domenica 20 novembre 2011

LIFE AND TIMES IN THE VENEZUELAN PARAMO

By VENEZUELANALYSIS.COM & MASON LONDON

In this collection of photographs, California-born agroecologist Mason London provides us with a glimpse of life in the paramos of the Venezuelan state of Merida. The paramos, a unique ecosystem found in the Andes of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (+/- 3,000 to 4,500 meters in altitude), are some of the most historically-utilized agricultural lands in all of Venezuela.

clip_image001The home of a campesino family in the Venezuelan paramo with potatoes growing alongside their residence (Mason London).

clip_image002A Venezuelan woman and child walk through the small rural village of Gabidia, in the Venezuelan paramo. Note the child's head is kept warm by a small red Christmas cap (Mason London).

clip_image003An example of the scattered plots of small-scale family-based agricultural production in the Venezuelan paramo (Mason London).

clip_image004A group of agricultural workers seeds a potato crop after using animal traction to prepare the cold Andean soils of the Venezuelan paramo (Mason London).

clip_image005Another look at agricultural (potato) production in the Andean region of Venezuela's state of Merida (Mason London).

clip_image006The son of a rural producer looks over the family's sheep as they eat broccoli produced on-farm (Mason London).

clip_image007The child of a rural producer, with red cheeks typical of children in the elevated paramo, plays with one of the family's sheep (Mason London).

clip_image008Harvest celebrations in the Venezuelan paramo include reverence to traditional catholic saints, the natural conditions that allow for a productive harvest, and more traditional pagan figures (Mason London).

clip_image009Participants in a typical harvest celebration show off the diverse array of results from the 2011 vegetable harvest (Mason London).

clip_image010Harvest celebrations in the Venezuelan paramo include reverence to traditional catholic saints, the natural conditions that allow for a productive harvest, and more traditional pagan figures (Mason London).

clip_image011One practice that is common in rural Venezuela is the controversial use of food coloring to dye baby chicks a diverse array of colors (Mason London).

clip_image012A close up of two chicks dyed before being sold to passerbys (Mason London).

clip_image013An image of a typical paramo landscape, covered in the endemic frailejon plant (Mason London).

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