Increasing Socio-economic Resilience
of Utuado Farmers through Agritourism
Huda Khalife, Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education
(SARE) Project Team

Report Outline
Report Outline

1

SARE Disclaimer

2

Abstract

3

Background & Literature Review
Problem Description
Solution Space

3
3
4

Project Methods

5

Part I: Identification of Regional Sustainability Solutions
Criteria for Farm Sustainability & Selection
Exemplary Farmers & Regional Economy Players
Exemplary Case #1: Finca Amasar
Exemplary Case #2: Instituto de Permacultura de Puerto Rico
Exemplary Case #3: Rise & Root Farm
Exemplary Case #4: Cafe Nativo
Exemplary Case #5: Frutos del Guacabo
Exemplary Case #6: Queso Vaca Negra
Exemplary Case #7: Plenitud PR
Exemplary Case #8: HidrOrgánica
Exemplary Case #9: Siempreverde
Exemplary Case #10: Agroempresarias de Puerto Rico

6
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28

Part II: Pathways to Success of Regional Sustainable Farms/Enterprises
Reconstructed Transition Pathways [working section]
Finca Amasar Transition Pathway
Criteria for Successful Transition/Development of an Enterprise

30
30
30
31

Part III: Education & Training Program [working section]
Constituents of a Training Program

32
32

Training Program: Farmer Learning Community
Training Program First Iteration Report & Reframing [working section]

32
34

Discussion

34

Conclusion

35

Acknowledgements

36

References

37

SARE Disclaimer
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and
Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number LS20-339 through the
Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. USDA is an equal
opportunity employer and service provider.

Abstract
Utuado, Puerto Rico, is a region that has witnessed many natural hazards, most notably
Hurricane Maria that struck the island in 2017 and irrevocably altered its landscape to this day
(Holladay et al., 2019; Ortiz, 2020; Benach et al., 2019). In combination with layers of
pre-existing vulnerability, such as socio-economic vulnerability and food insecurity, this has
made for a disaster situation (Klein, 2018; Benach et al., 2019; Garriga-López, 2019). However,
this disaster has also opened up a window for citizens to rise up and self-organize for the
revitalization of their shared communities and spaces; in the agricultural sector, this has
manifested as a drive towards a stronger regional economy and the building of food sovereignty
through agritourism (Holladay et al., 2019).
In contribution to the larger Southern SARE project, my Master of Sustainability Solutions
(MSUS) Culminating Experience (CE) project aims to support this local movement through a
collaboration with key local farmers to identify local farm assets through the reconstruction of
solution strategies (Forrest & Wiek, 2014) and the designing of an educational program for the
adaptation and scaling of identified sustainability solutions to other regional farms (Fraser &
Galinsky, 2010). The intended outcomes for this project include (1) the building of community
resilience and livelihood opportunity; (2) the increasing of awareness and knowledge of
agritourism best practices; (3) the dissemination of knowledge on practices to increase farmand visitor-readiness; (4) and the strengthening and interconnection of the regional economy.
Based on the array of exemplary farms and enterprises that I have conducted research on and
engaged with through this project, I have witnessed the potential that the widespread
dissemination of agritourism best practices offers for the progressive building up of the regional
economy in Utuado, Puerto Rico.

Background & Literature Review
Problem Description
The hurricane that struck the island of Puerto Rico in September of 2017 was one that would
permanently alter the lives of many for years to come; loved ones were lost, basic needs were
far out of reach, and many had become internally displaced (Garcia-Lopez, 2018). However, the
impacts of this natural hazard were not felt equally by all: What came as a disaster to some, was
easily recoverable from by a small minority of others (Garcia-Lopez, 2018). Directly contributing
to the experiencing of natural hazards as disasters is the level of vulnerability of a group of
people to major impacts (Wisner, et. al, 2012). In one of the hardest hit regions of Puerto Rico,
the municipality of Utuado, this progression of vulnerability includes a lack of livelihood
opportunity (Klein, 2018; Garriga-López, 2019), a large proportion of citizens living below the
poverty line (U.S. Department of the Treasury), a lack of access to basic necessities and high
quality food (Klein, 2018; Benach et al., 2019), increasing farm abandonment and outmigration
(Garriga-Lopez, 2019; Klein, 2018), and a high level of dependence on imported food (Klein,
2018).

