flights?

Rainbows over the Mountains

"Beautiful rainbow over the hills of Portland, Jamaica. We were at one of the FAO demonstration sites."
~ Gabrielle Reese

Playing Cricket

As part of the English Commonwealth many Jamaicans love cricket, a sport we Americans don't experience much. In some down time recently, we got to play!

Picnics

Eating lunch on the side of a river in Portland. Land owned by Mr. Donaldson

who is the farmer at one of the FAO demonstration sites. Curried chicken and

breadfruit yumm! Penn State participants on left include Melissa and Ryan Walker and

Neil Brown and Ryan Brown on the right.



Photo by Gabrielle Reese

Sustainability Assessment

~Gabrielle Reese briefly lets you into how the class has the students merging the theory and practices of sustainability to actually assess their experiences and the operations of places they've visited over the last few weeks.

* * *

This week in Jamaica has been a change of pace from our usual on-the-go routine. The past three days have been spent at Durga’s Den, following the departure of the 14 incoming freshmen. We began Monday afternoon collaborating with and learning from Spud Marshall via Skype. Spud works with New Leaf Initiative, an organization stationed in State College. Pennsylvania that works on sustainability projects. He has previously worked to create sustainability assessment reports for various companies, so he shared with us some of his knowledge on how to go about creating one of these reports. 

We then began to brainstorm how we would create these sustainability reports for two of the places we have stayed in Jamaica - Crystal Ripple Beach Lodge and Durga’s Den. The next two days were spent brainstorming what would be included in these documents. We contemplated questions like

What is our shared understanding of sustainability, as it would relate to the companies we are analyzing?

How can we effectively offer suggestions to these companies?

We eventually decided that instead of focusing on sustainability as a whole within these companies, we would focus on food and water sustainability. We then narrowed it down further and decided that our concentration would be on Durga’s Den, to create a sort of brochure as a marketing tool for them.

The rest of our days were spent working on other upcoming assignments. These focus on various readings we were assigned in the weeks preceding our departure for Jamaica, as well as the Natural Step sustainability framework, which we use frequently in our studies. One for example, has us focusing on a reading of David W. Orr who is a pioneer in theoretical/philosophical approaches to sustainability. Keeping with his explanations of various problems causing unsustainability, we are to assess whether or not we have seen these issues playing out in Jamaica based on our experiences.

The next 4 days will be spent in Kingston, Jamaica’s capitol. I will update to share what we experience in this famous city. 

* * *

Orr's book Ecological Literacy is a major work in the field of sustainability studies and environmental/sustainability education. Today, we face ecocidal crises which include the rapid accumulation of greenhouse gases causing climate change, massive soil erosion, deforestation, mass extinctions, ocean acidification, and the growing gulf between the human haves and have nots are caused. These are caused by any or a combination of five things that people do, believe, or are. In order, they are:

1. Social traps like the tragedy of the commons (read Garret Hardin's article here) and keeping up with the Joneses.

2. Unchecked economic growth. Nothing can grow forever on a finite planet. As Edward Abbey famously said, "Growth is the ideology of the cancer cell." If we live on a giant petri dish, it is possible that we could eat our way through the whole thing if we don't let it regenerate. See James Gustav Speth's book Bridge at the Edge of the World.

3. The human desire or will to dominate nature. The ideologies and systems of belief humans have created lead us to dominate and exploit nature. The Old Testament's "dominion" notion can lead the faithful to believe it is their holy duty to subjugate non-human nature (see Genesis 1:28). And since Francis Bacon, science, scientists, engineers, and other technologists have sought to fully exploit nature to unsustainable degrees.

4. Perhaps humans have taken an evolutionary wrong turn. Our big brains and all that we can do them have made us into another creature that could drive itself to extinction because even if we are clever, we have not become wise.

5. Human nature is just flawed. Whatever human nature might be, we people are simply restless creatures that can't stop ourselves from tinkering with everything even to our peril. We can't help it.

These summaries are oversimplified to some degree. However, I hope you can get an inkling as to how you can think about them in your experiences and how Gabrielle and the other students have used these as heuristics to examine the way that these five causes are at play in Jamaica and their lives here.

Which do you see at work most in America today?

Does "Organic" Mean Sustainable? Maybe Not.

Some questions have been pressing me in my time here, especially as the four of us have been working on our first project. Neil asked us a question from which to base a discussion: Is organic farming a sustainable practice in Jamaica? The four of us all have different opinions of the issue, ranging in a spectrum of optimism and pessimism. Some of my colleagues are completely optimistic about organic farming as it plays into sustainability, but on the other hand, I’m stuck. I see multiple sustainability frameworks. I don’t just see the Natural Step framework, with its four principles based under degradation, pollution, extraction, and barriers. I also see another framework, briefly mentioned to me by Dr. Smith (from the University of the West Indies). This framework involves not only the environment, but also personal welfare, economics, and social interactions. 

