Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Spanish, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, , Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Halo, good friends and welcome to our program. Organic supermarkets are proliferating in Costa Rica and around the world. This growth is occurring in response to the high public interest in organic products, due to a new consciousness that links the health of the body with that of the planet.

To supply such markets, more and more farmers are growing organic crops. To learn about these farmers and the organic farming process we’ll examine in a two-part series the cultivation of the sweet potato in Costa Rica.

This vegetable is a marvel of nature that reflects the richness of Earth’s bounty. Did you know that the sweet potato was first grown in Central America and then spread throughout the world mainly in the 17th and 18th centuries? Corn, tomatoes, and potatoes have been the Americas’ main contributions to the global diet.

Sweet potatoes are tubers that are rich in nutrients and are a wonderful food for all ages. They are ideal for babies beginning to consume vegetables. They have a sweet, smooth flavor that makes them beloved by infants, but they are also easily digested and thus prepare little ones for more complex foods.

The sweet potato has many vitamins, because of the color it has. This color, a color close to orange, that is a very valuable thing, because the vegetables or fruits we eat, the more orange color they have, the more rich they are in the vitamins that we need, because nowadays there is a big problem with blood sugar and diabetes in the world and that is due to a lack of carotene.

Let’s now meet María Eugenia and Eliecer Rodríguez. The farming couple enjoys growing organic sweet potatoes and other splendid organic produce.

When you cultivate the sweet potato, what do you feel? Do you feel that you’re collaborating with the environment?

Yes, that’s what we feel with all the crops, because for several years we have been taking care of the land. We do a lot of things to avoid the erosion of the soil and also make many compost walls in order to merge the organic material into the soil.

How did you start with organic crops?

It was because in 1994 a Japanese man came to present organic agriculture nationwide, sort of a pilot program. And then I belong to an organization of women and we looked for the Japanese man so he would teach us how to do bokashi, (organic fertilizer), compost and foliar and all that. And that was when my husband got interested.

He used to cultivate in the traditional way. He used to do the entire process with chemicals and when he noticed that the organic agriculture did work, he decided to change to this system, because he said that he was already worried about picking up cabbage full of chemicals and toxic things, with toxic substances and taking that to the family. So he started to change the way he cultivated towards organic agriculture.

We had been having problems already using chemical products. By then, I had had a sort of toxic reaction or more like a strong toxic reaction. That made me think that I had to change to another type of agriculture, meaning not using chemical products. In those days, I´m talking around the years 1995-1996, I started to hear about organic agriculture.

Organic farming, in order to be considered as such, requires following a series of specific rules, the first and foremost of which is to avoid the use of herbicides, insecticides and artificial fertilizers. An organic crop is one that is planted in soil that is enriched with organic materials. Flowers, weeds and insects in the field are considered the allies of humans. Thus, organic farming is a sustainable, environmentally-friendly process that reflects compassion for all sentient beings.

Ms. María Eugenia, I see that here in the middle of the cabbage crops, and the sweet potato crops there are a lot flowers. Why is that?

The first Sunday of each month we have a fair, and we are visited by a lot of people, so the people come to see the plants. And those flowers, especially women, we like them a lot, but also the flowers have many functions. For example, they help with pollination, because many insects arrive and go from here to the crops, and also the insects are distracted by the flowers and do not eat the crops.

At the same time one changes from chemicals to sustainable, organic agriculture and also changes many ways of thinking to the view that the soil is always part of the existence of human beings and it is not for us to exploit for a while and nothing else. And then, one starts to love the Earth, starts to love the insects, starts to love everything around us, which is the most important thing in this type of agriculture.

If one as a farmer in the past thought: well, we are guilty because we cut the wood, burned the soil so much, we did not protect the soil, I mean, we had little concern for whether the water was eroding the soil away, and nowadays we are trying to do the exact opposite.

Let’s now cover the beginning stages of how sweet potatoes are grown.

Every form of agriculture, all agriculture depends on good soil. It does not depend on how many chemicals I put into it or how much I spray it or how many fungicides I have put in. But instead it depends on good soil in order to counteract many of the diseases.

For example, with the sweet potato, let´s say, before we sow it, what we do is incorporate a lot of organic material. Why? Because the organic material is what gives... it’s the life of the soil. Soil without organic material is dead soil.

This is the tip of the sweet potato stalk and this is what you sow. Even though the sweet potato is this long, the stalk is not necessary. What you use is this tip; I put it here right next to my finger and I just stick it into the ground.

Straight into the soil.

That is it; that is the system for sowing sweet potatoes.

It is manual; it is not mechanized.

No, it is manual, that´s it and it stays there. This is the system used for the sweet potato.

One thing about the sweet potato is the plant itself. You see them like this, but when they grow and extend a lot, the tips start growing longer; then you cover the tips. You cover them with soil in order to keep them from growing too much and that action causes them to produce tubers.

And in organic agriculture, no bad weeds exist; every weed, each one has a role in the soil and especially they produce compost. Because when there are weeds among the crops, whether there are insects or not, the aphids or any other insect that is in the soil who also affect the roots, will have other roots to eat and will not affect the crop alone if the area is clean.