To add to this is the “national and federal government’s inept…responses…histories of unjust
planning, and colonial-neoliberal institutions” (Garcia-Lopez, 2018). This includes a US-imposed
shift away from agricultural production, subsequent food import dependence, and an overall lack
of public infrastructure investment (Klein, 2018; Valentin Ortiz, 2020). The unaddressed
destruction after Hurricane Maria (2017) across all sectors has had progressively exacerbating
long-term and dispersed effects on the health, education, and economic situation of Puerto
Rican citizens, many of which have opted to relocate to the US mainland or elsewhere in search
of better quality of life and greater livelihood opportunity (Klein, 2018). While Puerto Rican
farmers historically used traditional planting practices conducive to environmental integrity and
biodiversity, the shift to industrialization and mono-cropping guidelines dictated to farmers
caused much of the indigenous knowledge and practice to be lost (Klein, 2018). Adding to the
urgency, COVID-19 has worsened the situation for many families that suffer from extreme food
insecurity (Florido, 2020). While this complex web of deteriorating issues is a dire reality for
communities like the ones in Utuado, the government continually fails to invest in basic
infrastructure, underpinning much of the problem at hand (Holladay et al., 2019; Ortiz, 2020;
Klein, 2018).

Solution Space
Given the range of issues stemming from high socio-economic vulnerability in Utuado, much
research has been conducted that explores existing community-driven solutions. Research
shows that self-organization can build community resilience, in turn supporting “sustainability,
public health and risk reduction” (Holladay et al., 2019). In fact, the related concept known in
Puerto Rico as auto-gestión, or autonomous organizing, refers to the same type of
community-driven action that has been at the core of post-disaster recovery and rebuilding on
the island (Garriga-López, 2019). In the context of survival needs and desire for decolonization,
this type of community organizing has converged around building food sovereignty for its
transformative potential in the ‘building back better’ of Puerto Rico communities (Garriga-López,
2019). In addition, food sovereignty is at the heart of addressing an urgent issue surrounding
extreme food insecurity and a need for access to healthy and high-quality food (Florido, 2020).
Intricately tied to this vision of working towards food sovereignty are the concepts of
agroecology and small-scale farming, which have also been shown to demonstrate resilience in
the face of disaster risk, as in the case of recurring hurricanes (Garriga-López, 2019). In
Utuado, a promising solution for socio-economic development that communities are mobilizing
towards is agritourism (Holladay et al., 2019). Agritourism is an emerging economic activity that
combines agroecological methods and tourism for diversified livelihood potential, sustainable
practices, cultural preservation and appreciation, and smaller scale food sovereignty (UN, 2020;
Mendez-Toro, 2019; Holladay et al., 2019). While certain types of tourism have proven to
demonstrate negative impacts on environmental and cultural integrity in the past,
community-based tourism that draws on the individual assets of community members and is
coupled with sustainable development goals has proven to foster social-ecological resilience
(Holladay et al., 2019). Despite the wide range of long-term positive impacts of agritourism, the

new push for agritourism among Utuado community organizers, and the presence of farms and
farmland, many farms have been abandoned in a search for better livelihood opportunity
(Holladay et. al., 2019). Based on the transformative potential of agritourism for the Utuado
community in terms of positive public health outcomes, social and environmental resilience, and
disaster risk reduction (Holladay et al., 2019), local Utuado farmers would benefit from
increased agritourism knowledge dissemination and practice for the building of a stronger
regional economy.
Much research has been conducted on the impacts of sustainable farming in the past. Among
the research yielded is the Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Natural Resource
Management Systems (MESMIS), an indicator-based sustainability assessment framework
which was developed in the context of natural resource management systems throughout the
Latin American context (Astier et al., 2010). This framework is a valuable context-sensitive tool
for the evaluation and measurement of success in the pathway towards farmer success through
agritourism practices. Additionally, given the existence of both agritourism pioneers in Utuado as
well as a significant population of farmers still in development, the Forrest & Wiek (2014)
solution pathway reconstruction framework is another valuable tool for the strengthening of the
regional economy. This tool provides a connection between economy players at different stages
in order to leverage existing local farm assets for the strengthening of other regional farms.
Using these two well-established tools and others, the dissemination of agritourism knowledge
and practices can be explored for the building of socio-economic resilience in Utuado.

