 Cresencia Gonzalez Vasquez comes from Santa Ana Tlahuitoltepec, a small village in the Mixes. Cresencia has lived in Santa Ana her whole life. She says, “Life in Santa Ana is good, but hard. The town has a lot of malnourished children. Last year was particularly difficult when the river broke its banks and flooded our homes and our fields. We had to depend on government food handouts.”
“However this year is better, as thanks to Puente’s amaranth vegetable gardens, my family now produce all of our own fresh vegetables.”
“I have been a member of Puente for three years. I was interested because I wanted to learn more about amaranth, and to avoid using chemicals on our fields. I now know how to use natural fertilizers, such as worm compost and bocachi, that don’t damage the earth. We have also learnt how to produce amaranth, radishes, chard, tomatoes, cilantro, onions and other vegetables.”
“I have five children aged between six and 16 years. They help me with the vegetable garden, as I think it is important that they learn how to produce food too.”
“I have attended Puente’s cooking workshops and all of us eat amaranth. The children are all very health now, and hardly ever get sick. I think it is because of how much vegetables we all now eat.”
“Above all Puente has helped our family economy. We harvest all the vegetables that we eat and hardly ever need to buy food. Before it wasn’t like that- we had to buy almost everything! When we produce an excess of a particular vegetable, we are also able to sell it or exchange it for another food with our neighbors. That really helps as it means we have a lot more variety in our diet.” |
