Original subtitles

[birds chirping]

[lively music]

[Andrea] So, when you hold a jar of honey,

you have to start thinking about the flowers, right?

What flowers went into the jar?

And then, what species of bees collected it?

How many flights did the bees have to make to produce

just one milliliter, two milliliters?

How much time has passed?

One whole year just to get one liter in excellent conditions.

Who harvested it?

What had to happen for it to get to you?

Who put it in a jar?

Who made the tag?

Um, who's selling it to you?

All these processes are part of the value chain.

And to create fair and responsible value chains,

every single piece should be aligned.

Every single piece should strive to create

a fair and responsible value chain.

Sometimes, as consumers, we don't understand how complex that is,

and we may think a fair price means fair trade,

and it's not always like this.

Because if any one of those is out of balance,

then it's a non-sustainable chain.

INGREDIENT MEXICO

[serene music]

[Drew] I've lived and worked all over the world.

In 2012, we opened Deckman's en el Mogor

in Valle de Guadalupe,

on the grounds of an organic farm and vineyard

with the goal to be as close to a sustainable

zero-kilometer restaurant as possible.

And I think I finally found my home.

[music intensifies]

I came here because of the incredible ingredients

that come from both the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean.

We have beautiful produce, cheeses, meats, olive oils,

all within mere miles from the restaurant.

For me, it really is a chef's paradise.

After I became a Mexican citizen,

it was important for me to travel the country…

…and meet like-minded chefs, ranchers, producers, fishermen, artisans

who share my commitment to responsible and sustainable farming and fishing.

Join me as we explore and deep dive into the magical landscape of Mexico

and discover its rich culinary tapestry.

[music continues]

[intriguing music]

[Drew] Veracruz lies along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

It's a mix of beautiful coastlines, valleys, mountains and rainforests.

It's one of the most culturally diverse states in Mexico.

With a mix of Indigenous, Spanish, African and Caribbean influences,

its cuisine is a fusion of ingredients, recipes and culinary traditions.

Veracruz is where the Spanish conquest of Mexico began.

Its port became the gateway into New Spain.

During this period, all people, goods and ingredients coming into the country

had to enter through the Port of Veracruz before moving elsewhere.

During the conquest, many native people were either killed or died

from disease brought by the Europeans,

and their populations drastically declined.

It was during this time

that the African slave trade began in Mexico.

They were brought by the Spanish to work on sugar plantations,

cattle ranches and as domestic servants.

It wasn't uncommon for Indigenous, African and European worlds to intermix.

Cooking techniques, traditions and ingredients were shared

in the fields, camps, or household kitchens.

Cooking became a language, a way to connect,

a way to learn and a way to bond.

This created the foundation for the multicultural cuisine of Veracruz

in its lively music and dance culture.

[music continues]

Today, we are headed to Coatepec,

a cloud or mesophilic forest that is known for its exceptional coffee

and referred to as Mexico's coffee capital.

-[muted] -We are here to meet Gibrán Cervantes,

founder of El Equimite,

a biodynamic agricultural company

focused on the production of specialty coffee,

vegetables and medicinal plants.

Through its integrated agroecological production model,

the project prevents the area from further deforestation

and contributes to the local ecosystem and economy.

So, Gibrán, where are we? This is your plantation, right?

Yes, this is our plantation.

-It's a coffee under shade. -[Drew] Okay.

[Gibrán] And it's into the rainforest of Veracruz, Coatepec.

-So this is a rainforest here? -Yes, it's a rainforest,

and our coffee plantation is a real food forest.

-Okay. -Because we can grow inside of the forest,

keeping all the native plants from the region.

So we have three levels of canopy,

the shade one, the fruit and the coffee.

And of course, all the mushrooms

and a lot of weeds that are under the coffee.

-Okay. -So it's a real biodiversity,

uh, technique to recover the--

Is that technique with the three shades,

does that happen naturally in the rainforest?