Project Methods
In this project, I focus in on an array of regional sustainable farms and enterprises, and delve
deeper into the solution pathways of a few exemplary farm- and visitor-ready farming entities in
the region in order to develop an agritourism intervention based on sustainability, resilience, and
disaster management practices and principles to support other farms in preparation for the full
operation and accommodation of visitors. My project consists of three major parts:
Part I. Identifying regional sustainability solutions, which involves:
1. Developing surveys for preliminary data collection on key actions, tools, and resources
for farm success;
2. Creating a list of criteria for the identification of sustainable farms and enterprises; and
3. Conducting background research on identified regional sustainable farms and
enterprises.
Part II. Reconstructing pathways to success of regional sustainable farms and enterprises,
which involves:
4. Developing and conducting interviews for a more detailed follow-up of a few exemplary
farms;
5. Reconstructing transition pathways based on interviews; and
6. Creating a list of criteria for the successful transition or development of a farm or
enterprise.

Part III. Developing an education and training program to support other farmers in learning from
this experience, which involves:
1. Identifying pertinent theory of change, focal risk factors, as well as program scope and
stakeholders; and
2. Developing a program addressing main elements and indicators, pilot program and
measures, and training and implementation based on reconstructed pathways.
Following are the supporting frameworks used, along with a short description of their role in this
project:
1. The Transformational Sustainability Research (TSR) framework (Wiek & Lang,
2016) supports the building of a community-wide current state analysis, a sustainability
vision, and leads into the backcasting of sustainability solutions.
2. The Framework for Analyzing, Assessing, and Improving Enterprises Towards
Sustainability (Wiek & Basile, 2020) provides the basis for which to comprehensively
analyze the sustainability performance of an enterprise, and is here used as a tool to
highlight exemplary farms and enterprises and their best practices.
3. The Principles for a Sustainable Local Food Economy (Wiek, 2020) support in the
regional economy framing of the identified solutions, and in doing so tie the smaller scale
individual enterprise efforts to the larger goal of systemic change at hand.
4. The Framework for Assessing the Sustainability of Natural Resource Management
Systems (MESMIS) is a method developed specifically in the context of small farms in
Ibero-America, and is employed to evaluate the outcomes related to increased farm
resilience, sustainability, and economic activity (Astier, et al., 2012).
5. The Forrest & Wiek (2014) Transition Pathway Reconstruction framework,
representing the strategy development step of the TSR framework, supports in the
reconstruction of sustainability solutions (identified agritourism solutions) implemented
on the interviewed farms, which allows us to identify evidence on what worked, where,
how, and why, and adds credibility to the proposals for new strategies.
6. The Fraser & Galinsky (2010) Intervention Research Approach supports in the
adaptation and implementation of the proposed, evidence-supported strategy to other
regional farms through program development best practices.

Part I: Identification of Regional Sustainability
Solutions
Criteria for Farm Sustainability & Selection
The Criteria for Farm Sustainability (see Table 1) as employed in the identification of exemplary
farming and agritourism player profiles is adapted from the Framework for Analyzing, Assessing,
and Improving Enterprises Towards Sustainability (Wiek & Basile, 2020), the Principles for a
Sustainable Local Food Economy (Wiek, 2020), and the Wiek & Forrest (2021) Solutions

template. These tools were developed by experienced sustainability scientists and scholars at
the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU) based on the intensive study of
various sustainable enterprises around the world and their exemplary features. As such, each
featured criteria in the list below is backed by one or more real-life examples somewhere in the
world. [Insert something about the agritourism definition]
The Criteria for Farm Sustainability has been employed in this project as a tool to highlight
successful sustainability features within exemplary farm and enterprise cases. While the
following list of farms or enterprises may not satisfactorily fulfill all of the criteria in the different
categories, they have been presented below by virtue of overall strong performance in certain
categories or by virtue of individual criteria that they exemplify. Viewing this array of strong
features in conjunction, we can begin to envision a well-rounded and highly successful
exemplary sustainable farm enterprise.
Criteria for Farm Sustainability
Product/Service