The Natural Step is useful for evaluating the sustainability of something from a primarily environmental lens. But if we want to analyze a system as it would truly functions, we must consider all aspects of that system: this includes bringing the system  out of its bubble and analyzing market and community interactions. Going organic or going sustainable isn’t easy because it’s complex. That sounds like a simple statement, but I continuously meet people who are championing organic, when in reality, it’s not feasible for the Jamaican market as it works today. The price of organic is too high right now to be economical for the average Jamaican who goes to the store to buy food for his or her family. Organic farming is interesting, because  it takes so much time and so much labor and quite frankly, some assets with which to start, to run such a venture. In the scope of feeding one’s family, growing commercially makes ends meet. To completely put all other needs on hold to be ‘certified’ organic is a toll paid in money (that can be spent on school fees), manual effort (which means a bodily toll), time (that can be spent with loved ones), etc. 

The sacrifices that need to be made by a small Jamaican farmer just may not warrant the benefits of becoming organic certified. If you are fending in the short-term, there isn’t time or resources to plan for the long-term. The costs to personal welfare automatically shut down a branch of the broader sustainability framework. Unless the Jamaican government were to decide to regulate that everyone is to go organic, then I will make the argument that under the current conditions (some of which I talked about, but many of which I left untouched) organic is not a sustainable practice for Jamaica. This of course comes with the understanding that much of what small farmers like Lise and Lisa do are organic and sustainable. Neither farmer has a typical Jamaican background though. These are all things to keep in mind as we move forward in our discussions. 

~ Melissa Peterson

The State of Organic Farming in Jamaica

Ryan Walker wonders about how sustainable organic agriculture is today.

* * *

Organic farming has become a popular industry within the agriculture industry of many countries as a result of a driving push for societies to become more sustainable.  At the surface, the image and science of organic farming is a sustainable practice, but when taken at a broader scale, the claim of sustainability starts to lose its strength.  We have observed organic farming in Jamaica and assessed and investigated its sustainability here. We interviewed several farmers over the past few weeks at different farms where they are pursuing organic certification. They answered questions about farming methods and how “organic” they are.  For many people, organic and sustainable go hand-in-hand.  Ideally, this should be the case, but this is not always true.  This short entry will not define organic farming in Jamaica, but rather, the relationship of organic farming and sustainability in Jamaica.

In an earlier reading in this course, David Orr in his chapter “Two Meanings of Sustainability” from his book Hope is an Imperative: The Essential David Orr, presented two types of sustainability: "sustainable development," the economic and technological solutions to our current problems with humanity and the environment, and "ecological sustainability," an approach focused on the social and natural solutions to the problems created by technology and money. The argument about organic farming and its sustainability falls within the ideas of these two meanings of sustainability.  On one side of the sustainability question, organic farming achieves ecological sustainability better than any other form of farming.  The importance placed on farming without any herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers, farming multiple crops to manage the amount of nutrients being pulled from the soil, and farming in areas that have the least impact on soil degradation and erosion meet most people’s ideas of what sustainable farming should look like. This organic farming also solves the problems of past farming methods that were damaging to the earth and is seen as a better social avenue for farming.

The other side of sustainability looks at the economics and technical solutions of sustainability, and this is an area that organic farming falls short.  Many of the questions that have been asked in Jamaica so far deal with the capacity of organic farming to sustain Jamaicans with all the food that they need.  Some farmers say yes while others are not as optimistic. Despite growing crops in a much more sustainable way, organic farming does not currently serve the majority of Jamaica’s agricultural consumption and many Jamaicans chose against organic products.  Even though people may think that organic is better, they cannot afford foods sold as organic.  The matter of economics is one of the biggest hurdles to organic farming being sustainable.  The current organic agriculture market has created a social barrier to the majority of Jamaicans, pricing them out of the organic choice.  Instead, most Jamaicans will choose imported food that is cheaper.  Another great barrier to organic being sustainable in my eyes is the economic burden that the farmers themselves are placed in.  For a farmer to become a certified organic producer, they must meet a list of principles set forward to ensure the quality of organic foods.  This process is not only very expensive, but can take a minimum of three to five years. [You can read the standards for the Jamaican Organic Agriculture Movement here.]

