Fomento a la Producción Agroecológica y Consumo Saludable en Apoyo a la Asociación Agroecológica la Campesina de Cayambe Asocamcay

Agroecology offered the possibility of solutions that benefit everyone, which is why the idea of creating the Association of Agroecological Producers "La Campesina de Cayambe" (ASOCAMCAY) was born, which is a group of women who are dedicated to obtaining agricultural products under an environmentally sustainable system. In social and economic sustainability has not yet been possible, so it has sought strategies to achieve it, one of them being to ally with the Salesian Polytechnic University (UPS) and the Casa Campesina Foundation to receive training in technical aspects of production, taxation and innovation, and with UPS collaborators to reflect on the need to change agricultural production systems and provide (sale) baskets with agroecological products through a short marketing circuit, thus promoting agroecology as a sustainable proposal, while supporting the health and nutrition of the people. Two technicians from the Casa Campesina Cayambe Foundation and eight students from the Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology Engineering careers and one teacher from the UPS participated in this process. Their work together with the partners has been basically to prepare the reflection workshops (talks) that had two themes "What are we eating? which included a review of conventional food production and the positive and negative effects it causes"; and "Alternative agricultural production systems, Agroecology, people's health and the environment", and to support in the preparation, transport and delivery of the baskets, these activities were carried out since November 2017.These activities were carried out from November 2017 to date. The most signifi cative results of the investment of consumers in purchases, so far correspond to an average of $ 600.00 biweekly, which is an average of 28 baskets, this shows that, that money is not spent in large market chains and intermediaries, and directly supports the economy of the families of ASOCAMCAY, and thus being participants of a fair and solidarity economy, as evidenced by the success in the purchase and sale of the baskets in the UPS. In the dissemination it was obtained that everyone wanted to buy the Agroecological basket both for the economy and for health and nutrition, which showed that it generated a concern for what we eat, showing the reality of conventional agriculture and giving a solution with Agroecology. Other important teachings were the need to Other important teachings were the need to eliminate intermediaries in the commercialization of products in agriculture, to be in agriculture, to be part of a social and solidarity economy, and to raise awareness of the negative effects on health and the environment. the negative effects on health and the environment of conventional "Green Revolution" agriculture, and to show an alternative and to show an alternative with agroecologically managed agriculture.