-Or is it something that you're creating? -In the primary forest

and in the secondary forest, you have these different straits.

-You have the different canopies? -Yes.

And so the coffee just fits into that plan,

and the coffee likes the shade.

The essence and the structure of this plant

is not to be out of the shade.

We are now creating deserts of coffee, of monoculture.

-Sure. -So this is the opposite of that.

And this is what an indigenous coffee plant…

At some point, coffee had to have been just like corn.

-Yes. -It was indigenous.

So its native habitat is in a very biodiverse,

shaded place like this rainforest.

And… interesting.

So as we take the coffee out of its context,

-we're creating coffee deserts. That's-- -Exactly.

-It's the same with the corn plantations. -Sure, exactly.

[Gibrán] If you take the corn out of the milpa, that is a huge concept

of a kind of permaculture, from the Indigenous of Mexico…

-[Drew] Right. -…you are taking out all the correlations

between minerals, microorganisms and organic matter inside of the soil.

-The equation breaks. -So it's the same.

We are doing here, like, a milpa concept, but with coffee.

Okay.

[Gibrán] So the milpa concept consists

in creating a relation

with about 15, 20 different crops inside of the corn plantation.

Each one is mutually beneficial.

[Gibrán] And there's a lot of relation between microorganisms

-and the roots inside of the soil. -[Drew] Sure.

[Gibrán] They are interconnected,

creating a synergy between these different crops.

But really, that's how nature grows normally anyway

before we took it out of, once again, using the word,

-when we took it out of its context… -Exactly.

-…you break the system. -The balance.

-Yeah. -It's the same with the coffee.

The coffee needs this forest to protect

-the essence of the nature of the coffee. -Okay.

So if we are depleting these ecosystems, we are creating an imbalance

of the climate change with all the crops, not just coffee…

-Sure -…and not only corn.

So we-- we are at El Equimite trying to protect this biodiversity.

So the amazing thing about biodynamics, Drew,

is that we are creating like an island

-of biodiversity at El Equimite. -[Drew] Okay.

[Gibrán] So imagine that we need to connect

the birds that have a place, a safe place with food,

the bunch of insects that you are-- are creating the house inside of El Equimite…

-Sure. -…to develop these colonies of insects--

Even though it's your property line, what's happening here

is different than what's happening maybe in the coffee plantation there.

-Exactly. -It brings diverse fauna and everything.

It's just…

…a sponge for biodiversity.

I was reading an article.

If every decorative garden in the United States,

so everybody that just has decorative plants that is only aesthetic,

-if all of that was changed to… -[Gibrán] Agriculture.

-…to food plants… -[Gibrán] Imagine that.

…it would solve world hunger.

We-- I'm not-- I'm going, "Solve world hunger?"

But you would amplify the production of food.

You take, like, the shrubbery that has no purpose,

and you plant something you can eat.

Imagine all that energy, all that water, all the biodiversity that we can create.

-Yeah. -So the coffee, it's an opportunity

because it's a… I choose the coffee

because it's a mainstream commodity.

Sure.

So I want to-- to rewire-- to rewire this thinking

of the commodities and to see that

-as an opportunity to change our vision. -Okay.

How we are creating food, how we are, um…

-What we are consuming, of course… -Right.

…to reestablish the information of the soil

and to start to create a new awakening of life.

So we've taken the information out of the soil

through commercial agriculture.

And through regenerative agriculture and biodynamic practices,

-we're returning that information. -Exactly.

So it's like bringing the books back to the library

and allowing all of that knowledge,

all of the information that's in the soil to be there.

And it only works when it's all there and it's all interconnected.

Exactly.

[pensive music]

So this is our biodynamic house for the preparations that we use.

It's like the heart of the farm.

So we have here the special preparations

that we made with some organs

of specific animals…

-[Drew] Okay. -…and some specific plants.

The idea of this biodynamic preparation

is to put it in the compost and create a being.

