ECHO Farms

While in Florida my parents told us about the ECHO farm nearby.  We wanted to learn more so we looked up the times for tours and headed out.

ECHO stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization.
The mission statement from their website states:

ECHO's Mission is to equip people with resources and skills to reduce hunger and improve the lives of the poor.

and their vision statement is:

ECHO's Vision is to honor God through sustainable hunger solutions.

The tour was really interesting.  The growing techniques they are trying to develop and teach include the entire process.  They are looking for ways to get, store, and distribute water to plants as well as ways to develop stoves from available materials.

Along the way we were taught about several plants that have multiple uses and were able to taste the leaves of some nutritious plants. Some of these plants were very tasty too!

The things that they are developing and learning at ECHO are fantastic.  I was hoping to learn some things on the tour that I might be able to bring back to South Carolina.  While I did see some things, most of the plants that were discussed are tropical plants that are used in harsh growing conditions.  The cold weather of the South Carolina winter would kill most of these plants.

A primary focus at the farm is education.  Once a year long internship is completed at the farm, the intern is sent out into the world as a missionary to teach people how to supply themselves with nourishment.

For more info, here is a short news story about the farm:

When you see what's happening in this organization it's hard not to get excited about ECHO!