MESA: Multicultural Exchange Program for Farmers | Civil Eats

MESA: Multicultural Exchange Program for Farmers

mesa_sanjana_0Lauren Augusta realized the need for sustainable agriculture exchange while working at a conventional agriculture training program, where she observed the detrimental effects of agrochemicals on the land and farmers’ health. “I loved the idea of cross-cultural exchange, but I ultimately couldn’t defend the agricultural model my old program promoted,” she says. “I was increasingly alarmed by the unjust and disconnected farming practices I witnessed.”

In 1997, Augusta founded Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture (MESA), based in Berkeley, California, to connect food and farming change-makers worldwide, while spurring innovation and preserving traditional knowledge. MESA provides international training for farmers and advocates at sustainable farms and organizations to build ecosystem stewardship, fair food economies, and cross-cultural collaboration. Programs are offered in the United States, Peru, and Thailand and soon in Mexico and Sri Lanka.

The program integrates experiential training with an online curriculum and awards a Certificate in Global Agroecology and Local Food Systems under a U.S. State Department designated Training and Cultural Exchange Program. Over the years, MESA has connected more than 1,250 people from 33 countries and helped start approximately 140 small farms and food justice projects.

Sharing Ideas

The U.S. Core Training Program begins with an orientation at an organic farm in Northern California. Program participants, called “stewards,” apprentice at one of many host farms located all over the country. During their stay, stewards learn about organic, biointensive, biodynamic, and permaculture production, as well as marketing and community organizing. Many stewards receive scholarships, while host farms help cover lodging, stipends, and training costs. MESA also provides financial support and mentoring training to hosts via on-farm project grants.

According to MESA’s Co-Executive Director Leah Atwood, hosts not only mentor but also learn from their stewards. “Most lower-income countries have a much larger percentage of the population that is feeding their citizens than the U.S.,” she explains. “Here less than one percent of the population are farmers, but in many other countries, 20 to 50 percent of the population are growing food. Most are farming on a smaller scale and in ways that are much more responsible and resilient on an ecosystem level.”

“One of the most wonderful things about the stewards is that we learn a ton from them,” says Dru Rivers of Full Belly Farm in Guinda, California, who has been a MESA host for eight years. “For example, one of the stewards was a young woman who grows flowers in Ecuador, and we learned so much about flowers and her country while she was here.”

After staying at their host farm for six to eight months, the stewards travel back to San Francisco for the final part of their training, which includes a tour of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market with CUESA staff.

Stewards from Around the Globe

The 2013 group of 19 stewards hailed from all over the world: Ecuador, Sri Lanka, Peru, Thailand, Ghana, France, Georgia, Mexico, and the U.S. Many stewards are in their 20s or 30s, although there are no age restrictions for applicants.

We’ll bring the news to you.

Get the weekly Civil Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox.

“I am continuously amazed at how much people change from orientation to exit,” Atwood observes. “When you are exposed to a different culture and different ways of thinking, you can gain a new frame of reference for your own value system and our global interconnectedness. It can be a transformational experience.”

MESA steward Sanjana Silva (pictured at top), an agricultural extension officer and activist from Sri Lanka, trained at Ecology Action in Willits, California, where he learned Grow Biointensive farming. “We are depleting soil rapidly,” he says. “At Ecology Action, I learned how to grow soil, not just food.

Aspen Kvicala (pictured at right) from California trained in the Sacred Valley of Peru. “My experience seeing how community and agriculture can thrive together was eye-opening,” she says. “I’ve now started my own farm, Foolish Hens, and am working to instill the community and cooperative values I learned in Peru.”

Isabel Quiroz (pictured below) from Aguascalientes, Mexico, trained at the Golden Rule Garden and Ecology Action. At home she works in community development, creating gardens to empower women and reduce violence. “The MESA experience was incredible, much more than I expected,” she says. “I never felt as supported as I was here.” She admits that she felt resentful of the U.S. before she visited because its policies hurt Mexico. “Now my concepts of the U.S. people have changed completely, and I have new hope.”

When the stewards return to their home countries, 50 to 60 percent work in food production and marketing, 20 to 30 percent work in advocacy, education, or policy, and 10 to 20 percent work in other areas. Steward alumni can apply to MESA for Sustainable Project and Innovation Grants (SPRIG) to fund projects in their countries. Many such projects have focused on bringing the lessons they’ve learned back home through farmer trainings, demonstration plots, farmers markets, CSAs, and community outreach.

Sustainable Farming Network

Many life-long professional relationships and friendships have developed between hosts and stewards. Quiroz describes her experience living with stewards from five countries: “We shared our food, music, and dance. I shared the best of my culture with them and also learned about their cultures.”

Today’s food system is complex.

Invest in nonprofit journalism that tells the whole story.

“A huge part of our work is building a network of global citizens,” says Atwood. MESA collaborates with international partners, including universities, NGOs, and community organizations dedicated to sustainable food systems. “Stewards and hosts are part of a grassroots network that shares challenges and solutions, and works together to create local change as a global community.”

Contact with this global network through the MESA program leaves an indelible impression on hosts back in the States. Fully Belly Farm’s Rivers has particularly appreciated the stewards’ positive impact on her family. “We have four children and they have grown up eating meals with stewards around the table,” she says. “Rural people often aren’t exposed to lots of cultures, so it’s been really important to have MESAinterns in our homes. Our children have learned a lot from the experience.”

This post originally appeared on CUESA.

Janet McGarry is a volunteer at the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture. She lives in San Francisco where she teaches and writes about agriculture, climate change and other environmental issues. Read more >

Like the story?
Join the conversation.

    More from

    Agroecology

    Featured

    Ronald White (left) and Willington Rolle work in the Roots in the City urban garden in Miami's Overtown neighborhood on October 21, 2009 in Miami, Florida. The 2-acre lot, which was once a blighted area, features collard greens, citrus trees, papayas, and an assortment of vegetables. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    Op-ed: 4 Solutions to Make Urban Ag Policies More Equitable

    Black Americans lack access to food and land—and city leaders often actively disrupt efforts to build food sovereignty. These policies could address the systemic injustices behind food apartheid and help urban ag scale up nationwide.

    Popular

    Farming in Dry Places: Investors Continue to Speculate on Colorado Water

    cattle walking to a water trough in douglas county, colorado. Photo credit: thomas barwick, getty images

    Changes to WIC Benefits Would Cut Food Access for Millions of Parents

    a young parent feeds an infant food that they bought using their wic benefit

    Supermarket Food Waste Is a Big Problem. Are Strategic Price Cuts the Solution?

    avocados are on sale to prevent food waste using dynamic pricing at a supermarket

    What the Rapid Rise of Norway’s Farmed Salmon Industry Means For the Rest of the World