-The compost is a being by itself. -Okay.

So we add this information with these plant and these organs.

And by putting it into the ground for six months,

you are humidifying these materials

as you are creating a specific medicine to the soil.

So inside,

we have these specific medicines.

This is the heart of the farm.

The information that you're adding back to the soil…

-Exactly. -…to regenerate

what may have been lost and to maintain--

So the material is like…

You can see it's very interesting.

It's a very humidified…

And we use each of these to the compost.

-Okay. -So we create a balance.

-Is it a catalyst for the compost? -Exactly.

So this is then going to be multiplied by itself,

-propagated inside the compost mix. -Exactly.

-Okay. -But in a homeopathic way.

-So we can put… -This goes in here?

Yes.

As you can see, this is the amount for one hectare.

-[Drew] For one hectare? -[Gibrán] Yes.

This is very intense. Very, very concentrated.

Again, we are just talking about information.

Right. We're not applying matter, we're applying information.

-It's just information. So the idea-- -Interesting.

-The idea-- -I think that's key to understanding

a lot of what biodynamics is. It's--

We're applying information to the being

of the soil, of the plant, of the ecosystem,

as opposed to applying matter, which is what you would do

-in the case of putting a fertilizer. -Exactly.

So that's applying matter, this is applying information.

The idea with the biodynamic preparation is not necessarily directly at the plant,

-but to the soil… -[Gibrán] Exactly.

…which gives the information to the plant.

[Gibrán] We're working with the soil, not with the plant.

Not with the plant. It's not treating the symptoms, it's treating the patient.

So the goal of biodynamics is to try to see that being as a whole.

-As a whole being. -Okay.

So you cannot spread-- you cannot separate these things

because life doesn't work like that.

We need to interconnect the information again…

-Okay. -…to let the being arise healthy.

Because we found a way to disconnect that information,

and we're trying to reconnect it.

Okay.

This is amazing.

[inspirational music]

When the plant is giving harvest,

is giving production, it's getting sensible.

It's more sensible because all the energy is put into the seeds.

The energy it may have used for defense, it's now using for its fruit.

-Their recreation. -Right.

-To give a new plant, new babies. -Sure.

[Gibrán] That's why we need to be very careful about the nutrition.

What we assure is the ripeness of the coffee,

and the type of the fermentation

depends of the Brix level at the time when we are picking.

Okay, so the amount of Brix when you harvest depend--

that determines how you're going to ferment the coffee.

Exactly. Yes, because it depends on where we are, if we are in 19 or 24.

[Drew] I keep hearing grape's numbers.

Those are numbers where we harvest fruit for wine.

-Really? -Nineteen to twenty-four.

-Those are the magic numbers. -It's the same with the coffee.

We have been fermenting this for 120 hours.

Okay. All right.

So we will do a wash process.

So this is a very important point

because all the biodynamic work--

Wow! [chokes, laughs]

-You need to… -[both laughing]

You need to leave it…

So if you don't properly do the fermentation,

you can destroy all the work that we just saw in the tour.

[Drew] Okay. Now, the coffee has been washed.

Semi-washed.

[drops dripping]

[coffee beans rattling]

[Gibrán grunts softly]

[Gibrán] This tool helps us move the coffee

when we want to put it in the sun or leave it inside.

[Drew] Okay.

[farmers chattering]

[coffee beans rattling]

Here we have the solar dryers.

This is the way we dry, the natural process.

With the natural process, we need to dry very fast.

-[Drew] Otherwise, it gets bad stuff. -[Gibrán] Otherwise, we can over-ferment,

-and we don't want that. You know? -[Drew] Yeah.

[Gibrán] This is very, very special and high-quality coffee.

-This is… -This is very handcraft coffee.

This is unbelievable.

I know that education for you is really important.

Um, about the same time that you started El Equimite, the farm,

you also started a Montessori school.

