Agricultural Field Trip

ECHO is a non-profit organization, located in Fort Myers, Florida, that not only has helped, but has been reducing hunger for over 30 years. There are over 925 million people in the world that are hungry and ECHO is dedicated to reducing that number drastically. ECHO gathers solutions from around the world to ‘promote sustainable farming techniques, nutritional plants, and appropriate technologies.’ “Our (ECHO’s) purpose is to help those who are teaching farmers around the world know how to be more effective in producing enough to meet the needs of their families and their communities.” What I thought was very interesting about ECHO, is that they didn’t go and tell people what to do, they research about each place they are helping and teach them specific techniques to be more sustainable in their specific area. What I thought was very interesting is how they recycle almost everything that they grow, and that is what they are teaching these underprivileged farmers and communities to do. They now have opened impact centers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Arusha, Tanzania, and they are only expanding.

Our tour guide, Russ, was very helpful and explained a lot about each section of the farm. In the picture above, he was teaching us about the Katuk shrub, and we even tried a leaf while we were standing there. We also tried a few more leaves throughout the tour.

There were so many different plants that I have never even heard of before, but apparently are packed with so many nutrients that we could all use in our every day diet. We learned about moringa, which is high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, and is considered one of the most nutritious vegetables in the world. Another plant that we saw was neem, which is also known as “Nature’s Pharmacy.” “To summarize its beneficial qualities in a nutshell, neem possesses powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-tumor, and broad spectrum antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic properties that help prevent formation of abnormal cells, eliminate infections, and accelerate healing in a broad range of health problems.”    –Dr. Mitchell A. Fleisher

We were one of the lucky groups because at the end of our tour we got to sit down and listen to the President and CEO of ECHO, Stan Doerr. He was so interesting to listen to because he was so passionate about what he does and helping people. He definitely inspired me and made me want to do whatever I can to help, which is why I plan to volunteer my time to help the members at ECHO help people around the world.