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Environmental
Performance
(Operations)

●

Human/Social
Performance
(Operations)

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Fulfillment of a basic/sufficient human need (e.g. food,
clothing, etc.)
Biodegradability/non-toxicity
High quality
Fair pricing (i.e. is the price reasonable based on the
production cost and inputs?)
Fair accessibility (i.e. if the pricing is high, is there a flexible
payment method or a sliding scale based on the ability a
customer to pay?)
Closed-loop Water, Material, Substances/Emissions systems
(i.e. is pollution and waste avoided? Are materials reused?)
100% Renewable energy use
Local sourcing
Positive contribution to local environment
Environmentally friendly workforce lifestyle & volunteerism
Meaningful employment & work activities
Employment of individuals with disabilities
Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges
Healthy (safe and happy) work environment
Healthy work-life balance (i.e. work hours at or below 40,
overtime only rarely, provision of vacation and sick-leave
time, etc.)
Health promotion program offering and participation (e.g.
yoga sessions for employees)
Sustainability performance monitoring and improvement
Volunteerism for humanitarian/social causes
Capacity building program offering and involvement (e.g.
skill building workshops provided to employees)
Positive contribution to community wellbeing

Economic
Performance
(Operations)

●
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●

Sufficient revenue generated to cover costs
Fair/just wages to employees
Fair/just highest to lowest wage ratio
Redistribution of excess profit to
employees/community/non-profit organizations

Ownership &
Decisions

●

Observation, listening, reflection and learning inform
management and steering practices
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and marginalized
community participation (i.e. is the business co-owned, or do
the employees or marginalized/minority groups of
community members have a voice in decision making
matters?)
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth
Enterprise size and structure complexity align with human
capacity
Sustainability planning
Promotion of sustainability beyond enterprise boundaries
leveraging power and influence

●

●
●
●
●
Regional
Economy
Offerings

Does this enterprise contribute to one or more the goals of the
regional economy, as defined as follows:
● Over 50% of food consumption and production in the
regional economy is local
● Over 50% of food production is healthy
● There are sustainable local businesses in all sectors of the
food economy
● The majority of local food businesses engage in sustainable
practices
● Local support organizations provide all relevant support
functions for sustainable food businesses
● Consumers recognize and support sustainable local food
businesses
● There is justice (labor rights, wages, food access, etc) in the
local food economy

Agritourism
Integrity

Does this farm or enterprise align with the definition of agritourism,
as defined as follows:
● The host site is a farm or ranch, or any agricultural,
horticultural, or agribusiness operation
● A destination for education, recreation, and the purchase of
farm products
● An opportunity for visitors to connect with the natural or
working landscape and farm experience
● Provides an additional source of revenue for the host farm

Table 1. Criteria for Farm Sustainability (Wiek & Basile, 2020; Wiek, 2020; Wiek & Forrest, 2020;
University of Vermont; Virginia Cooperative Extension)

Exemplary Farmers & Regional Economy Players
Research points to the fact that self-organization is a powerful tool for building community
resilience, and in Puerto Rico communities specifically, this has converged around the building
of food sovereignty for its transformational potential in addressing food insecurity and the need
for increased access to healthy and high quality food (Garriga-López, 2019; Florido, 2020). In
fact, to this end communities in Puerto Rico have specifically been mobilizing towards
agroecology, small-scale farming, and agritourism (Garriga-López, 2019; Holladay et al., 2019).
Agritourism has been proven to foster social-ecological resilience, and bring about positive
public health and disaster risk reduction outcomes (Holladay et al., 2019).
I highlight a few of these exemplary sustainable farms and enterprises in the region of Utuado
and in other regions nationally, and present them using the Criteria for Farm Sustainability (see
Table 1 above) in order to better understand their sustainability features, their contributions to
the regional economy, and by extension their areas of potential improvement (note: information
gaps or areas of potential improvement are indicated in italics). In creating an inventory of
exemplary farm and enterprise features locally, we are able to begin the first step for the transfer
of sustainability solutions to other up-and-coming farms and enterprises in the region. The
sustainable farm and enterprise profiled below are as follows:
1. Finca Amasar
2. Permaculture Institute
3. Root & Rise farm
4. Cafe Nativo
5. Frutos del Guacabo
6. Queso Vaca Negra
7. Plenitud PR
8. HidrOrgánica
9. Siempreverde
10. Agro Empresarias de Puerto Rico