I really believe that we need to start seedling these concepts

-to the first stages of the children. -Sure.

Seed the concept of sustainability early.

[Gibrán] El Equimite is very linked with the program

to try to sensitize these children to all of this.

-[Drew] And the children come to the farm? -[Gibrán] Yes, they come

every three weeks, and they experiment all the biodynamics

and regenerative agriculture as a part of the program

to understand from the very simple aspects,

what is happening in the farm, what is happening with the insects,

with the soil, with the production.

Coatepec has a real story about coffee. And we are losing it.

It's a shame because all the real estate is changing the destiny of the land

to establish houses, and we are losing the coffee plantations.

And this is very important for the children to understand the crops

that have been grown here for a long time.

-Sure. -And all the value.

Not just in terms of the crop,

I mean, the value in nature, in ecosystems, the culture.

So I really think that we need to preserve that.

And I'm enjoying learning from you.

-This is-- -I am enjoying too.

This is changing me.

Um…

-Thank you for sharing. -It's a pleasure. [chuckles lightly]

[serene music]

[muted]

[Drew] A small community in school near Gibrán's plantation

is also providing education and resources.

Their initiative is focused on protecting local bees

and providing hands-on education to parents and children

on how to properly manage and raise thriving bee communities.

We raise bees on our ranch back in Valle de Guadalupe,

and I completely understand

the agricultural, economical and medicinal importance

of their biodiversity and, frankly, key to our survival.

Pauline and I are meeting up with Alejandro Beltran Cordero,

a passionate environmentalist, activist and storyteller,

to learn about the stingless Melipona bee

that was coveted by the Mayans for its medicinal purposes.

This bee is also the pollinator of the indigenous orchid

that produces vanilla in Veracruz.

[calm music]

[Drew in English] When I was in Yucatan, I was introduced to Andrea Figueroa

and Rodrigo Navarro of Nativa Miel.

Like Alejandro, they both are activists and teachers

dedicated to bee preservation efforts.

I met Rodrigo working in the Yucatan Peninsula,

um, working with Indigenous groups

-and vulnerable communities. -Okay.

So I'm from Mexico City, came to the Yucatan,

went to this tiny community in the middle of the jungle,

and there was this group of women that had stingless bees.

And they started talking to me about how these bees didn't sting.

They produce very little honey, but this is a medicinal honey

the Mayas used to work with.

-And I was like, "Oh, my God!" -It clicked, you know--

Yeah, like, how do we not know this back home,

like, back in Mexico City?

And I started learning a little bit more and more about these bees.

And the Mayas had a very close relationship to these bees.

The bees that we usually think of,

the ones that are yellow and black that sting us,

that produce very large quantities of honey,

these are not native to the American continent.

They were introduced.

But we do have other types of bees here since many, many years ago.

And the Mayas had a very close relationship to these bees.

First of all, if you want to start talking about bees,

we need to start talking about more than 20,000 species of bees.

-[Drew] Wow. -[Andrea] And they all look,

behave and interact in different ways.

There's more than 450 species of stingless bees around the world.

So is that a constant struggle that this is what you need to educate,

-this is what we need to tell? -It's a constant effort…

FROM MIEL NATIVA KABANDE

…to educate people to learn every day about bees.

Many people work with bees, but don't know much about them,

their life, their biology,

-or the strategies to preserve them. -[Drew] Sounds like there's a lot

-that we still don't know about bees. -[Rodrigo] Yeah.

How important the pollinator is

to the continued existence of human beings.

-That's where it gets really complex. -Yeah. It's really complex.

But a simple way is: plant native plants from the region where you live.

That way you help bees, but also ants and all the other insects

and animals that live in the region that you are.

And there may not be just one species of bee in that area.

-There may be three or four or five. -Yeah.

And each one of them is pollinating a different set of plants,

which allows for that micro area to exist.

If you break a leg or a part of that…

…well, now there's not…

There's a part that system that's not going to survive.

