Imagine a Costa Rican business, or rather, a business located in Costa Rica. What does it sell or what services does it offer? Who works for the business? Is the business actually based in Costa Rica? Does it actually serve the Costa Rican people, or some other foreign group? How does the business affect Costa Rica, its people and environment?
Before we arrived in Costa Rica, we had a general mental picture of the Costa Rican business climate and its relationship to environmental conservation. It generally focused on giant pineapple or other fruit farms with beaten down workers and little social benefit.
But according to Johanna Argüello Méndez, General Manager of local business Aventuras de Sarapiquí, internationally based businesses sometimes work in conjunction with local businesses, bettering both competition and the chances for small farmers. “All competition,” she claimed, whether from Asia, the USA, or local growers, “is good competition.” She told us that all local supermarket chains like Más por Menos have been bought out by none other than Walmart, but the benefit has been for both the consumers and even local growers. Johanna notes that Walmart has allowed for better sales and bargains, so prices for some goods have dropped. Additionally, she says that consumers are offered choices between, for example, “perfect, beautiful oranges from Florida” and the smaller, potentially blemished local products, but because most local consumers are aware of the benefits of supporting local growers, they will choose the less pretty produce.
The similarities don’t stop there. Much like in the United States, tough manual labor jobs are not always filled by Costa Ricans. Johanna likens the phenomenon to Mexican immigrants working the strawberry fields in the U.S.; here, Nicaraguan immigrants are known to work the pineapple and banana fields. Johanna acknowledges that the jobs are very difficult and do not pay well, but the industry is fairly stable and despite shortcomings, the major corporations are often still actively involved in their host countries. She cites Chiquita as having an excellent outreach program for conservation education.
One conflict often cited by conservationists like Megan, the director of the Eco Retreat where we are staying, is that of the need for land for pineapple or banana fields while simultaneously requiring increased conservation of the rainforest. Johanna, whose businesses is closely connected with the rainforest by offering canopy rides over and raft rides through it, affirms that there is a cycle of tourism and conservation. She notes that tourism, perhaps the biggest and most stable industry in Costa Rica, only exists because of the rainforest. If conservation is unsuccessful and the rainforest disappears, tourism will as well. Without tourism, all Costa Ricans, no matter what profession, will suffer. Johanna says that for this reason, Costa Ricans are very aware of the environment and their place within it. They do their best to support conservation, and we are learning from them. We are all gaining a greater appreciation for the environment and are loving supporting local products. We cannot wait to see what else we will discover in the future!
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