Pure Peru

PERU | Friday, 11 January 2013 | Views [549] | View Smaller Image

An elderly woman and her daughter sell animal feed at a local market in Jauja, a small town in the central Andean plateau that was once Peru's capital city. Peru is becoming increasingly urbanised as more and more youth move to the big cities to find work as clerks or taxi drivers, leaving the elderly behind to tend to farms. Likewise, as Peru modernises, farming is becoming more mechanised. As a result, a treasure trove of knowledge about ancient agricultural techniques, as well as many unique cultivars, are slowly being lost. As these elders have no youth to mentor, their knowledge dies with them.

Tags: farmer, old, elderly, woman, grass, green, livestock

I met this beautiful potato seller at the famed Andahuaylas market in the central Andes, just north of the Sacred Valley. The rich soil allows for the cultivation of many crops, and the land is irrigated by waters flowing down from the higher peaks of the Andes.
The market is almost 3 kilometers long, selling everything from second hand clothing to livestock, vegetables and cheap chinese imports. Spices enliven the air and the colours and motion of the place is overwhelming. Farmers from the country, carrying sacks full of hundreds of variety of potatoes (a crop native to Peru), sell their wares on the large concrete pavements set up for stalls, shouting prices and flagging down potential customers. Should you feel the need to escape the chaos, just cross the river to the livestock section, buy yourself a horse and ride off into the sunset.

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Pure Peru

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