For LAAS PhD student Azucena Sierra Garcia, a cup of coffee is more than just a delicious morning beverage- it’s the catalyst for imagining a future in which coffee cultivation is increasingly rooted in sustainability and empowering small farmers using traditional growing methods.
On March 7, Azucena presented “Brewing Connections: Coffee Tasting and Exploration of Mexican Coffee Systems,” an event designed to connect members of the CFANS community from across campus to learn about different systems of Mexican coffee cultivation. Attendees from many departments came together to hear Azucena present and sample different types of coffee from Mexico.
Azucena studied forest restoration as an undergraduate, and her work evolved to focus on agroforestry during her graduate studies. Currently, her research is examining mountain agricultural landscapes and carbon cycling in the Mixtec Mountains in Mexico. In her presentation about coffee systems, Azucena explained the different types of coffee growing in Mexico, ranging from commercial monocultural production to the “rustic” system, in which coffee is grown in the shade of naturally occurring forest at a higher altitude.
“Coffee is the perfect combination of agronomics and forestry,” Azucena explained. “You have a crop, which in this case is the coffee, and then you have other trees, which can either be a different kind of crop, such as bananas or avocados, or it can be the natural forest with the coffee trees planted underneath.”
Azucena is also studying organic vegetable cropping systems in the Driftless area, a hilly region of southeastern Minnesota, northwestern Iowa, and southwestern Wisconsin.
“The driftless area is hilly for the Midwest, so even though it’s not mountainous like the coffee growing regions of Mexico, we can take what we learn about vegetable growing in the Driftless and interpolate that knowledge to areas that are steeper.”
Interested in learning more about Azucena’s work? Take a look at the presentation from the Brewing Connections event. You can also check out this podcast Azucena recorded with SWAC faculty member Kyungsoo Yoo for the Storycorps Archive.
photos courtesy of Azucena Sierra Garcia
above: Azucena sampling soil in Mexico
below: (L) coffee growing in Mexico (R) Azucena preparing coffee for the Brewing Connections event
