5/14/13

This Tuesday morning was pretty early because we had to visit 3 companies today. The bus left at about 8, but I got up at 6:30 because I would rather get less sleep and get a warm shower than the other way around. Today I did not feel very well and had some sort of stomach flu all day, which really put a damper on things. But anyway, our first company visit was to Hela, a tool making company. We toured how they made different brushes. I was surprised how much manual labor was involved in the entire process, including people loading the machines and folding the boxes. We learned how the make industrial style brushes for concrete, paint rollers, and traditional paintbrushes. The next company was Centauros, a produce canning company. Their biggest product and the one that the tour focuses on was tomatoes, but they do work with other things like peaches and onions. Like the first company, I thought it was curious how much of the work wasn’t automated. We first learned how the tomatoes are washed, filtered, and dehydrated into a thick tomato paste. There it can be made into ketchup (which we sampled and I thought tasted similar but sweeter than Heinz ketchup), tomato sauce, or other tomato-based products. At the end of the tour, we were each given a can of beans to take home and sample. After this tour, we went out to eat empanadas. Because of my upset stomach, I stayed away from the cheese (which is in a sustainable amount of them) and got a tomato, basil, and cheese empanada with mint tea. The place we ate at was right by the beach and had a great view of the ocean. After the meal, we drove 10 minutes to the final company Bosques, a mushroom farm. The smell was overwhelming and was evident as soon as we walked off the bus. During the tour, the first thing we learned was how the compost for the mushrooms to grow in was made (manure, hay, and water). After a number of processes, the mushroom fungi are added allowed to grow into full-grown mushrooms. They are then harvested by hand in three waves. So, after a long day of company visits and surviving a stomach flu, we finally went back to the hotel for dinner and long awaited sleep. Until tomorrow…