-Exactly. -What are some of the uses

of the Melipona honey, um…

-So-- -…in a modern setting?

[Andrea] So, Melipona honey has traditionally been used

-for its medicinal properties. -[Drew] Okay.

[Andrea] So, as crazy as it sounds,

the Mayan communities have been using Melipona honey

to treat eye diseases, such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment,

and eye infections, as well as skin diseases

like dermatitis, skin dryness and to heal wounds.

Like, for diabetic people who don't heal fast enough,

Melipona honey helps to accelerate tissue regeneration.

-Wow! -Some people consume it as a medicine

or as a superfood to boost their immune system

because of all the properties it has.

For me, honey is a reflection from the world we live in.

And how many species of flowers do you think there are?

I… [stutters] Hundreds of thousands.

-Billions? -Yeah.

Honey is a combination of the nectar from the flowers and the bee saliva.

So how many different combinations of nectars do you think we could have?

-[mumbles] -Like, we can't even think of that number.

We live in a world that tends to standardize everything.

-[Drew] Yeah. -But if you look around you,

the world is not like that.

So, we believe we need to relearn how to approach

the world we live in and the food that we eat.

So, I like to compare honey with wine.

With wine, we've been taught how to appreciate the differences, right?

But nobody told us how to do that with honey,

or tomatoes, or lettuce,

or radish, or onions, or mangoes.

-Basically, anything that we consume. -[Drew] Right.

So honey can be as diverse as wine, or more, without human intervention.

[Drew] Eliminating as many intermediaries,

so producer… how close can I get to the producer?

-[Rodrigo] Producer, yes. -[Andrea] Are we going to be able to have

this honey in ten years, in 15 years?

Are we managing the natural resources in a responsible way?

Relating it to Baja California, we understand

how important the pollinator is,

because without pollinators, there's no agriculture.

-Exactly. -Without agriculture, there's no food.

Without food, the car stops running. Right?

We stop existing.

[tense pensive music]

[Drew] Vanilla originated in Mexico.

It's one of the world's most expensive spices

and most difficult to grow.

It grows naturally in the jungles of Veracruz.

It's a member of the orchid family and it was first cultivated

by the Totonacs thousands of years ago.

Veracruz is the main producer of vanilla in Mexico.

But like every other commodity, corn, coffee, cacao,

the larger companies are taking over the land and resources

and pushing small producers out.

And as we see the decline of the bee population,

we will naturally see the decline of orchids and their vanilla pods.

[pensive music]

[Drew] Erik Guerrero is chef and owner of Restaurant Namik,

located in the port town of Veracruz.

He is passionate about supporting local fishermen,

promoting best practices,

and being an advocate for sustainability within the fishing industry.

[muted]

How does the relationship directly with the fishermen affect you?

[in English] If I was a fisherman here in Veracruz,

I'd be wanting to work with you, Chef.

[pensive music]

This looks great, Victor. Wow.

RESTAURANT

All right, perfect. What do we have here, Chef? This is…

So, taro came with sort of the African diaspora, right?

The movement of the slaves.

And sort of the Gulf of Mexico has very similar ingredients.

-[in Spanish] Exactly. -[in English] And how and why they came.

Talk maybe a little bit more about how some of the vegetables.

Uh, why is there taro here?

Well, Veracruz is one of the first cities in America,

the Spanish cities in America.

It is a sister city of La Habana,

-Campeche and Cartagena. -Okay.

-[man] In, in Colombia. -Really early on-- colonial--

So the people, the slaves,

the traditions and the food

-from all these sister cities… -Okay.

…are common. If you go to…

-[Drew] The origin. -…Cartagena, you can find taro

just the same as here in Veracruz.

[woman] Veracruz was the most important trading port.

In the 16th century, all this trading

was with the Atlantic countries

like those in Europe and some from Africa.