Exemplary Case #1: Finca Amasar

www.amasar.net | (787) 235-3017 | Jayuya
Finca Amasar is a woman-led breadfruit product-focused agritourism farm that not only
produces highly nutritious food products, but also engages in community empowerment
through the local breadfruit crop and provides education on nutritious and healthy eating.
Product/Service

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Environmental
Performance

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Main product: All-purpose Breadfruit Mix (flour alternative),
and Breadfruit Pancake & Waffle Mix.
Other products: coffee, cacao, plantains, bananas, taro,
soursop fruit and citrus fruit.
Fulfills basic human need of nutritious and healthy food.
High quality product: Gluten-free, highly nutritious
superfood-derived value added products.
It is accessible in multiple local markets and stores around
Puerto Rico, in addition to the main farm location, and is
available for shipping to the US as well.
Products are accessible in different stores, but can be
priced more fairly based on affordability for the general
population, comparative products, and input pricing.
Pesticide-free crops
Agroforestry
Input products are sourced locally and on-site
Donated hundreds of breadfruit trees in partnership with
Trees that Feed Foundation to women agro-entrepreneurs
in schools and island-wide.
Partner with local schools to teach planting, growing and
harvesting.
Donated thousands of breadfruit trees to farmers in
surrounding municipalities along with the USDA to provide
farmers with additional income streams.
No data on Closed loop water, Material,
Substances/Emissions systems?
Renewable Energy use?

Human/Social
Performance

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Economic
Performance

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Ownership and
Decisions

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Situation in
Regional
Economy

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Agritourism
Integrity

●

Woman-lead enterprise
Produced by Puerto Rican farmers
Advocate for community education on local food and
purchasing (freshness, nutritional value, support of local
community members), as well as sustainability (in
preserving a beautiful and healthy country for future
generations through sustainable practices), and fair trade
(and fair pay of all workers).
Has a strong compliance with health and security
guidelines.
Provides meaningful employment to individuals facing prior
need for relocation for better opportunity.
Healthy work-life balance?
Health promotion programs?
Employment of individuals with disabilities?
Sustainability performance monitoring and improvement?
The enterprise generates sufficient revenue to cover costs
of operations and management, and both advocates for and
pays fair wages to employees.
Just ratio between highest/lowest wage?
Redistribution of excess profit?
Envision a cooperative model for Amasar in the future,
where farmers can come together and have a secure place
to sell their produce.
Pushed for the REAP program, under which farmers can
receive up to 25% of the cost for Photovoltaic Systems (grid
tie, off-grid).
Qualitative growth strategy? Planning for sustainability?
Observation, listening, reflection and learning informing
management and steering practices?
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and marginalized
community participation?
Marisol Villalobos serves as the secretary of
Agroempresarias de PR, which serves to train and empower
over 80 female agro-entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico.
Marisol Villalobos advocates for community education on
local food and purchasing (freshness, nutritional value,
support of local community members), as well as
sustainability (in preserving a beautiful and healthy country
for future generations through sustainable practices), and
fair trade (and fair pay of all workers).
The host site is an agricultural operation providing education
and the purchase of farm products, and an additional source
of revenue for the host farm

Exemplary Case #2: Instituto de Permacultura de Puerto Rico

www.permaculturapuertorico.org (inactive site) | (787) 846-4505 | Barceloneta
The Institute of Permaculture of Puerto Rico is a non-profit community-based organization
engaging in education and sustainable development throughout Puerto Rico communities
through permaculture.
Product/Service

●

Provides economic, social, and cultural development, as
well as training and education to communities on
permaculture.

Environmental
Performance

●

Practices and disseminates the practice of permaculture
throughout Puerto Rico.

