The view from the other side

I arrived at Cochabamba one Wednesday night and I couldn´t see much of the city on our way home (with Katharina Kochhanns that works in the Ecoferia project, she agreed to have me and share her place with me during my stay). The next day when I stepped out of the house I didn´t imagine I would find this huge “cordillera” when looking back in the street. I was so amazed about it, and still am, every time I look at it from every point in the city, that, by the way, is also very useful if you are used to getting lost very easily, like me.

Everyone welcomed me very warmly in the office and included me in a lot of different activities right away, so I was very happy and excited. The first time I visited the Ecoferia (they have an assigned place in a park called “La Torre” every Wednesday) I started talking with several associates. Some weeks later, I interviewed several of them for an article and I must confess, I never thought that I was going to find that much behind every person and their products in each stand. Normally I go to these places as a consumer and don´t think that much about what is behind them, I usually do the math between a product and it´s price but don’t consider its value so much. I think this is an issue that the Ecoferia is trying to address by creating awareness of the value of local and good quality organic products that they offer, as well as fair prices for the producers and for the consumers since there are no intermediaries.

Therefore the concept that this project is communicating is that we must care about where our food is coming from, how it is produced and processed. That as consumers, we should actively participate in ensuring the good quality of our food as part of healthy food habits, as well as supporting local producers in order to strengthen the community that we live in.