But in Acapulco, in the Pacific coast of Mexico--

Right, because it's not very far. So a land trade--

[woman] The merchandise arrived in Acapulco

and was transported by mule to Veracruz,

where ships then carried it to Europe.

[inspirational music]

[Drew] I'm heading to Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz,

to visit and cook with anthropologist and chef Raquel Torres.

She's a person who intrinsically understands the cultural, family,

and personal significance of this region's cuisine.

She is a fierce advocate for local Indigenous communities to have a voice,

but more importantly, for their voice to be heard.

[muted]

[Drew in English] I was fascinated to hear about the history of the Afro-descendants

and Indigenous peoples of Veracruz.

And Raquel recommended that we travel to an area called Los Tuxtlas,

a rainforest mountainous region in the southwestern part of the state

to meet Nidia Hernández, a regional cook who is also committed

to rescuing and preserving local recipes from the past.

This is an area where slaves were brought to work on sugar plantations.

Their cultural influence is still ever present through the ingredients

and dishes that mark the region's cuisine.

Ingredients such as malanga,

also known as taro, yucca, sweet potato and cassava,

are all staples in Veracruz's cuisine.

COOK

[in English] So to learn-- as you get the diaspora happening,

you get the crossroads.

You get the same ingredient that's been used on another continent.

-[Pauline] And the flavor and-- -[Drew] I can just imagine

somebody saying, "What? No! Come here. Let me show you."

[in English] So, yucca is really from Mesoamerica,

and it's the first plant that the Olmecs were able to domesticate,

and basically, started agriculture in Mesoamerica.

[in English] It's really interesting that the same ingredient

is available in a lot of different places.

But one of the beautiful things about Veracruz is

it's such a crossroads that…

Yes, yucca is eaten here and eaten in other places.

Well, the African part and the African cuisine part of it,

because of their presence, affects you,

changes your style, and it becomes more diversified and more complex.

[Drew in English] We've taken the yucca,

the pureed yucca that we put egg…

…and fresh cheese in…

…and we're putting it into hot oil.

Obviously, over the open flame,

which makes all the difference.

[in English] It's interesting. They take a piece of the yucca,

put it back in the ground, and it makes another yucca.

So…

That sounds pretty sustainable to me.

Uh… always have the same plant producing more.

[muted]

[Drew in English] So vibrant, so… simple, but so complex.

And the flavor is just…

And it's…

It's simple, but it's really… [chuckling] really special.

Wow.

Wow. [in English] Sorry.

[pensive music]

[rain pattering]

So a big part of what global economics and global commercialization has done

is it has eliminated traceability.

It's eliminated the ability for us to understand really

the origin of what we're consuming.

We make sure all of our bottles are traceable to the producer.

-Okay. -Because traceability is a tool we have

as consumers to make sure

the food we're consuming comes from a fair and responsible value chain.

We create very close relationships between the coffee farmers

and our roaster's clients.

Okay.

So our goal is to change this mindset

and help to create

a better quality of life in these communities.

Putting the face back on the coffee farmer,

um, we're able to trace where the coffee is from,

we're able to understand what part of the world it's coming from.

We've stopped reflecting on what had to happen

-for the food to get to us. -[Drew] Yeah.

[Andrea] We never ask ourselves these questions.

Um… I like to invite people, like, once a month…

If you can once a week, go to your kitchen,

grab something there, and just ask yourself,

"Where does this come from?

What had to happen for this to get to me?"

Or, "What is this that I'm putting in my mouth?"

And choosing to buy products from people

who are promoting fair and responsible value chains

does make a difference.

[Rodrigo] Yes, and we want to communicate to the last clients

that if they participate in this value change,

-we can change together. -[Drew] They're preserving it.

Three times a day, we have the opportunity

to break or make the world that we live in.

If everyone made a series of very small changes…

…that drip in the bucket

is now a stream, it's a fountain,

it-- we can change the direction to make the world a better place.

[serene instrumental music]

[music fading away]