In the current agricultural industry in Jamaica, organic farming is not sustainable.  The majority of organic farmers are not producing a sustainable economic yield while the foods they put to market are out the reach of the Jamaican population.  In order to become sustainable, organic farming would have to become the only method of agriculture in Jamaica to ensure that prices are lowered for the Jamaican public.  Organic farming would also have to become much more regulated in order to ensure that the market does not become flooded with one specific crop.  By regulating organic farming, the government could ensure that competition does not commercialize the organic industry recreating the current issues within Jamaica.

* * *

A lot of people who write on energy demand (sometimes calling it "need") talk about natural gas as the bridge fuel between oil and coal to renewable sources. Do you think we need to bridge between chemically-intensive agriculture and fully organic agriculture? What pitfalls and opportunities do you see?

First-year Students & the Balance Between Environmental Management and Poverty

Gabrielle and Melissa muse on first-year students joining them in Jamaica.

* * *

The 14 incoming freshmen have arrived in Jamaica. Neil, Ryan B, Ryan W, Melissa and I arrived at the airport in Montego Bay to pick them up last Saturday at around 10 am. Because of delayed flights and such we waited there untill around 7pm when their flight finally arrived. The next day we all came together for a brief lecture/ discussion led by Neil. We went over three articles, one by Peter Singer, the other by Bjorn Lomberg, and the third by Gerard Lameiro. The articles tackled the question, “Does helping the environment hurt the poor?” However, each approached the question in a different way, and the third article recognizes this. Lameiro talked about how each sustainability leader  is working towards the same goal but is doing so in a manner which tended to work against, instead of with, each other. It is interesting to see how the barrier to collaboration happens within the sustainability movement like it does in other movements.

Joined by the new students, we traveled to Zionites Farm (read a trip adviser review here), another FAO demonstration site. This was by far one of my favorite farms I have visited so far, and I believe the freshmen enjoyed it as well. I loved seeing smiles on their faces and watching their eyes light up as they not only learned a little about this organic farm but tasted, smelled and saw the Jamaica’s biodiversity. This farm is owned and operated by Lisa and Chris Benz. I had met Lisa previously, when she joined us on our adventure to Portland. This was my first time meeting her husband though. He had a great spirit that made the visit fun, exciting and educational.

Tuesday we all took a trip back up to Durga’s Den for the day. I was excited for the new students to see the place where I had spent most of my time in Jamaica thus far and where I had subsequently become so comfortable. We were joined by four panelists, one of whom was Lisa Benz. These Panelists discussed various aspects of the Jamaica Organic Agriculture Movement (JOAM), such as which organizations are working on this movement like the IICA, and the basics of food security in Jamaica. We all actively engaged in the Q & A following and I feel as if the freshmen learned a lot from the day. 

~ Gabrielle Reese

* * *

LEAP has arrived and has thus far exceeded my expectations. I was honestly a bit worried about how everything was going to turn out with the merging of the groups, but I’ve talked to most of the freshmen now, and I think they’re great. They are young and open and full of questions and I’m so excited to get to see them take in this experience. It’s strange at the same time though. I feel like it was two weeks ago that I was starting my freshman year when in reality it was two years ago and I’m in a completely different position now. I’m in a position where I’m expected to lead small groups of younger students (both with the freshmen and at Durga’s with the campers), and soon I’ll be mentoring another group of freshmen back in PA for TOTEMS (Total Orientation to Earth and Mineral Sciences). I find it hard to believe that I’ve made a transition from clueless undergrad to informed leader-in-training. I feel a bit wide-eyed right now that I’m at a point where people trust me to talk about my discipline. I would really like to do some training in discussion facilitation, I think that would be helpful for my growth as a mentor.

Today was very good in terms of discussion. Neil facilitated our first discussion as a whole group (after we managed to fit 21 bodies into one hotel room) and we went through two articles by Peter Singer and Bjorn Lomborg titled “Does Helping the Environment Hurt the Poor?” We briefly delved into the arguments for both sides, before touching on a third piece by Glen Low which talked about the similarities between the two sides. It made it apparent that through all of the topics that can be argued which stem from “sustainability” there is a common ground that we need to recognize. Realizing that common ground is going to be a major step in cooperation for how we, as a global citizenry, move forward. Someone brought up the point that balance is a key operative if we do want to move towards alleviating poverty and helping the planet. The third article pointed out that the two issues are inextricably linked. So what steps do we take from here? What lessons can these Nittany Lions take from Jamaica this week to work on these pressing issues? I am sure we have an interesting week lying ahead of us.

