ECHO Field Trip

The ECHO field trip was another success. A beautiful little place, with a strangely charismatic tour guide. The class environment is getting better, and students are getting to know one anthers personality better. This led to more open questions and a more stable atmosphere for learning. The trip as a whole was awesome, and the concept of echo blew my mind. I was somewhat aware that Florida had the climate to imitate that of many other harsh climates, but did not realize how this could help people in other nations. The idea of ECHO is to learn new agricultural techniques that would could enhance production in harsh environments. Even cooler, they did not go about doing this through complicated technology. All of the farming variations used could be done with simple tools and sustainable objects like bamboo.

They practice using edible plants not widely known to the public. This was my personal favorite part of the trip, because I was able to eat two different types of leaves which were surprisingly tasty. One tasted like a sweet plum, and the other like almonds. They were very aesthetically pleasing too, so would look good in a gourmet salad. I had my own personal thoughts of making a company that specializes in these products, which could be made on a green farm. This could increase the awareness of the health benefits of vegetables and let underdeveloped countries see how easy they are to grow.

The class also made me realize that I have never really worked with plants before. I have never planted anything, nor even gardened. I guess the closest thing to farming I have ever done is mowing the lawn and weeding. He made it seem very easy, but I would assume plants are something like animals, you must take care of them to be healthy. Knowing this, no, I could never produce my own food like many other people do. I would hope that one day I can live on land large enough to have a little farm area, where I could have a little garden for relaxation. But I believe realistically, America will have much trouble moving into a sustainable world. The biggest hope I saw was the way he grew plants on what would be rooftops. There seems to be much potential in that idea.