This project is about the dynamics between toxicity and small scale family agriculture in a rural area on the outskirts of Cuenca, Ecuador. The economy of this area is based on the production of a wide range of fruits: apples, pears, peaches, plumbs, avocados, apricots, tomatoes, babacos, strawberries, blackberries and others. People consider their land to be “generous” because historically everything “just” grew there. The weather in the area is also a big asset since it is stable year round. Yet despite these positive environmental conditions, local farmers still had to adopt large scale agricultural practices such as the use of green houses, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in order to compete in national and global markets. In this project, I want to portray how the instant economic benefits of high agricultural production shape the dynamics and relationships these farmers build with and through toxicity. I am interested in documenting the relationship local farmers develop with pesticides (through local sellers and transnational agrochemical corporations), with their crops (between those they cultivate for their families and those they cultivate to sell), and with their environment (their understanding of land erosion). In doing so I aim to illustrate the toxic and precarious conditions in which small scale agriculture exists in southern Ecuador.
Description