Reality?

By Alfonso McGregor

A few years ago, one of my grandchildren told me that the tangerine tasted like her gummy bears candy, the first time she tried a tangerine. I understand her point; in her short life, she had first tested Gummy Bears candy, then tangerines. In her mind, someone was copying the candy flavor on fruit. When she said that, all the family and friends around laughed. She felt a little embarrassed because she did not know why everyone was laughing. I set her in my lap. I explained to her that the candy copies the actual food flavors.
That event makes me think that adults sometimes forget about the principles of whatever we have. Not because we do not know it, but because we did not think about it. After years of engineering mentality, I was a little surprised the first time I saw my wife stop cooking and head to the garden with scissors in hand to cut cilantro. At first, I didn’t know what she was doing until she put the fresh cilantro on top of my food.
Again, that made me think. Urban life often makes us forget the basics. To have any food in the corner market, someone has to plant it, grow it, take care of it, harvest it, pack it, and transport it to our market, at least ot a distribution center. And yet, sometimes we do not realize the first one is a farmer. They put love, care, and hard work into making sure we have good and fresh food on our table.
Urban life often makes us forget the farmers who feed us. Especially the small, remote, isolated, and undeserved farmers. The US lost over two hundred thousand of those farms between 2014 and 2023. More critical is that in 2023, 11.25% of the farmers need a second job to fulfill the financial needs of their household. Their farms do not produce enough to sustain their survival. So, I decided to do something about it. I started the project AgroEnergy Farms with my team. If you believe this is something important, come on board.