By: María Guadalupe Peña Garnica, Colegio Bilingüe Báltico, Veracruz.
In my town, Tezonapa, sugarcane is everything. During the “zafra,” almost every family depends on the mill to survive. However, the traditional practice of burning fields fills our sky with “tizne” and hurts our soil. It’s a tough choice between our jobs and our health, a struggle felt in farming communities globally. Thankfully, our mill started using “scrubbers” to trap the soot, turning that waste into “cachaza” organic fertilizer. This realistic step shows we don’t have to choose between money and nature. By protecting our air and land today, we ensure our farming future here in Veracruz.
Workers loading cane for the Constancia mill, which supports thousands of families in our local rural community.
Burning the cane makes harvesting faster, but it releases black soot that covers our homes and our lungs.
This fire helps the economy today, but the smoke contributes to the global climate crisis we all face.
New “scrubber” technology traps the pollution, turning dirty soot into “cachaza” fertilizer to help our fields grow.
Our leaders believe we can protect our jobs and the environment if we work together for a cleaner future.
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