Aruba: The Next Urban Farm?

by Eileen Weber

Last week, I vacationed in a place I have never been: Aruba. Why a tiny Caribbean island only 20 miles long and six miles wide? Because every time I’ve had it up to here, it’s the furthest place I can think of when I get cranky. Naturally, I felt the need to spend a week there.

Touring the island, it quickly becomes clear that it’s a cliché: Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Thanks to a desalination plant on the east side of the island only a few minutes drive from Oranjestad, the island’s capital, there is drinking water from the tap. But that doesn’t seem to affect their agriculture.

The entire island is essentially a desert. It rarely rains as it is outside of the hurricane belt. Nothing much grows aside from the odd cactus.

Yet, there was a green golf course at the southern tip of the island near its biggest lighthouse. And, the esplanades flanking each of the gigantic hotel chains had greenery. If they can irrigate these things, couldn’t they also irrigate a farm?

I thought of Will Allen’s organization Growing Power in Milwaukee, WI. He feeds up to 2,000 residents per month from the produce he grows organically on a two-acre lot in the middle of an inner city. If it can be done in Milwaukee, why can’t it be done in Aruba?

While most products must be shipped to the island, good food can be found in the major supermarket chains. According to the executive chef Ramon Helgers and restaurant manager Karsten Gesing at one of the island’s best restaurants, Madame Janette’s, they are the reason behind that. “Ramon is responsible for the exotic fruits, herbs and vegetables you will find in not only our dishes,” proudly proclaimed on their menu and their web site, “but also in most supermarkets on Aruba.”

It’s a simple case of supply and demand. But what if that supply didn’t have to be shipped from neighboring South America or other far away destinations? What if the “exotic fruits, herbs and vegetables” could be grown right there? It not only reduces their hefty carbon footprint, but it also makes the island more self-sufficient. All that’s necessary is a small plot of land or maybe even a greenhouse. Placed adjacent to the desalination plant, there wouldn’t be a need to dig up roads and pathways for piping.

The Aruban economy is based mainly on tourism. A more agricultural lifestyle, however, can offer the island an opportunity for more jobs. Take the example of the Urban Farms Market in Memphis, TN. According to an article dated July 30th in The Daily News, the farm is modeled after Allen’s Growing Power. Backed by the Binghampton Development Corporation working in conjunction with Christ Community Health Services, the farm not only provides food for residents in the area but also jobs. While it currently employs only one full-time and one part-time resident, they are applying for a grant in the hopes that they can hire more people to become a self-sustaining operation.

Certainly, growing your own food gives you healthier meal choices. But it also provides self-sufficiency. No need to depend on what comes in a package; you can be master of your own dinner plate. Whether it’s Milwaukee, Memphis, or Oranjestad, you can grow something anywhere with just a little sun and water.

What can you grow where you are?

Image courtesy of Aruba.com.

Comments

[Juliette Johnson]

Nothing can be healthier than this.

[Tobias]

The water used for irrigating around the hotels is gray water.

I agree with you, it is incredibly wasteful to ship food in, but only the Aruban government could change that.

[Amanda]

Desalinization plants are generally huge energy hogs. It sounds like in this cases it is probably better to ship food in from elsewhere than to produce more water for local farming. In fact, an island without its own natural water source sounds unsustainable by definition.