Human/Social
Performance

●

Offers educational workshops and talks to communities
regarding sustainability and resilience in the face of
disasters.
Organizes activities and programming, such as weekend
camps, for groups of all ages to practice orchard
planting, compost, learn about medicinal plants, engage
with ecological construction, share ideas and create
projects.
Engages with schools and higher level educational
institutions to provide courses as a part of degree
requirements, and works towards creating a full
educational curriculum.
Supports in the creation of community gardens.
Healthy work environment surrounded by nature, and
regular safety inspections internally and externally.
Healthy work-life balance with work hours from 6am to
12pm (4 hours in a day).
No current employment of individuals with disabilities.
No health promotion program offering and participation.
No current sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement.

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Economic
Performance

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Ownership and
Decisions

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Situation in Regional
Economy

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Non-profit organization 501(c)3, organized under Puerto
Rico law as a community-based organization.
Wages of $7.25 hourly (minimum wage) to employees.
No data on economic viability or fair/just highest to
lowest wage ratio.
Woman-owned
Listening to employees inform management practices,
as their field knowledge is understood as valuable.
Enterprise is comprised of 100 cuerdas and 7 transitional
employees.
Currently no qualitative growth strategy with limits to
growth, or sustainability planning.
Currently no data on Collective ownership/steering;
workforce and marginalized community participation.
Advocate for and provide development and training
surrounding permaculture and healthy food cultivation.
Empower the next generation of farmers and
entrepreneurs by pushing for established curriculum in
educational institutions.
Regular engagement with neighboring farmers, including
product exchange.

[Agritourism integrity needs to be assessed beyond this point]

Exemplary Case #3: Rise & Root Farm

https://www.riseandrootfarm.com | Email: farmer@riseandrootfarm.com | Chester, NY, USA
Rise and Root Farm is a woman, intergenerational, multi-racial, and LGBTQ-led farm that is
rooted in social justice values and works towards the building of a more equitable food system
by creating access and providing education and empowerment to marginalized communities.
Product/Service

●
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Environmental
Performance

●
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Human/Social
Performance

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●

●

Fulfills basic human need of access to local, nutritious
and healthy food
High quality produce
Mission to bring healthy, affordable, locally grown food to
New York City residents, particularly those living in
low-income communities.
Promote grounding and stewardship of the land.
Offer community days in which community members are
invited to learn experientially and participate in farm
work.
Closed-loop Water, Material, Substances/Emissions
systems?
Renewable energy?
Woman, intergenerational, multi-racial, and LGBTQ-led
farm
Prioritize serving marginalized communities and
communities of color
Provide an inclusive, welcoming, healthy and happy
work environment
Provide education in schools on where food comes from,
and offer internships teaching youth the history of
agriculture and the African American and Indigenous
experience
Creating an understanding of the connection between

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Economic
Performance

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Ownership and
Decisions

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Situation in Regional
Economy

●

●

food, history and culture
Rooted in social justice work by growing food and
community beyond city boundaries and building a more
equitable food system
Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges?
Healthy work-life balance?
Health promotion program offering and participation?
Sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement?
Keeping business afloat in COVID-19
Ways to support the farm: Buying plants from spring
plant sale, shopping for produce/item pick up, buying
groceries through Chester Ag Center’s online store,
donating groceries to local food pantries, donating plants
to community gardeners and farmers, and donating to
Rise & Root farm
Sufficient revenue generated to cover costs?
Fair/just wages to employees? Fair/just highest to lowest
wage ratio?
Collaborative and cooperative decision-making among
four main farmers
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth?
Planning for sustainability?
Work with nonprofit food justice organization Just Food;
helped found Farm School NYC; worked in various
community gardens and farmers’ markets in Brooklyn
and the Bronx; and founded the Black Farmers and
Urban Gardeners Conference
Promote increasing access to local food consumption
and production in marginalized communities

Exemplary Case #4: Cafe Nativo

https://www.facebook.com/cafenativojayuya/ | (787) 315-7881 | Jayuya
Puerto Rican coffee producer and seller providing education on conservation practices while
engaging in agritourism, operating mostly on solar energy and maintaining a low ecological
footprint.
Product/Service

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Environmental
Performance

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Human/Social
Performance

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Farm and storefront that produces and sells local Puerto
Rican coffee
Provides cottage living space
Fair pricing?
Fair accessibility?
Provides education on conservation practices
Operates on a design model with a low ecological
footprint
Uses solar energy that contributes to 80% of the farms
operations
Environmentally friendly workforce lifestyle &
volunteerism?
Meaningful employment & work activities?
Employment of individuals with disabilities?
Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges?
Healthy (safe and happy) work environment?
Healthy work-life balance?
Health promotion program offering and participation?
Sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement?
Volunteerism for humanitarian/social causes?
Capacity building program offering and involvement?