Tomorrow we will (hopefully) be venturing to two organic farms in the area. Today we worked on investigative questions based on the four sustainability principles in the Natural Step framework to ask the farmers tomorrow. The LEAPers are definitely eager to learn and my group came up with some good questions. I’m looking forward to the big discussions tomorrow and to see their observation skills at work. I think I can learn a lot from these students. I am also looking forward to making my own comparison between these farms and the farms we saw in the Blue Mountains. I’ll be looking out for permaculture design principles, sustainability principles, and the regulations for organic farming.

~Melissa Peterson

* *  *

You can read the articles Gabrielle and Melissa are referring to:
Peter Singer's "Does Helping the Planet Hurt the Poor?"
Bjorn Lomborg's "Escaping Poverty is Good for the Environment"
Glen Low, "A False Dillemma: Clean Up the Environment or Reduce Poverty"

"It all boils down to what you are comfortable with."

This entry is the final reflection on life at Durga's Den from Melissa Peterson.

* * *

As I’m certain many of the others will address, life at Durga’s Den is not the same as life in the states. As a matter of fact, life at Durga’s Den isn’t like life in the city of Ocho Rios which lies at the foot of the mountain. There are some things I relish about this place. I love the view from my cottage. The vista of the city below is breathtaking at all hours of the day. I enjoy watching types of clouds I’ve never even seen before pass overhead on a journey to the other side of the island. Storms that deliver rain and lightning, I watch from the top of the hill, too high up to be affected. The biota that thrives here is lush and green even though we haven’t see more than a few drops of rain up here on the mountain. The young campers and the staff have become our friends. The stars shine like millions of pin pricks in a black velvet sky. The open air construction allows a breeze to penetrate every building. There’s nothing like an outdoor shower overlooking a valley.

Granted, there are also things I don’t like. I don’t like using a well-used composting toilet. I don’t like some of the smells that come with using manure for just about everything. I don’t like losing electricity at 9 pm every night because the solar battery keeps running out. I don’t like the aggressive dogs that nip at my ankles unless I baby talk them. I don’t like ants finding every bit of food. I’m not a fan of being up by 5:40 AM to get to yoga by 6. I’m not a fan of the showers being all the way across the compound from my cottage.

A greywater system at Durga's Den.
Picture by Gabrielle Reese.

Through all of this though, one sees the dual aspects. I love the open-air gazebo: it’s probably my favorite building on site. I love the breeze cooling it off all throughout the day. On the other hand, flies know where to find food, and you’ll find yourself being dive-bombed by five at once. On another note, I love our quaint cottage. At the same time, it’s hard to move around the small space and I find myself more comfortable on the outer decks.

It all boils down to what you’re comfortable with. I’ve been in plenty of situations where I’ve been uncomfortable with the a) type of toilet b) quantity of insects c) the shower situation d) the lack of light after a certain time. [See greywater system pictured at right.] I find myself able to adapt now though. Where in other situations, I feel this relief entering a comfort-zone space again, this experience is holding me in the growth zone even after leaving. My brain is constantly processing the differences between Durga’s Den and my hotel room, Durga’s Den and my house, Durga’s Den and my dorm.

I’m starting to see where I waste energy after 9:00 PM. I’m starting to see that I don’t need hot showers. I’m starting to see that I don’t need an inefficient big house or an inefficient old dorm. Where can I make changes to existing structures in my life? Where can I make changes to myself? These are all going to be prominent questions in my mind the next few days as I process the living phase. 

* * *

Where can you and I change? What can we be comfortable with?

Disruptions and Detours

If you've followed our short foray you've noticed that we've been MIA for about a week. Our crew encountered some hard knocks. Both Ryans got very ill with one of them having to be taken to a hospital. Talk about an immersive experience. We'll be up and running again in no time, including updates on some pretty incredible experiences, thoughts on sustainability, and pictures from Jamaica's famous Cockpit Country.

Yoga...A Journey

At Durga’s Den, the bell at the Gazebo rings at 5:45 AM every morning. The tenants of the cabins stir and groan and pull themselves out of bed. The cabin at the top of the hill overlooks the city of Ocho Rios. The buildings below look like match boxes when they are not shrouded by fog. One tenant of this cabin looks at her clock every morning, wondering how she is still managing to lumber out of bed and down to the Stone House every day by 6:00. She pulls on her workout shorts and stumbles down the hill, gingerly stepping the path which is littered with loose stones. She trudges up the steps to the stone house, a two story building whose walls are a light stone, grouted together with cement. The mats are laid out on the mahogany colored wood floors. She goes to her mat and waits silently for the rest of the tenants to sleepily arrive and navigate to their respective mats.

Meditation: Two mats to my left a thirteen year old boy is fidgeting. Behind me, someone is scratching mosquito bites. I struggle to keep my eyes closed and block out the everything that is not the heart shakra. Focus on the shakra. A rooster croaks out his  “cockle doodle doooo” but it comes out sounding more like “rauuuckk raauuck raauck raaaaoooooo”! The dogs start yapping outside the building, barking back to dogs down the hill. Focus, focus, focus.

