Progress Report
Progress Report
Progress Report
The purpose of this progress report is to inform Dr. Pier A. LeCompte of the background, the
hours worked on the Atabey Garden by this group, the problems the garden faces, and what
can be done to fix those problems. The Atabey garden is a portion of land inside the
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce’s campus where a variety of fruits and vegetables are
planted and harvested. The produce that is collected is sold at the Atabey fair or sometimes
distributed throughout the student’s community. Dr. Pier A. LeCompte requires as part of the
course, that the students complete at least 10 hours of work on the garden, but given the
circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic we are living, it was adjusted to 4 hours in total.
Background
organization that promotes the importance of agriculture and the harvest of organic produce
not only in the university, but in our own houses. CEPA was conceived during one of Dr. José
Ramón Villalón’s course, "Ponce in Puerto Rican reality" at the University of Puerto Rico in
Ponce by a group of his students. Dr. Villalón presented ideas and planted the seed about food
safety in Puerto Rico, and how such a project should be done. And that seed flourishes in the
heads of those students. Dr. Villalón’s seed was then nurtured by Dr. Pier A. LeCompte on
her Technical Writing course where one of the first things she discusses is the controversy and
problem of genetically modified foods and presents her students the documentary “The future
of Food”. The combination of having two professors, coincidentally, mentioning the same
problem, was enough for these students to develop an idea and create CEPA with their own
garden named Atabey. In the beginning, it was only a small group composed of a handful of
students, now is a well-established organization with members from all the different
departments and programs from UPR-Ponce. The principal goal and mission of CEPA is to
light the spark on every student and reconnect them with nature and the importance of it on
7. Advisors:
Maintenance hours:
The maintenance was carried out two or three times a week in order to keep the Atabey
Garden clean so that weeds are not present as they attract pests and absorb nutrients from
sown plants.
Work Planned:
To better educate the college community and the Ponce community by raising awareness of
the urgency to reach optimal levels, near self-sufficiency, the production of local quality food.
Another goal was to plant more plants that had not been previously seen in the garden, which
was achieved, and to establish an irrigation system, which was also achieved but not
completed given that timer or regulator had yet to be installed. This was due to the abrupt
collaboration with the group Josco bravo, which are agroecological farms found in Toa Alta.
They provided a course for agroecological producers and promoters within the University of
Puerto Rico in Ponce. This is a course focused on the formation of new agroecological
farmers. The course was free of charge to the students, the college community, the Ponce
Work Completed:
I. Cleaning the garden
The students helped cleaning and removing the dry leaves and plague on plants and
gardens, in addition to this, unwanted trash, plants, and grass or weeds present in the
garden.
The students took turns alongside CEPA members and volunteers, to water the plants
and ground.
III. Planting
Some of the produce that have been planted and harvested are:
● Chamomile
● Lemon
● Tuna cactus
● Wild oregano
● Basil
● Hibiscus
● Ginger
● Turmeric
● Citronella
● Lime
● Aloe
● Tobacco
● Eggplant
● Pumpkin
● Cherry Tomatoes
● Plantain
● Cassava
● Pineapple
Additional to this, between last semester and this semester, in a new expansion of the garden,
● Sweet peppers
● Watermelon
● Red Okra
● Chinese cabbage
● Kale
● Romaine Lettuce
● Peanut
● Spring onion
● Onion
● Radishes
● Beets
● Pigeon pea
● Purple corn
● Parsley
meetings assisted:
February 21,
2020 1 hour
2 hours 2 hours
May 14, 2020 (Critique’s (Donations)
Research)
3 hours
May 15, 2020 ( Critique’s
Research)
Critique's Research:
(1999). Ten reasons why biotechnology will not ensure food security, protect the environment
and reduce poverty in the developing world. AgBioForum, 2(3&4), McGloughlin, M. (1999).
Ten reasons why biotechnology will be important to the developing world. AgBioForum,
2(3&4), 163-174 and Altieri, M.A. and Rosset, P. (1999). Strengthening the case for why
biotechnology will not help the developing world: a response to McGloughlin. AgBioForum,
2(3&4), 226-236.
