under the sun
THE BRUNSWICK &1EAC0M
THURSDAY. NOVEMBER ?9 1990
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Winnabow Farmer Learns Lessons In South America
by ixxji; Ru n f.r
Brunswick County farmer Mary Earp
received a good education in foreign
cultures and agricultural practices
during a recent trip to South America.
But she says the most important lesson
she learned was how to appreciate what she
had left behind.
"We take too much for granted, and we
don't appreciate what we have," she said
during a recent interview at her Winnabow
farm. "We need to wake up and realize how
good we have it."
Mrs Earn and 19 other farm women from
across the United States recently traveled to
Hra/il and Argentina for a two-week tour
sponsored by the United States Department
of Agriculture. They left Sept. 21 and re
turned Oct. 6.
Mrs. Earp?who runs a farm with her
husband, Wilbur?was die only participant
from North Carolina. She said most of the
women involved were from the Midwest
and California.
The group first toured Brazil, which is
made up mostly of Spaniards, and then went
on to Argentina, where the people are of
European descent. "We would blend in in
Argentina." Mrs. Earp said. "In Brazil we
suxkI out."
Mrs. Earp said the biggest difference be
tween farming in the United Slates and
South America is the availability of cheap
labor. South American farms are owned by
the rich, she said, and it's not uncommon for
workers to cam a minimum wage of $40 to
S60 per month.
Another dilTcrcncc is die size of the
farms. The small family farms found in
Brunswick County would not survive in
South America. Mrs. Earp said a 4,000-acrc
farm in Brazil or Argentina would be among
the smallest.
Mrs. Earp said the soils in both South
American countries she visited lack nutri
ents, and fertilizers arc not used very much.
Soil erosion is so bad that the rivers arc red
from the clay
In Brazil, Mrs. Earp said the group visited
an orange processing plant that employed
8,200 workers who processed the fruit from
a million trees. Citrus fruit is the biggest
crop in Brazil, which supplies about half of
the conccntrated juices that come into the
United States.
"There's no way our citrus producers can
compete with them. They have so much la
bor, and it's so cheap that we can't com
pete," Mrs. Farp said. "One woman from
r
STAFF PHOTO by DOUG ?UTTt*
MARY EARP, pictured with her husband, Wilbur, at their Winnabow farm, recently returned from a trip to Hrazil and
Argentina where she learned about those countries' cultures and farming practices.
Texas said she was going to go home and plant where corned beefed was processed
tell her husband to slop growing citrus." and an 11,000-acrc dairy farm in Argentina.
Mrs. Earp, who has 170 sows at her farm Mrs. Earp said Brazil, Argentina and the
in Winnabow, also saw a 750-sow hog farm United States share at least one problem in
in Brazil that was similar to her operation, the agriculture industry?putting programs
She said the farm was "modern and in place that benefit farmers no matter what
sparkling clean" and the hog waste was used type of farming they do.
to fertilize citrus trees. "It's a problem there and that's what we
Before leaving Brazil, the American need to do in the United States also." she
women visited a coffee farm where the said. "You can t do one tiling to help the
beans arc picked by hand, dried out on large com grower and not help the livestock pro
brick patios and sorted according to size. duccr. We need to bridge all phases of agn
Whilc citrus juice and coffee beans arc culture."
the chief commodities in Brazil, Mrs. Earp Unlike the United States where there arc
said Argentina's major crop is sugar cane, several socio-economic classes, Mrs. Earp
"The sugar cane stretches as far as the eye said there are only two classes of people in
can see. It's cut one stalk at a time with a South America. "You've got the rich and the
machete." poor and nobody in between. Most of them
Besides visiting a sugar cane operation, are poor."
the American group saw a meat packing The rich landowners exploit the poor pco
pic by using them as cheap labor and gener
ating money that they keep to themselves.
"Great wealth has been gained by few at the
expense of the masses," she said.
Mrs. Earp pointed out inflation in the
United States is nothing compared to what
she saw in South America, where the value
of their currency changes with each passing
moment.
The problem is woise in Argentina than
Brazil. But in both countries, she S3id prod
ucts in the stores don't have prices marked
on them because the prices change from one
hour to the next.
In Argentina, the inflation rate jumps be
tween 15 percent and 20 percent each
month. She said it costs S5 just to speak
with the telephone operator and it cost one
woman on the trip S80 to call home.
Mrs. Earp said South American people
don't save any money bccausc it may not be
worth anything the next day. 'Ihere's no
credit. You can buy anything if you have the
dollars."
Driving through villages in Argentina, she
said she saw brick houses in different stages
of construction. People literally build homes
one brick at a time because the brick is tan
gible, while money is virtually worthless.
While Bra/il and Argentina arc similar in
many respects, Mrs. Earp said the similari
ties end when it comes to education.
There is no emphasis on education in
Bra/il, where only one out of five people
complete primary school and most adults arc
illiterate. "Most of the schools are four
walls, a roof and a dirt floor?and you bring
your own chair."
In Argentina, she said youngsters arc re
quired to go to school until they arc 12 years
old. There arc 100,(XX) students at the uni
versity in Buenos Aires, and people wait in
long lines at the U.S. Embassy in hopes of
going to the United States to further their
education.
In both countries, Mrs. Earp said most
homes arc made of concrete or brick and the
natives don't have any heat. Most
Americans who live there use space heaters.
While the conditions in the two countries
are usually below American standards, Mrs.
Earp said people in the United States could
learn some lessons from South Americans.
Both nations she visited, for instance,
have good recycling programs in place. Mrs.
Earp said she didn't see one bottle or one
piccc of litter alongside the roads. She said
you can't buy a botded drink unless you
have an empty bottle to exchange at the
store.
Since the trip was sponsored by the feder
al government, Mrs. Earp said participants
visited embassies in each country. "They
open doors for you that you would not get
on a private tour," she said. "You get to do a
lot more and sec a lot more."
Mrs. Earp, who is involved in local agri
culture as a soil conservation district super
visor and serves on the N.C. State Extension
Advisory Council and N.C. Pork Women's
Council, almost didn't get to participate in
the lour.
She didn't find out about the South
American trip until four days before the
group left Miami, and had to hustle to get
everything in order. "It was a good opportu
nity," she said. "I'm certainly glad 1 was
able to hop those hurdles and be a part of it."
- rj
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