Every meditation is a struggle to ‘center’ my thoughts and clear my mind, and I seriously don’t even know what that means. My brain is always thinking, and turning that off just doesn’t make sense to me. I am finding that this type of meditation doesn’t work so well for me. I’ve meditated in other ways in the past, and I think I’m better off sticking to those.

Yoga: Sun salutations. Rise up, stretch to the sky, bend at the waist, right knee back, push hips down and head up, left foot back into plank, knees to the floor, chest to the floor, rise up in cobra, curl your toes and push you behind to the sky, right foot forward between your hands, left foot forward between your hands, fold up, inhale, exhale, repeat on left side.

Doing this entire process over and over again wears on my patience. I find myself bored, even if I am getting better at the actual movements and poses. Find the patience to carry on.

I feel myself getting stronger in my core, I can hold myself up in ways I couldn’t ten days ago. I am more flexible. My body feels good. Is this something to continue even though I dislike actually doing it?

Relaxation: I love relaxation on my mat. My body melts into the ground, my mind clears...maybe meditation works better for me laying down? Breathe in, breathe out. Relax my toes, ankles, knees, etc. all the way up to my face. I feel at peace.

Yoga every morning has been a journey for me. Some days it’s difficult to find the strength and the motivation to do just one more pose. Sometimes on those same days though, I leave the stone house standing high and feeling open to the world. Every day I find a new strength and feel like I’m making progress. Is this something I may want to continue at home? Perhaps. I still can’t be tempted into headstands, but I’m open to the benefits of yoga now.

~Melissa Peterson

Biodynamics, Biodiversity, Holism, and Patterns

Gabrielle Reese is excited about Biodynamic agriculture.

***

Today we learned about Biodynamics, a farming practice pioneered by Rudolph Steiner. I am excited to learn more about this brilliant aspect of sustainability. I hope to incorporate it into my own gardening practices.

In a nutshell, this is the integration of the farm within a holistic system. The farm is a living organism. One way to practice Biodynamics involves planting according to lunar cycles. Just as the moon regulates the tide, with fuller moons creating high tide and less full moons creating low tide, it also regulates water in living systems. For plants such as fruit trees, you are to plant on fuller moons, as the water and therefore energy of the plant is concentrated in the upper part of the plant. This is beneficial to fruit trees as the fruit is the part of the plant that you reap and is that which requires the most energy. Plants such as carrots and potatoes from which we yield the roots of the plants are to be planted on less full moons, when the energy is concentrated at the bottom of the plant. There are ways to recognize and study the natural processes of life, and mimic these processes. Doing this is beneficial to not only your yields but the also overall long-term health of your farm and the biodiversity of the surroundings, therefore sustaining these elements.

Penn State students (clockwise from top
to bottom) Ryan Walker, Ryan Brown, and
Gabrielle Reese prepare a Biodynamic
nest. Picture by Melissa Peterson.

Another aspect of Biodynamics is agroforestry. This is a way to introduce agriculture into a forest system. A nest is created, with a plant in the center that serves various purposes. From there, sticks and branches are laid out in a circular fashion from the center out, with the largest branches at the outermost radius. This serves to add to microorganism diversity of the soil as well as helping to retain soil. Compost or manure is added, and various seeds are dispersed all over the nest. Brush and leaves are piled on top and the nest is then watered. Your nest then grows into a rich biodiverse space allowing you to farm without harming to the forest. 

***

At every step life in Jamaica challenges our students. As you can see, they aren't just lolly-gagging in a beautiful place. Every day they work. For over a week, they have been visiting and working with and for Jamaican farmers and learning many things including. "There's no such thing as a free lunch." Farming means working. Labor. Sustainable agriculture means focus and intention and taking a long view of the farm as an integrated system or organism in the larger patterns of nature. Wendell Berry calls this kind of agricultural thinking "solving for pattern."

Gabrielle, then, as part of the farm for a while is part of the organism. Hopefully, she is a healthy part and one that promotes the health of the larger organism.

Life at Durga's Den

Gabrielle Reese seems to be really embracing a new life and way of being that is "sustainable."

***

This is day 8 in Jamaica. We arrived at Durga’s Den, a sustainable living community in Ocho Rios, the morning of our second day. I was so excited to be immersed in this community, to experience even for a short while the type of lifestyle that I want so desperately to live. At Durga’s Den they are completely off the grid. Their electricity is supplied through solar panels that are placed on the roof of our main meeting spot- the stone house. In order to conserve water, especially during the current dry spell, they have installed composting toilets*, use 3 gallon buckets in the shower, the “pi-pi” room is flush free, and buckets are used in the kitchen dish washing sinks.