Yesterday I published my last critique regarding the debate between Altiery and Rosset vs.
McGloughlin views of the usage of biotechnology in the food industry complex (FIC). In
those critiques I shared my points of view regarding the ideas and arguments of both
spectrums. I also provided some suggestions which targeted the strengths and shortcomings of
Mr. Altiery and Mr. Rosset’s argument was built with the purpose of reiterating some points
in regard to the propelling biotechnological approaches by the private and public sectors in
North America. Their ideas try to tackle the importance of agroecological technologies and its
benefits to the economy and the environment. On the other hand, Altiery and Rosset also
pleaded for major changes in policies, institutions, research and development to “ensure that
agroecological alternatives are made equitably and broadly accessible, and multiplied so that
their full benefit for sustainable food security can be realized (Altieri, M.A. and Rosset, P.
1999). They concluded their statements by claiming that the practice of agricultural
development has been dominated by technical questions, consequently, ignoring more
McGloughlin ideas
Ms. McGloughlin’s argument was built with the objective of challenging some
misconceptions often put forward about the technologies of biotechnology. In her response to
Altiery and Rosset arguments regarding the misuse of biotechnology in the FIC, she stated the
following: “Altieri and Rosset's arguments are neither scientifically supported nor even really
about biotechnology. Their arguments are primarily directed against Western-type capitalism
and associated institutions (e.g., intellectual property rights, the WTO) (McGloughlin, M.
1999)”. She basically constructed her counter-arguments around the idea that both Mr. Altiery
and Mr. Rosset failed to acknowledge the scientifically proven potential of biotechnology and
the ways it can contribute to environmental sustainability and food security. She concluded
her statements by implying a political motive which presumably drove Altiery and Rosset’s
paper, which lacked concrete scientific data and relied solely upon projections.
Conclusion
Altiery and Rosset’s debate with McGloughlin concluded with Altiery and Rosset responding
to her claims. They kept stating that “biological research in agriculture is no longer in the
public domain; the new technology is under the direction of corporations who increasingly
influence the direction of public sector research in ways unprecedented in the past (Altieri,
M.A., and Rosset, P. 1999)”. They concluded their statements by questioning the self-interest
of the private sector by implying that most biotech enthusiasts bury themselves behind a
rhetoric of neutrality “masking a series of social contradictions (Altieri, M.A. and Rosset, P.
1999)”.
1. Besides workshops, field excursions, and maintenance brigades, what other activities
were accomplished during this semester?
In this semester the other achievement with respect to activities was the fundraising sales
focused on organizing for the 5th Atabey Agriculture Fair, which could take place given the
situation of COVID-19.
The greatest limitation faced during this semester was the lack of manpower to plan de
3. What are the future plans that remain for next year?
For the next year, we hope to realize more activities that attract new members and that
educate current members about how to maintain the garden, so that knowledge can allow
CEPA to receive more individuals that can manage the garden without the worry of losing
that valuable knowledge and experience from the students that already graduated. In addition,
The trajectory of this project was quite long. We as individuals learned to properly work as a
group in just a limited amount of time. There have been quite some changes to the project
since the original proposal such as the number of service hours required from 10 hours to 4
hours. This was due to the disreputable COVID - 19 situation which took the world by
consequently meant that we couldn't attend to the garden since May 14, 2020. However this in
particular didn’t change our conviction to make the most of what we had and could actually
do. The physical work in the garden was justifiably postponed, but in reality this just meant
that our contribution to the garden of the university was going to be filled with intellectual
inquiry. After all, the only work that was completed physically in the garden was the
harvesting of chamomile, lemon, tuna cactus, wild oregano, basil, hibiscus, ginger, turmeric,
citronella, lime, aloe, tobacco, eggplant, pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, plantain, cassava, and
pineapple. However, some research was conducted on topics such as genetically modified
organisms, upcycling, and some others. To conclude, the foregoing situation was extremely
unexpected, it certainly changed our original proposal, but after all, our intentions for the