Blog #3

I must say of the couple field trips that I have been on in this class I really enjoyed the ECHO trip the most. I really enjoyed the format in which they gave the tours; the way they split up their entire facility into miniature ecosystems was what stood out to me and I felt as if it was an efficient way to retaining the most amount of information possible. The examples of these ecosystems really differed from my perspective of American agriculture in many ways. For example I had no idea that people in inner cities partook in roof top agriculture. I have always that of agriculture to take place in the middle of nowhere, not in the middle of New York City.

I do feel as if the work that is done at ECHO could potentially help develop parts of the world that are under privileged and lack resources. One tree that I think could be very helpful is the Maringa tree. The tour guide at ECHO described this plant as being the holy grail of trees, it carries a wide variety of vitamins and minerals and even a substantial amount of protein. I would say that the Maringa tree itself could be considered an appropriate technology for developing countries due to its simplicity, all you literally have to do is plant the seeds or plant a branch from the tree and in time it will turn into a very useful asset with a variety of benefits. I would consider doing some service learning hours at ECHO; it seems to be a very peaceful and tranquil environment and on top of that I get to feed the goats!