And also when we take away “bad” weeds as people call them, these are not bad weeds because it will become compost for the soil. The more “bad” weeds like this we have, the better the soil will be, because we are going to feed the microorganisms that live in the ground, and we will have them protected, because an uncovered soil, an unprotected soil is like a desert.

The Sun will hit it and therefore there will be no life, because it is burning. Every microorganism that is above, on top of the ground is going to die. But if there is a place where they can live or something to protect them, those microorganisms will live longer and they will make this process much faster.

That is really interesting!

Producing organic crops involves much more than just environmentally-friendly planting and cultivation. The process is also one in which farmers awaken a consciousness that goes beyond environmental protection. All organic farmers come to realize that humankind is part of a whole. Soil, plants, climate, animals, insects and human beings all form a marvelous and harmoniously balanced entity wherein each object and sentient being has a place and role, and that when all are respected, abundance, beauty and well-being are the result.

The sweet potato is also very delicious, because my companion here says that from the soup his mom used to make for him, he would only eat the sweet potatoes, because they are sweet. Yes, actually it is very nutritious. You can give it to kids to start teaching them how to eat, because it is a tuber that is not going to harm them, and since it is sweet, they like the flavor.

But besides that, with the sweet potato, many experiments have been done; here in Grecia a few boys from the university invented several things with the sweet potato. They even made a sweet potato punch and it is delicious. They did it, and we now have access to the recipe, but we can also use it as part of the vegetables in the soup. You can make them mashed, you can do it fried, well, in many ways, and yes, it is very tasty and very healthy to eat sweet potatoes.

The sweet potato, with its simple cultivation requirements, flavor, great nutritional value and versatility produces tranquility and happiness in those that grow it and consume it.

Please join us tomorrow for the second part of our program where we’ll see how the sweet potato is used in a wide variety of dishes, including salads, appetizers, casseroles, fricassees, baby foods, and desserts.

Finally, our appreciation María Eugenia, Eliecer Rodríguez, and Juan Luis Salas, for setting a wonderful example on how to treat the Earth gently by practicing organic farming and introducing us to the delightful crop that is the sweet potato.

Thank you for your company on today’s program. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, following Noteworthy News. May you be blessed with fruitful harvests, bringing abundant joy and fulfillment to all those around you.

Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Spanish, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Halo, esteemed friends, and welcome the conclusion of our two-part program on cultivating sweet potatoes in Costa Rica. Today we’ll examine the benefits of eating these versatile, multi-faceted stars of nature and present various ways to prepare them. The sweet potato, a native of the Americas, was first cultivated in large quantities by the ancient Inca people of Peru. Along with the potato, it was a staple food of the great Inca civilization.

The Incas were the first people in the Americas to farm on terraced fields, due to the fact that their vast empire extended over most of the Andes Mountains and thus there was little flat land for cultivation. Since the sweet potato can be grown from 500 to 2,500 meters above sea level, it was highly suitable to grow given the topography of the Inca Empire.

Sweet potatoes thrive in organically rich soils and can be cultivated without sophisticated care. Besides these qualities, we need to add the richness of their vitamin content and wonderful flavor. The more orange in color the inside of a sweet potato is, the sweeter their flavor and this sweetness makes them attractive as the base of many dishes.

We are vegetarian, my husband and I are vegetarian. We have two kids, six and four years old and we are very interested in organic (foods) because first, we take care of the environment, we are not destroying nature and second, they are clean products without pesticides, insecticides and herbicides.

And why do you like to eat sweet potatoes?

I am Peruvian and also since we are vegetarian the sweet potato is very filling. You can eat a piece and you are full; you don´t need to eat more. It makes us feel filled.

And in what other ways do you eat sweet potatoes at home?

I prepare them mashed with soy milk. We blend them too with soy milk. We eat them with salads.

And we would like to know which qualities you find in the sweet potato and why you like to eat organic sweet potatoes.

They contain a lot of estrogen. Also for memory my mom used to eat them a lot too. So we got used to that and I like it. I always buy them, yes.

And in how many different ways do you eat sweet potatoes? In how many ways do you prepare organic sweet potatoes at home?

With vegetables, or with bread, could be a little boiled, well, that’s it in general.

Good afternoon. Do you like to eat organic sweet potatoes?

I like all that’s organic.

And tell me why you like it, how do you use the sweet potato, how do you like it?

It is because at home my mom and I eat a lot of salads and a lot of vegetables. So we prefer organic because of course you know that you are eating products that, even though they are a little more expensive, they are safer to take care of your stomach and your body, because now we need to take care, consume a lot of things like these.

And in which ways do you eat sweet potatoes? In how many ways do you prepare them?

We make them cooked; we eat them like that. We eat a lot of, for example, sweet potatoes, chayote (mirliton), all those things, all the vegetables, we eat them cooked, nothing else.

Now that we’ve talked about the history, cultivation, benefits and versatility of sweet potatoes, we invite you to join us in learning about ways we cook sweet potatoes here in the Americas.