For those of you unfamiliar with composting toilets, they basically collect the human waste instead of flushing it down using many gallons of water to be treated by a water treatment facility. Here at Durga’s Den, you are to cover your waste with sawdust in order to mask the smell. The waste is then used as compost in the forest and for some fruit trees. Although to some this might seem unpleasant and strange, I have embraced these toilets as they are a necessary step in sustainable living.

The two owners of the compound are Lyse and Michael Charron. Along with these two there are a handful of workers who help out daily in the various aspects of development- from grey water systems and compost to building construction and cooking. All but two are Jamaicans; those two are from Mexico. We have been waking up every morning at 5:45 am to start meditation and yoga at 6:00. Lyse is our instructor. This has been a wonderful experience for me as I actively practice yoga, and have been yearning to begin meditating. Starting my day early is also nice. I believe yoga and meditation fit nicely into sustainability, as one must be able to sustain themselves- especially their mind- in order to sustain the world around them.

Making seed balls. Picture by Melissa Peterson.

We are joined by four other students here at Durga’s Den. Laura and Mark are from Canada and are Lyse’s grand niece and nephew. Javon and Shinque are from Jamaica. We are all working through Lyse’s sustainability workshop. So far in this workshop we have begun studying permaculture, we were introduced to the permaculture principles, and identified which principles applied to which of the various projects around the compound. We have also begun discussing the major environmental issues that plague the world community today, such as fertile soil erosion and water scarcity. We have begun understanding sustainability by working hands on, on various projects such as a grey water system (to filter water) and a compost pile.

This past weekend we traveled to Portland to see other farms. Mr. Donaldson’s farm is one of the other handful of demonstration sites in collaboration with the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). These sites are not all technically certified organic, however all and practicing some form of organic or sustainable farming. We visited two other farms, which were local community farms, as well in the area. We will be traveling to visit other farms in the coming weeks. We are to observe the various practices of these various farms and challenge ourselves to identify which farms are actually sustainable. It is not always easy to identify who or what is sustainable. However, I am hoping that through these experiences I will be able to better identify this. 

***

We've had a few entries now involving the composting toilet. Some of you might thing, "A what?" You get the toilet. Maybe you know what composting is. But a toilet that composts? Basically, it's a toilet people use to create fertile soil. In a permacultural or Biodynamic farming system (see Gabrielle's next entry for a small preview of Biodynamic farming). To get a basic idea, though, on a composting toilet, watch this video of Penn State professor Madhu Suri Prakash and George Ann Clark talking about composting toilets, soil care, postmodern peasantry, and sustainable communities in Mexico.

In some circles, people refer to composting toilets as "appropriate technology." What is appropriate about it? How does it conflict with your ideas of civilization? How does it resonate with you?

Becoming a mosquito...a good one.

From Ryan Brown:

If a year ago someone would have told me that I would be living off the grid, I would have laughed and told them to stop lying. Well here we are today and I am living at Durga’s Den, a five-acre plot of land in Jamaica completely off the grid (see their Sustainability Workshops here). By off the grid I do not mean, no cell reception and in the middle of nowhere. I mean no water bill for running water. no electric bills. the site sustains itself. Solar panels provide all the electricity the facilities need. There is a rainwater catching system that supplies all the water onsite. It is like something out of a movie. All the food we have eaten (mostly vegetarian) has been grown on the farm. All in all while staying at Durga’s Den I have learned so much.

Confucius said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” For many years I have heard about living sustainably but I forgot all about it once I was removed from the conversation. Now that I am hear and I see what living sustainably and organically is, I am in a position to always remember what I been presented with. Moving forward with the idea we are living sustainably at the moment and that helps all of us understand and be able to apply it to our lives.

Durga’s Den’s owners, Lyse and her husband Michael, have made such a large impact by one small action. They have stuck a very powerful cord in their small community on the outskirts of Ocho Rios. The widespread influence they have had is astonishing. We have witnessed a few people come to Durga’s Den and stay the night just to get the experience; couples and families come as a vacation and to embrace the fully immersive nature of the site. Homegrown animals, compost, and food…Durga’s Den has it all in such a small package. The lessons I have learned thus far, the experience that I have had, is truly something that is not and will not be easily forgotten.

“If you think you are too small to make an effective (difference), you have never been in the dark with a mosquito, said Betty Reese. Believe me, we have enough mosquito bites to understand how much of a difference or how effective one small person or action can make.

