First Harvest – Local

I have been returning to El Remate almost every year since 1998.  I have watched the village grow, people come and go, and tourists.  The village is reliant on tourism for hard currency and job opportunities.  In 2009 I attended the American Anthropology Associations annual conference in Philadelphia.  One anthropologist presented a paper titled: “Without tourists this village does not eat.”  His premise that an over reliance on wage labor had eroded knowledge of traditional food gardens and farming resonated with me.  Harmony Station has as part of its mission to be relearning and passing on traditional knowledge of jungle gardening and rain forest conservation.

On Sunday we began our day, a community universal day of rest, enjoying our surroundings.  We were due out to Harmony Station for lunch to enjoy Harmony Station's first harvest of organically grown maize and an afternoon of rest.  We enjoyed a leisurely walk over to Laguna Sal Petén and Harmony Station. 

We were greeted by one of the local women in the village who we have known for some time with an embracing hug.  Danny had her arrive that morning to make tortillas and empanadas for our ceremonial first feast. 

In addition, Danny made a vegetarian India/Mayan fusion rice dish that combined highly nutritious native plants (one a relative to nettle) that are high in protein.