An Overview Of Our Solution
The project consists of creating an ecological restaurant, located in the Department of Cuscatlan, El Salvador; In which organically grown food will be grown, prepared, cooked and served. In the organic garden we will grow vegetables, vegetables and legumes. The ecological vegetable garden will be paid through composting carried out inside the restaurant or bought from agroecological farmers; Besides the pesticides will be elaborated inside the ecological restaurant. Farmers who work or those included in the project will be trained on ecological agriculture. There will be a rainwater catchment system. Food and beverages will be organic raw material and can be wrapped with paper bags. Solar panels will be installed to capture energy. There will be separation in situ of the solid wastes.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Suburban
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: North America
General Information
Organization type
individual
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Grasslands
Urban/Built Environment
Population impacted
7.23%
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
31486.51 ha
Production quantity
1000 kilos per year approximately
People employed
92.77%
Solution
Describe your solution
My agricultural practice has been improved over time now and planted some edible plants such as blackberry and spinach, potatoes, pineapples and other ornamental plants organically fertilized and with natural pesticides. They will have an organic garden, fertilized and treated with organic pesticides. It will proceed to organize and train 30 families to participate in the project of the Municipalities of Cojutepeque, Candelaria and San Ramon and encourage to grow organic food for the satisfaction of themselves and to provide food to the restaurant. Families will be supplied with seeds or plants, taught to make organic fertilizers and natural pesticides. At the outset, organic food will be purchased from organic producers. The families will supply half of their crops to the organic restaurant and the other half will sell it at municipal markets or organic food stores. Families will be provided with the materials with which they will make organic fertilizers and pesticides. If the amount of food is sufficient to meet the demand for food, you will have a raw food store in or outside the restaurant. One challenge I would like to address is that 25 dishes of lunches are given to poor people or poor families and 10 baskets of organic food to needy families every week. The saucer and basket will be taken wherever they are or live.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
Rent or purchase of the premises in Cuscatlán, Installation of solar panelsm Construction of the rainfall collection system on roofs, Preparation of the place where the ecological garden is located, Purchase of organic seeds and plants, pots, organic fertilizer, Mayan fabric for sun protection etc. Get kitchen implements, organic kitchens and organic foods, Hire the specialized staff in the area of food.
My solution can be approved and adopted by the entities that will finance my project as it is a project with a vision to rescue the ancestral culture and the values of care and protection of the environment and human being. In that will have as positive consequences the change in human activities by implementing cultures and habits in harmony with the environment.
The ecological restaurant will be located in an area with access to drinking water in a safe urban or rural area, in addition to filtering the water with mud filters, energy will be captured through solar panels, there will be no Wi-Fi available to avoid contamination With non-ionizing radiations, employees will wear uniforms of natural fabrics such as cotton, linen or Hindu blanket. The organic food that will be bought is the chicken or hens on ecological farms. Dishes and pots of clay will be bought and covered with wood or clay. It will be cooked with three ecological kitchens and three stainless steel plates. Washable napkins made from natural fabrics will be used and the tablecloths to be put on will be made by weaving women and men. It will try to grow food every year inside as outside the ecological restaurant.
The key success factors will be the implementation of environmental, cultural and moral values; Austerity and responsibility. In addition to treating dignitary and kindly to the diner. Also the decent payment to the worker.
The obstacles will overcome them with patience, organization and discipline.
External connections
I will associate for organic food purchases like organic coffee with Cooperativa el Espino and will look for other private institutions or individuals who sell organic and ecologically healthy food if I do not reach the amount of organic food demanded. Make connections with Christian churches in the country to identify poor families who do not have access to nutritious food.
I will comply with the point of the constitution of the Republic of El Salvador where the right to safe and healthy food is mentioned
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
Most of the restaurants in the country serve us food grown with agrochemicals and we do not know the exact origin of food. There are few restaurants where they grow their own food and perform good ecological practices such as the use of organic fertilizers and pesticides. The spaces in which we often consume food are located in places filled with pollution, without trees and ecological gardens to appreciate. It should be noted that many people in the country die of hunger due to lack of resources and lack of healthy food. More than 7,000 people each year suffer from digestive problems, cancer and most of the population grows with the use of chemical pesticides. The project will reduce environmental pollution, protect and care for the environment and improve the health and quality of life of the population benefited by providing them with quality food that they need for their survival.
Describe the context in which you are operating
Cuscatlán is located in the central region of the country and borders the N and NE with the department of Chalatenango, E with Cabañas, SE with San Vicente, S with Lake Ilopango and the department of La Paz and, lastly , To the O with the department of San Salvador. In the N the valley of the Lempa river originates a flat and fertile region, appropriate for the agricultural activity. The center and south of the department, on the other hand, are more mountainous. The department covers an area of 756 km² and has an estimated population of 216,446 inhabitants (2007).
It is cultivated mainly sugar cane and, to a lesser extent, tobacco of exceptional quality, coffee and cereals. The departmental head is Cojutepeque, one of the relevant cities of El Salvador known as "the city of mists". In previous years, this city was noted for being a significant commercial center, important for the manufacture of tobacco, the dulce de panela and coffee of excellent quality. Handcrafted work is very developed throughout the department; Tenenario can be mentioned, where basketry works are carried out and hats and mats are made, and Suchitoto, a tourist center where colonial constructions are preserved and pottery, basketry and pyrotechnics are developed. More than 50% of the population has access to drinking water services.
Cuscatlán's economy is the third largest in El Salvador only surpassed by La Libertad and San Salvador. Cuscatlán has a mixed economy based on agriculture mostly.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Biodiversity will be positively impacted as the soil will not be contaminated with toxic agents, air will be purified through plantations, and human life, local environmental area and crop areas will be improved.
Use participatory methodologies, equity and equality.
Food will be taken to the ecological restaurant by the families and field visits will be made to evaluate the success of the crops and encourage improvement practices.
Language(s)
Spanish
Water
The water resource will be taken care of in its best form and will have filters in the restaurant in addition to the rainwater collection system in ceilings both in the restaurant and in the homes of the participating families
Food Security/Nutrition
With regard to food security, families with scarce resources within our reach will benefit in their health and nutrition. And the dynamics of delivery of already cooked food and food baskets will be done by rotating and not repeating in each family group. In addition, educational deliveries of agroecological gardens will be given to families who will be supplied with free food to implement organic food sowing project.
Economic/Sustainable Development
It will improve the economic development of the beneficiaries of the project as well as my person as coordinator of the ecological restaurant. In addition to other institutions supplying other types of organic foods that are needed in the restaurant. The operation of the restaurant will be supported economically through events that take place in the reception of weddings, birthdays, baptisms and other workshops or meetings that people request. In which will have a specific budget for each event
Climate
The local and global climate will be improved because trees and fruit trees will also be planted around the restaurant.
Sustainability
If there is participation of any subsidy of water or gas will be included for the benefit of the restaurant.
There will be an improvement in the quality of life in the aspects of survival for both restaurant employees and myself.
Return on investment
When doing each one of the activities will have a permanent, monthly or daily high cost that with the help of the consumers will be solved. But the results will be impacting and wonderful in a positive way because it will help {every day many families of the country
Entrant Banner Image
Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
This project could be replicated in any country of the world where this type of project is not common and where there is no food safety regulation as in the case of El Salvador or help to solve food needs for poor families. According to information researched in developed countries like Spain and France have been created ecological restaurants that work successfully.