Right now, I strongly encourage people to get up and start making a difference in this world. Each citizen should begin to think globally about the impact of their actions and start to take small actions count for the positive. Mother Nature is screaming out for help.

It is our turn to provide relief for her as she has protected us for millions of years.

***

I am reminded of a recent blog post by Andrew Revkin at the New York Times blog, DotEarth titled, "Can Engaged Global Citizens Foster Earth-Friendly Diplomacy?" Given school's role in fostering citizenship in general, perhaps it's time we rethought what good citizenship in such an obviously interconnected world. As David Orr argues, the new benchmark for education should be "ecologically literacy." An ecologically literate person would be a lower-negative impact citizen who might, as Ryan notes, "begin to think globally about the impact of their actions and start to take small actions to count for the positive." But I guess this begs the question, "What is positive?"

Sustaining family. Composting toilets.

This reflection comes from Ryan Walker.

***

It has been about 6 days now since we have arrived in Jamaica. This has truly been an immersive experience. I have seen more “organic farming” in these past five to six days than I have seen my entire life.  My understanding of sustainable living and sustainable practices has been questioned and reframed and questioned and reframed again and again. Every time I encounter someone else my perspective on the subject is changed and broadened. What resonates most about these past few days is the realization of how sustainability is not just something academics speak about behind closed doors but that people of all ages putting these principles into practices every day including living habits and organic farming.

Composting toilet outhouse.

I have been challenged to adapt to a lifestyle well beyond my comfort zone. Living in an area with compostable toilets is not really my thing (pictured at left). Yes, it saves water but this is something I really would like to go without. While I find it hard every day to continue on my own way, seeing these farmers making a living off these crops, pushing themselves to make ends meet, and pushing their children to become better than them is something remarkable; seeing fathers and mothers create a way out for their children is truly remarkable, the strength and courage they have is unbelievable.

The people I have met so far are some of the most hardworking and selfless individuals I have ever met. Many of their lives are centered around communal bonds and community service and that is one thing I admire most about them. They all have this yearning to selflessly serve and provide for their community, whether it is providing jobs or just keeping the young involved in something constructive, these people are paving the way.

If only this sort of support was mimicked in the States, so many more people would be in a better place emotionally.

One thing I struggle to understand has been the necessity to farm on a hillside. I understand now that you have to make due with what have but it is hard for me to quantify the need to put my life at risk on a mountainside. My family and I would really need to look elsewhere for a livelihood.

A few burning questions have been burning for the last few days:

• Would you be able to put aside all of yourself in order to provide for your family at all cost?
• I’ve known Americans who cast harsh judgments on Jamaicans. How can they pass such harsh judgments on people and a history they have never met nor understood? How can you condemn someone and their country for having the same flaws as you do?

***

So how about that second-to-last question? Do you think you would be able to live and work on a hillside in the tropics? Could you be sustained doing that?

New landscapes, old wisdom, and annoying roosters

Most of the upcoming posts are reflections written by Ryan, Ryan, Gabrielle, and Melissa. Already, life is pretty interesting. Over the coming 24 hours, I'll be posting several of their reflections.

The first is from Ryan Walker. Without further ado...

July 10:

The flight from Philadelphia down along the Eastern Seaboard to Miami serves as an interesting precursor to the things that we will be discussing and observing in Jamaica.  Even from 30,000 feet, one sees the impacts that we have had on the environment.  It is most troublesome to see these impacts brought right up against the shoreline.  Most notable from the air are three human influences: massive suburban developments, large plots of land devoted to circle irrigation, and countless golf courses intermixed between houses and the shore.  Without getting to Jamaica yet, I know that at least two of these items, suburban developments and golf courses have already been carved into Jamaica’s landscape, the golf courses specifically designed to cater to “American” needs. 

The massive all-inclusive beach resorts with their decorated retaining walls and their unseen golf courses serve as an immediate indicator that we are in an artificial Jamaica.  This creation calls back to Illich’s harsh comments about the American volunteer and the American system being brought to developed countries that may not truly want it.  In the dead of night, one cannot begin to understand the landscape in which he has found himself, but the observations along the way will prove useful in understanding sustainability in a poorer country.

July 11:

The Jamaican landscape does not disappoint.  The common notion of a tropical paradise is indeed an apt description of the place we have woken up to.  It is nice to not be in one of the megaresorts but there is still a sense that I am here and seen as a wealthy visitor.  However, I had a conversation with a Jamaican man on the beach this morning and somehow we started talking about resorts and such.  It was interesting because he said to me, “Mon, in Jamaica, we have little things, so what we do is we boast.  One man have fancy car, he boast, you come here to fancy hotel and id make you think you better than me,” he said with a smile.  “De only thing that is for certain is you live one day, the next you die.  You may have the fancy hotel, but I have the beach because it is Jamaica.  We same flesh, same blood, and what happen to the man who have a million bucks who die? He gone, but I still here.  Same flesh, same blood, no different between you and me.”  His comments are very true because we are mortal and the things of ours on this earth we cannot take with us when we go. 

