Founder, Permaculture Social Enterprise - Canada & Cuba

Can you tell us more about your work with The Urban Farmer?

I describe myself as a consultant in urban agriculture, sustainable agriculture, and permaculture. I support people and communities in finding ways to grow healthy food, whether that’s through the educational work I do, teaching classes and workshops; doing direct consulting; or visiting projects with people around their local food systems to develop local food security. I tend to work more in urban settings with smaller communities. Over the past ten years, I’ve also been organizing and facilitating travel tours for Canadians, Americans, Europeans, and others to visit Cuba and learn more about the country’s agroecology and sustainable food movements.

You’ve developed a real niche connecting people to food and agricultural systems in Cuba. Can you share more with us about your work in Cuba?

To date, I’ve organized and led 22 different groups of people to Cuba to participate in educational programing on sustainable agriculture, permaculture, and food culture. Many of these groups have been open to the public, although some have been student groups from post-secondary institutions. I create travel and learning opportunities for people to have an intimate and unique experience of the agroecology and permaculture movements in Cuba. Cuba can be a complex place to travel to. Simply showing up on your own and trying to access farms, or visit urban agriculture sites, can be very challenging for tourists. Some people are successful in doing so, but most are not. Over the years, I’ve cultivated many relationships and working relationships with Cubans and Cuban organizations to be able to bring Canadians, Americans, Europeans, and others to come together and work with Cubans on various agricultural projects. Often the travel programs are of a shorter nature – 2 to 3 weeks only – although I’ve planned 7-week internships, as well. These programs all involve visiting and working on farms, or urban farm sites in Cuba. Participants connect with Cuban farmers and organizations to learn from one another, and support the development of food security projects in the country.

How have your past educational and career experiences led you to where you are today with The Urban Farmer?

I definitely didn’t find this on the career aptitude test! Mostly, it’s passion driven. I came out of university with a Bachelor of Arts degree and went on to work for a number of different not-for-profit organizations. I did a Master’s degree in ecological philosophy and theology. I worked with international development organizations in Alberta, including Change for Children Association and Canada World Youth, which nurtured my love for all things Latin American. Through my work, I had the opportunity to travel to Central America where I visited projects and facilitated educational projects with Central American and Canadian youth. Meanwhile, I was nurturing a growing addiction to food cultivation and permaculture, which I was exploring on an urban-scale in my own backyard.

When I’d had enough of sitting in an office and working for an organization, I made the leap to become self-employed and I created The Urban Farmer – over 12 years ago. It’s been a very interesting ride. My timing was fortunate. There’s been a growing thirst for connection to all things related to local food.

My work in Cuba came about after 3 to 4 years of doing educational and consulting work in Alberta. I’d travelled a few times to Cuba myself and was always very inspired by what I saw related to the agroecology and urban agriculture movements. For me, organizing tours to Cuba could be the perfect combination of bringing together my previous work experiences with NGOs with my new life experiences working in food security. I’ll admit, I had no idea how it would fly – whether or not people would be interested in going to Cuba – but the response has been terrific. It’s been a nice alternative niche for me to work in, and I simply love being in Cuba, so the rewards are great.

What do you enjoy most about working in sustainable agriculture in Cuba?

It’s the human connection that’s so powerful. I love being able to facilitate exchanges between Canadians and Cubans who feel driven, or inspired to create food systems that are more just and environmentally stable. To watch them come together and have really meaningful connections with one another in ways that leave each person slightly changed – that’s a very privileged thing to be able to facilitate. Every time I go to Cuba, I’m learning constantly. I feel like that’s something I would miss tremendously if I didn’t have that now. Cuba is such an interesting country. To be able to accompany people there over the last decade has just been fascinating. It’s only going to become more interesting in the years ahead.

Can you describe any challenges you’ve encountered through your international work?

There are some very specific challenges I’ve encountered. For example, things around immigration requirements and visas in Cuba are, at times, in flux and hard to pin down. That’s a critical piece that needs to be constantly evaluated. Another issue is related to currency fluctuations when I’m planning a program overseas. People are paying me in Canadian dollars for their participation in tours and programs, at times six months in advance, and then our currency relative to the Cuban peso can change a lot. Planning for that can be tough. For sure, there are subtle ways of how people work, and how the system functions in Cuba that are very different from in Canada. When I think I’ve got it figured out, there’s something that comes along to keep me humble, reminding me that I still have much to learn in that regard. Getting access to resources in Cuba at a time when tourism is growing tremendously – it can be challenging securing transportation, accommodation, and food.

