Today we took a day trip to the American University Beirut farm- the Agriculture Research and Education Center - in the Bekaa Valley. The trip was sponsored by the AUB Dean of Agriculture, Dr. Nahla Hwalla, a good friend of my uncle that he helped me get into contact with. It took about an hour and a half to two hours to get there; we even passed Zehele – where we stayed in the 5-star hotel – on the way.
When we arrived to the 250-acre farm, we were greeted by the farm manager, Nicholas El Haddad. He showed us to his office where we were offered coffee and tea. As a group we talked with him in his office for about an hour about various Lebanese agriculture-related issues; unfortunately, Haddad painted us a rather grim picture of the sector’s current situation.
Apparently the Ag industry in the country has taken a recent dive, with little hope of real revival in the near future. Haddad spoke of the fertile farm land in the Bekaa Valley that is being sold to contractors for urban development rather than being used to grow much-needed crops for the people of the country. He said that Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture gives the farmers no subsidies and does not help them regulate their land, crops or use of chemicals. Haddad also told us that their student enrollment at the College of Agriculture at AUB has taken a hit in recent years and now they only have about 42 students a year that live, work and learn on the farm. In addition, Haddad explained to us that even though AUB has a leading agriculture educational facility in the country, they are still losing students to other school because of tuition increases. The farm is currently running on an annual budget of $1-million (USD) but next year, he must find a way to cut down the budget to about $800,000. He also said that the farm usually only gets a new piece of machinery every 5 years that is paid for out of an appreciation deduction that is automatically taken out of their budget before the fiscal year even begins. He mentioned that because the AUB farm was a non-profit organization, they couldn’t sell any of their products off the farm or off of AUB’s campus in Beirut where they apparently have a mini-grocery store located inside of the Agriculture Faculty building. Shaking his head, Haddad admitted that he knew that students were only coming to AUB for agriculture because they wanted to be able to land jobs outside of Lebanon. According to him, starting a career in Agriculture in Lebanon will only earn someone about $800 per month while starting a career somewhere else – such as in a Gulf Country – would pay someone about $8,000 a month. Haddad said that AUB only recently added the Agriculture Business and Veterinary Sciences majors to their school. He said he hoped that these new majors would help attract more students.
When asked why he himself went into Agriculture, Haddad said that he did it because he loved the work and that he came from a family of farmer’s right in the Bekaa Valley. He said that his home was actually not far from the AUB farm, where he now lives and works.
When the question of organic foods vs. non-organic foods came up, Haddad said that he personally didn’t think organic food was any healthier for the body. He did, however, say that pesticides needed to be controlled in Lebanon and that this was one of the only ways that the farmers were going to start producing quality crops again that the people were going to want to eat. He said that even though regulations have been set, they are rarely followed. I was quite surprised when he told us that most of Lebanon’s vegetables and fruits are actually imported from Syria, Jordan and Europe. I just wouldn’t have imagined considering that everything that I have eaten here seems so fresh.
After we wrapped up our conversation, he took us on a 45-minute tour of the facilities and grounds – see the PICTURES here. We saw many things and learned a lot of really interesting and new – at least for me – information. We got to see the student-run orchards, a plant nursery, classrooms and labs, the chicken slaughter house and the AUB seed bank (with giant deep-freeze storage units). Each plot of the farm is planted with something different (pure seed only, though), whether it be corn or another crop or even hay to feed the animals. In his office, Haddad said that they were currently experimenting with the sweet corn imported from the United States. My grandfather grows this corn in his garden and has for years, so I thought it was really neat that they were just now getting the deliciousness over to Lebanon. Haddad even offered to send us some in Beirut in the coming weeks which, of course, excited all of us.
We also got to go inside of their on-site hatchery to see the rows and rows of chickens laying eggs. Other livestock on the farm included dairy cows, sheep and goats. We got to see a baby calf only 4 hours old as well as a kid goat only a day old. We also got a tour of the farm milking parlor and creamery. In the creamery a man was making up a fresh batch of mozzarella cheese…yummy! I especially found it interesting that almost everything in the farm was automated. For example, each dairy cow has an electric transponder embedded into their ear tags that tell the computer now only what cow she is, but also all of her stats and conditions. Such as if the cow is sick, how much milk she has been producing, etc. etc. So if a cow that is on antibiotics goes into the milking parlor, the computer will read that she is on medicine and the machines will know automatically not to milk her – even as the other cows around her are being milked.
As we wandered through the farm machinery on the way to the cafeteria, we got to see for ourselves the $150,000 combine that was mistakenly bought for the farm…
Haddad said that it was just too big to harvest the small plots of fields on the farm but that he couldn’t seem to sell it anywhere else – not even to other farms in Lebanon or even contractors in Syria or Jordan. So basically they were stuck with it. However, when I laid eyes upon it, I almost had to laugh because in reality, the combine was actually quite small. Almost laughably small – I couldn’t believe that they didn’t have enough field space to use one of the smallest combines I have ever encountered in my life. This story brought into prospective to me just how small the farms in the Bekaa and throughout Lebanon where. Haddad said that unlike in the United States, the family-owned farms in Lebanon were very small, mostly because few families have the money to buy machinery and most of the farming is done by simple plow pulled by an animal such as a donkey or a horse.
Our lunch was absolutely delicious. I think the idea of knowing that everything I was eating was literally grown without a ten minute walking distance from the kitchen it was made in. Haddad ate with us and told us that no pesticides had been used on any of the ingredients as they were being grown. Lunch consisted of freshly whipped egg-plan with olive oil, keba, fresh juice, bread and the most scrumptious plums I’ve ever tasted. Needless to say, we were all quite full and sleepy when we reloaded the car and headed back to Beirut.
I found today really interesting and important because I think we needed to learn something else about Lebanon besides its tumultuous political issues. I think it is very important to know that the agriculture sector of this country is essentially going kaput because the politics are too focused on their sectarian divisions and the Palestinian/Israeli issue that they are pretty much ignoring a whole sector of the country’s economy. In addition, I think it’s really sad that the country would rather build on fertile ground than produce food for their people.
Perhaps I am deeply invested in this because I grew up on a farm and my family has always been heavily invested in agriculture, but regardless, I think the entire group learned a lot today. It also felt really good to get out of the busy city and into the country where the spaces are a little wider and life moves a little slower. I’m glad we went today because I came to this country with the goal of learning to appreciate as many aspects about it as I could and if the agriculture sector is in this much of a decline, I think it’s worth investigating why. I really couldn’t imagine a place anywhere in the world that doesn’t take pride in its own, homegrown products – but that does not seem to be at the forefront of minds here, no matter how hard people like Haddad fight. Unfortunately, with all the development going on in the country, it seems like a losing battle.
I’ve always had a deep appreciation for those who have learned to live off the land and those who have learned the ways of nature to such an extent that they can naturally obtain almost anything they want out of it for survival. But without a healthy agriculture sector, especially the support of farmers and domestically grown produce, I think any country or place is clearly losing sight of and love for the only thing that lasts: LAND.
“Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.” – Gerald O’Hara, Gone with the Wind
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