There is nothing so beautiful than seeing the fruits of the land, planted by farmer’s hands which will soon make it to our table.

The universe, pachamama (Mother Earth), calls to us, shouting for protection and care. Some of us defend her. We protect and we protest alongside her, telling the world that we must love and take care of her.

We must celebrate the work of our farmers—men and women who till this land—who take care of her as if she were one of their children and develop a special connection with her, she who feels and breathes like any one of us.

These farmers are the most dignified example of beautiful labor: working the land with their own hands so people may eat from her very soil.

The communities of El Guayabo, El Garzal, and Nueva Esperanza in Colombia showed us their fields, their crops, their animals, their houses, their land, and their home.

Their economy is mostly based around the cultivation of cocoa, plantain, milking cows, coconut, corn and fruit, which allows them to support a family, a simple, cozy house, and an extensive, beautiful land.

They arise happily before sunrise, to the rhythm of the rooster’s call; to the calves anxiously waiting to help with the milking; to the corn swaying from side to side under the weight of a month’s growth, ready to be harvested; to the harvested clusters of plantain bidding farewell to their younger offspring, because they will soon embark on a trip by donkey, and then canoe, to be sold in the nearest port town.

It is because of these Colombian farmers, who have decided to take on this manual labour with their very own hands, that we enjoy such a rich diversity of products from the bounty of the earth.

The land processes (legal battles in which communities have been embroiled over their land) which these communities have been undertaking are long journeys, varied, and above all difficult, but most importantly, full of hope.

God, as father and mother of a beautiful creation since the birth of the world, knows the work of these farmers who have dedicated their lives to the care of creation. The good seed grows on this land and its fruits shall be multiplied one hundred times.

It is beautiful to be able to get to know their struggle up close, their infinite faith in their land process, and the joy of sharing their table together.

It is a farmer’s hands that allow you and me to eat in the comfort of our home, to have a variety of foods derived from their crops, to enjoy a full stomach and renewed energy to go to work.

May we thank God for our farmers: Let’s pray that they may soon have their land legally titled, that their hard work may be valued by the city dwellers, and that the Colombian government recognizes their basic human rights as people who do so much with so little.

To our farmers, I give you endless thanks for your work, and my most sincere admiration.