Let´s start with baked sweet potatoes, great for eating outdoors at a picnic or a casual meeting with friends. We can even bake them over a fire or in the fireplace, using wood we collect in the countryside.

Another excellent way to prepare them is grilled or roasted. So we need to cut them into thin slices and sauté them beforehand in olive oil, salt and some aromatic herbs, which will fill the kitchen with a nice aroma.

The traditional Costa Rican vegetable casserole in which sweet potatoes are used is very hearty fare -- just what we need on a cold, rainy night to relax after the work day.

If you have children or elderly people at home, there’s nothing like a sweet potato purée, prepared with boiled sweet potatoes, vegan margarine and soy milk.

And last, for a little sweetness, there’s the famous sweet potato or yam dessert known from Canada to Patagonia. It is a favorite of all ages; a gourmet dessert and an appetizing treat in Mexico and Argentina.

The sweet potato provides a real lesson in living! Disguised behind its humility and simplicity are hidden the noblest qualities of nature: flavor, nutrition, simple growing requirements and versatility of preparation. Thus sweet potatoes invite us not to see the outside appearance of things, but to look for their most profound qualities and inner beauty. It is our wisdom that must guide us when choosing what we put on our tables. The sweet potato is healthy, nutritious, tasty and an easy to prepare food suitable for everyone from one to 110.

The emotional state is very satisfying. It’s a big satisfaction you feel in the fields, sharing with all the beings that exist, watching, and contemplating them; they give you life. In organic farming, you learn that what you are producing is health. What I sell to you like a consumer, it’s health.

It’s health.

It’s medicine. I’m not selling you a sweet potato because it’s a potato, because of what it is; instead it’s something that contains many more elements than another conventional sweet potato. I’m helping the environment, nature, I’m preserving nature.

My idea is that in the future my children or my grandchildren or even if they are not my grandchildren, the next generations can be grateful to us because we left them something better than we were given. So if my dad gave me this field in this condition, well, what am I going to leave for the ones after me? Well, taking care of it, giving back to them something better than what was given to me, and not something more deteriorated, something that they are not going to be able to use.

So it is a very important thing that you learn, because you like it, because you feel it, because what you’re producing is exciting, and you feel happy. You don´t get sick. At least after you’re involved with this, you quickly realize the difference of seeing people getting sick. They get the flu and go to bed.

They have to stay in bed, every day in hospitals. My daughter, she is 14 years old, and she has never been in a hospital.

She is very healthy.

She is very healthy, yes. She doesn´t eat meat either just by nature.

She never liked meat, never in her life.

So you see how healthy she is compared to other children of her age, that when the rainy season arrives, there is asthma, flu, which... she doesn´t get.

She is healthy.

So one sees how the body starts recovering. So the same way, you see how soil recovers; that the crops are healthier. You also see it in your health.

It’s not that you’re not going to catch the flu, or that you will not get a cold, but when you get it, the body has defenses and faces it more easily.

When it comes to uses, it has a diversity of uses. You can make it into syrup. Sweet potato can be made into syrup, right. And like chips, it can be fried; you can eat it in soup as well, you know, Cooked in soup, along with beans, in purée, mashed for kids. Sweet potato has lots of uses and it has plenty of vitamins.

Hearing the following experience of Felicia Rodríguez, the daughter of an organic farmer, we can only think about the close relationship between our health and the organic way of cultivating the soil. Hippocrates, the famous physician of Ancient Greece, said, “Let your food be your medicine.” And this was proven firsthand by Felicia, who suffered from a skin ailment that was resistant to conventional treatments.

Well, my name is Felicia Rodríguez. I’m 23 years old. I’m the youngest daughter of Eliécer Rodríguez. I developed psoriasis, very, very severe. It was all over the body and well, when that happened, what doctors recommended to me was only pills and creams, ointments. So, well, the problem still persisted for one month, one month and a half, approximately, and then, well, I was in the Calderón Hospital.

I was treated there with a therapy called “PUVA therapy” that is with UV radiation and then after that, well, I went to about seven sessions only and then I decided that I was not going back there. I started to do research, to investigate; well, in fact I did a lot of research about psoriasis because I was a little desperate. So, I started to learn about dairy products and mainly, that milk by itself was number one in skin allergies. Well, I have always been very allergic, I think.

In fact I could never eat non-organic tomatoes, because of the same reason, because it always gave me a bad allergic reaction, like around the mouth. Then I decided to quit milk and all dairy products, and really, that was how the change started in my body. It took like 15 days and it began subsiding. Afterwards, I began having a feeling like compassion for the other animals. So that´s how I started. That was a year ago since I am completely vegetarian.

To close, we once again thank organic farmers from across the world like Juan Luis Salas for providing such beautiful crops like the sweet potato for our sustenance. It is a vegetable that shows us everything in creation has an appropriate place and use. When we respect the Divine harmony of nature, God showers blessing after blessing upon everyone on this beautiful, splendid planet.

Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!

Thank you for joining us for today’s program. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, following Noteworthy News. May Heaven’s grace always be upon our world.