You’ve seen many Westerners travel to Cuba and work in sustainable agriculture. What abilities and qualities do you think it takes to succeed in this field of work?

Coming from the Canadian context into the Cuban context, one has to remember that the climatic and biological soil conditions are different. Tropical and sub-tropical realities are different than temperate zone realities. That’s an example on the agricultural side of things. Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind all of the restraints that Cubans face because of the economic embargo, which Canadians just don’t have to deal with here. The kind of innovation and the pace at which projects move is very different in Cuba, for several reasons, but also because of the bottleneck of having access to implements like tools, materials, seeds, and so on.

It’s important to be flexible. In my case, my ability to speak Spanish is critical. No matter where you are – even if you’re in an English speaking country – learning to communicate well in the language and the way of using language is important. What else do you need? Stress tolerance, for sure. Problem solving abilities. Being prepared to take risks because there are risks inherent in this kind of work. There are things outside of one’s control all of the time – so you have to be comfortable with that.

On the agricultural side of things, sustainable agriculture and permaculture are very inter-disciplinary, involving science, creativity, social dimensions. It’s very multi-faceted. It’s important to embrace that multi-disciplinary approach in this kind of work. I personally thrive on it, but it may not be for anyone. You need a thirst to keep learning, to keep discovering things. It’s important to keep that zest for learning alive because as you’re guiding people into learning, you can be learning with them.

You need strong facilitation skills. To help people feel comfortable and secure in a new environment and to be able to bridge them into the culture. Also being able to make decisions and take a bit of control at times, if necessary. When people are out of their element and depending on you, they need to know that you’re capable of making decisions and taking control of the ship in those moments, if required.

What kinds of jobs are out there in the moment in your field? Are there any openings or opportunities that come to mind?

There are some international bodies that facilitate agricultural work or research, including the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the United Nations, the World Food Programme (WFP), and so forth. There are also positions with bigger non-profit organizations, like Oxfam and Care International; they do have people in those technical capacities. This kind of work is related to educational jobs. You could be a technical advisor and probably even find work in the corporate agri-business industry, which usually means going someone to sell seeds and pesticides to people. But in truth, I don’t think there’s a ton of jobs out there. I think one does need to be entrepreneurial. You might also look within academic institutions – teaching and doing research at universities and technical colleges.

Do you think having a specific degree or type education is important or relevant to getting work in your field?

I think you could come to it from many different perspectives. You need to have a range of skills. A science degree in agriculture, or agronomy, without having the skills of communication, problem solving, organizing, and facilitation wouldn’t really work very well. But neither would be having no technical background. In my case, I didn’t have a formal science background in university, but I’ve acquired this knowledge along the way by taking different courses in permaculture, agro-forestry, and agronomy – most of them non-credit. Having a mix of skills is a good thing. Language skills are vital. Of course, you don’t need to go to school for that, but I could not do what I do in Cuba without speaking fluent Spanish.

For people who are either just starting out in their careers or looking to move into this kind of work, what’s your best advice in terms of tangible steps?

There’s a sector of the population that is looking for travel that has a meaningful purpose. More than a million Canadians travel to Cuba every year. The vast majority of them hang out at hotels, on beaches, and that’s fine for most people. There’s a segment that wants something different, and there’s a segment within that that want to connect with agriculture, farming and food. I keep seeing that over and over again. In Cuba, if I wanted to be promoting trips for Americans, I could be doing it full-time, because there’s a huge fascination amongst Americans right now. There’s potential there for people. I also think there is a definite niche for agri-tourism. The alternative food movement is not going away; I think it will grow. There are travel companies that take people on farm tours all over the world. Often it’s farmers and foodies who are attracted to these opportunities.

If you want to explore opportunities in agri-tourism, find a place that really turns you on – a place where you want to be. Ask yourself: is this a place that people would enjoy going to? Is there interest and value for others to learn about? How do you tell the story about this place in a way that gets people’s attention? For me, I made the decision to make it a long-haul arrangement with Cuba, which meant that developing good working relationships and friendships was a priority. It would be a very different approach if I were going to Cuba one week, then to Puerto Rico the following week. That’s the difference between a travel agency approach and the work that I do. My advice would be to prepare to be invested in a place. Think of it as a longer term relationship. In many countries in the world, spending time with people and developing relationships is important. It’s important that you follow through on what you say you will do; that you come back, and see people again and again. It’s a critical piece in order for people to open their doors to you.