Coffee beans grown with care from the Ngobe region
The vision of the Cycles of Change bike tour is to promote a food culture that supports a healthy and sustainable food system. This food culture will encourage reliance on local food economies, maintaining crop diversity, eating and producing safe and healthy food, and preserving natural resources and the cultural values of food communities (communities that are economically and culturally linked to producing and selling food). Cycles of Change encourages the support of small, local economies whenever possible, but also recognizes the reality that some commodities, such as coffee and chocolate in the case of the United States consumers, must be transported internationally. Thus, Cycles of Change will advocate for the fair and clean production of food for both local and export production globally.
The Cycles of Change mission is to travel by bike from Panama beginning June 20th to the United States, sharing our skills and knowledge with food communities, NGOs, Cooperatives, current Peace Corps Volunteers and other local organizations as we ride through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.
Our 3 main goals throughout this journey are:
1) To promote sustainable agricultural techniques to improve soil and human health
2) To promote agribusiness skills for small farmers to improve farm organization and increase profits
3) To promote clean technologies to improve human health and overall quality of life
Cycles of Change has a small grant that Peace Corps Volunteer (PVC) and team member, Katherine Selting was awarded before joining Peace Corps by Keen’s sustainability grant program. The funding will help cover the costs of seminars and trainings with interested communities and organizations. The team will consist of four PCVs and four passionate professionals currently living in the United States.
Cycles of Change offers facilitation, technical and material support. The team’s experiences and skills include:
Design and implementation of:
- Agribusiness seminars
- Farmer field schools
- Project management and leadership skills seminars
Facilitation of general sustainable agriculture techniques in:
- Cacao and coffee management
- Home and school gardens
- Organic fertilizers
- Fish and rice tanks
- Beekeeping
Promotion of improved community health through:
- General health and nutrition education
- Family planning and HIV/AIDS education
- Mud ovens and lorena stoves
- Solar energy technologies
Cycles of Change will also develop a media component of the trip, based on information and ideas we gather along the way, exploring how these communities play into the current global food system. The media component of the trip will involve regular blogging at www.cyclesofchange.wordpress.com, articles published in different regional and national publications, and a media project that will include video, photo, and audio representations of the information we compile.
The team’s insatiable passion for adventure and its commitment to environmental and social justice will sustain its motivation and compassion throughout the tour.
