Our intern, Lindsey Means, ponders the many philosophical issues that are involved in Sustainable Tourism:
Sustainable Tourism defined by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Earth Council:
“Sustainable Tourism Development meets the needs of present tourists, host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems. Sustainable tourism products are products which are operated in harmony with the local environment, community, and cultures so that these become the beneficiaries not the victims of tourism development.”
Finca Luna Nueva offers a variety of experiences for the green traveler. The experiences are both tangible and intangible. The tangible experiences are the activities that Finca Luna Nueva provides, such as hiking, farm tours, spa services, food, and much more. However, the intangible experiences at Finca Luna Nueva are what make it so very special. These secondary experiences cannot be touched or seen. The philosophies and beliefs of Finca Luna Nueva are what drive these intangibles. The guests, staff, and interns of Finca Luna Nueva are all at different points along the continuum of personal growth and because the mission is to educate and share, the farm is absolutely thriving as a marketable, sustainable, eco-tourism destination. The subculture, various personalities of the “family” and in fact, the inherent slowness of it all offers the guests a chance to embrace a way of life, if even for a few days, that places drastically different principles first.
Our "family" of interns.
These principles are harmony between human’s interaction with nature, cyclical processes of nature and the human species, slow food, and the essential connection to its source, peace, community, and of course, the interdisciplinary, esoteric nature of biodynamic farming. The guests and interns will have the opportunity to experience what happens when life slows down and they have the chance to observe their surroundings and themselves in a new light.
This farm is in lovely concert with the natural climate and with the local people. As stated theoretically above in the definition of Sustainable Tourism, Luna Nueva is fulfilling needs; crucial needs, in fact. Like food, water, shelter, and jobs for people. What Luna Nueva is doing for people, biodynamics is doing for the land, the forest, the rivers, and the animals.
Living in harmony includes these critters, too
Gathering herbs
This blend of life is like the sweetest dessert you will ever taste. Reclaiming the land and food and bolstering the people that have the courage to find their way “back to the garden” is what Luna Nueva does best. Educating locals and foreigners about the current food and seed crisis and promoting biodiversity are just a few of the main ideas championed. These concepts soak into the minds and souls of those who work and visit Finca Luna Nueva, just as the biodynamic preparations are absorbed into the soil, and as the rain water saturates every root.
Today I was asked a difficult question by a young woman studying Nutrition and “Food Science” (is it really appropriate to use scientific inquiry to study our food?) I digress. She asked me what is the most urgently important lesson I have learned here at Luna Nueva? Great question, young inquisitor. I thought to myself, is it that I am alive in one of the most pivotal times in history where we, the human race, are literally unaware and even indifferent to the fact that our soil is sick and our seed supply is rapidly diminishing? Or maybe that I have the power right now to learn, change, and help others reclaim the sacred. Perhaps the most important lesson is that I now know the power of discernment in an age of false reality and mimicry. I am thinking. I am churning. I am recalling the countless days and nights that the quizzical look on my face gave me away; my quaint, comfortable outlook was being pummeled and I was powerless. Through experience, I have learned food can be enlivened and stimulated with the growers’ affirmations of harmony and goodwill. When our food is alive, so are we. When we are alive, we participate, we produce, we grow. What a beautiful cycle!
The river of life. . .
Biodynamics is an interdisciplinary practice that creates robustness, complementing the Earth’s own deep pulse. Mother Nature has an answer for everything. Dig your own trenches. Share yourself. Is it hope? Is it love? Maybe the Costa Rican’s have it right: Pura Vida? Perhaps the answer is that I have learned the power of the rhetorical question. Don’t you hate it when people answer your question with yet another one? Let me pose this metaphor for thought: A mountain. An uphill climb. A journey of sacrifice, courage, and humility all for the illusive, sweet nectar of the tangible and the intangible…the perfect apple that you sink your teeth into for its nourishment and the intangible truth we all seek to find. The question is not what important lesson I learned, but rather what is yours? How will you contribute to the solution today?
Saludos,
Lindsey