So, that asks the question, do the Jamaican people need the economy, the pleasures, or the life that Americans have?  If you ask many of them they would probably would say, “Yes.”  And it’s true, Americans are blessed beyond belief, but can we achieve a better life with less? That is at the core of sustainability.  Remember the Jamaican man’s words, “you live one day, you die the next…same flesh, same blood, no different between you and me.”

July 12:

Today was the first full day at Durga’s Den.  One of the most challenging things from last night was the heat, the dogs and the roosters in the morning.  It wasn’t the fact that I was not able to fall asleep, when your body is tired enough it can fall asleep in any condition, but it was the constant waking up because of those things.  The most surprising thing was the amount of dogs that were out barking late into the night.  Back home, if somebody’s dog was barking they would have had very upset neighbors that would have insisted that the dog be quieted, here not so much.  My experience as a summer camp counselor for three summers has  made the transition to living at Dutrga’s Den much more smooth, although I know there will be some things that I will have to get myself accustomed to.  

The Faces of New Friends

Two Faces of Sustainability

As we noted here before, “sustainability” is one of those concepts that’s easy to abuse. I often wonder how the term can mean much of anything at all if a small-scale organic agriculture movement like Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and mega-corporations like Monsanto or Alcoa can also use it. Richard Heinberg notes in his book Peak Everything that some environmentalists are just abandoning using the term “sustainability” for that very reason. But we have some trust that it means something.

So we’ve taken a little time looking at a couple of major writings in the history of sustainability and tried to understand the tension in the word. They are the World Commission on Environment and Development’s (WCED) Our Common Future and the Earth Charter and then David Orr’s examination of “technological sustainability” and "ecological sustainability." 

Before we go on, we should note that most everyone involved with sustainability hold a few things in common. First, they recognize that a growing population using more materials will escalate human-caused environmental problems. Ehrlich and Holdren's I=P*A*T is essentially true (if inexact). Second, there are many human-caused social problems like disease and poverty that are often interlinked. Third, there are also many human-caused environmental problems like climate change, ocean acidification, toxification of air, land, and water, deforestation, mass extinction, and soil erosion. Fourth, social and environmental problems can, do, and will compound one another. Fifth, and finally, humans are intelligent moral creatures who can solve or ameliorate these problems. The difference is in how. So it's no wonder that we end up with different versions of sustainability. What should we sustain after all?

"Technological sustainability" is more or less synonymous with "sustainable development" as defined in Our Common Future. That document states:

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts:

• the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
• the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.

The WCED clarifies its meaning for development, "Development involves a progressive transformation of economy and society." Most corporate and governmental approaches to sustainability take this tack. As our Melissa Patterson says, "Sustainable development is intended to appeal to both environmentalists and economists. It is supposed to be a cross between furthering ourselves in economic growth while moving towards sustainable living. This approach involves a top-down approach that is very policy-oriented." Ryan Walker notes "[sustainable development] provides options that want to bring developing countries up to the level of developed countries so that the global economy remains strong." It is a technocratic and technological approach built on the assumption that technological progress is real progress.

“Ecological sustainability" has more in common with The Earth Charter and certainly with the local grassroots initiatives like Slow Food, the Transition Towns, and the work of places like the Post Carbon Institute (where David Orr and Richard Heinberg are fellows). As such, Orr emphasizes different relationships with technology, new forms of technology that require less elaborate maintenance, and lower material input. These might be tools and technologies Ivan Illich would call tools for conviviality. Gabrielle noted that in contrast to technological sustainability, the Earth Charter and ecological sustainability value indigenous peoples because their generations of wisdom and spiritual knowledge of how to live sustainably and provide for well-being. "Their lifestyles are something to be admired as well as mimicked during this struggle for a new sustainable world," she said.


One author we read, former New York Times science writer and DotEarth blogger Andrew Revkin, wrote, "Sustain what?" In an interview, he said the following:

That is always the question. Sustainability as a word is utterly vague until you apply it to a specific issue–sustainable ecosystem, sustainable energy system, sustainable transportation system, sustainable lifestyle. Then you can kind of get an answer. So sustainability is a trait, and not a fact, and yes, that is really what it is all about.

So our question is "Can we sustain the developed status quo, indigenous people, and the environment?"