●

Positive contribution to community wellbeing?

Economic
Performance

●
●
●
●

Sufficient revenue generated to cover costs?
Fair/just wages to employees?
Fair/just highest to lowest wage ratio?
Redistribution of excess profit to
employees/community/non-profit organizations?

Ownership and
Decisions

●

Observation, listening, reflection and learning informing
management and steering practices?
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and
marginalized community participation?
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth?
Enterprise size and structure complexity align with
human capacity?
Sustainability planning?
Promotion of sustainability beyond enterprise boundaries
leveraging power and influence?

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Situation in Regional
Economy

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Provides education on conservation and keeping a low
ecological footprint.
Any other regional economy offerings?

Exemplary Case #5: Frutos del Guacabo

https://www.frutosdelguacabo.com | (787) 242-7423 | Manatí
An agricultural producer sourcing products to restaurants, hotels and supermarkets across the
island while raising local food awareness and providing education on sustainable cultivation
methods.
Product/Service

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●
●
●
●

Environmental
Performance

●
●
●
●
●
●
●

Fulfills a basic human need in producing and distributing
agricultural produce
Offer other value-added products, such as yogurt,
cheese, pickles and marmelades
Produce edible flowers, micro-sprouts and engage in
breeding-handling of animals
Provide educational farm tours to demonstrate various
cultivation methods, such as hydroponics, and ecological
management free of pesticide and fertilizer-use
Offering not only its products but also its services to
restaurants, hotels and supermarkets on the island.
Higher pricing (than other market products) reflects
freshness and quality of product
Product is accessible through markets or by delivery
Farm without pesticides and fertilizers
Engage in and educate on various forms of cultivation,
such as on land, in pots, and through hydroponics.
Farm houses three nurseries, two of which engage in
rainwater cycling and one which operates with
hydroponics
Works to reduce overall waste by engaging in
composting and feeding goats with extra food scraps.
No other significant indication of closed-loop Water,
Material, Substances/Emissions systems
Currently no renewable energy
Environmentally friendly workforce lifestyle &
volunteerism?

Human/Social
Performance

●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●

Economic
Performance

●
●
●
●

Ownership and
Decisions

●
●
●
●
●

Situation in Regional
Economy

●
●
●

Raise awareness on the importance of local food
production and supporting local food producers
Organizes volunteer groups
The farm is open to the community for workshops
Works closely with students in the form of internship,
specifically UPR Mayaguez and UPR Carolina
Agritourism certified with the PRTC
Employs individuals with disabilities, specifically with
autism
Prior to Hurricane Maria, the farm provided food to
community members
Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges?
Safe work environment and conducive to wellbeing
through natural surroundings
Employees work from around 30 (on-feild) to 50
(in-office) hours weekly
Currently no health promotion program offering.
Currently no sustainability performance monitoring,
despite implementation of many sustainability practices.
Sufficient revenue is generated to cover costs.
Wages to employees range from $250 (nearing minimum
wage figure) to $600 per week depending on work field
and tasks.
Highest to lowest wage ratio of 1:2.4
Most excess profit is redistributed to the farm itself
They employ 12 permanent employees
There is a lot of fluid communication between
employees, and between employees and management.
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and
marginalized community participation not explicitly
mentioned.
No limits to growth because of the 85% of imported food
figure
Sustainability planning as of now, except to invest next in
renewable energy.
Engage in and educate on various forms of cultivation,
such as on land, in pots, and through hydroponics
Raise awareness on the importance of local food
production and supporting local food producers
Any other regional economy offerings?

Exemplary Case #6: Queso Vaca Negra

www.quesovacanegra.com | (787) 262-5656 | Hatillo
First cheese and yogurt producer of its kind sourcing locally and established through a barter
economy system for indebted ranchers to the original milk processing company.
Product/Service

●
●
●

Environmental
Performance

●
●
●
●
●
●

Human/Social
Performance

●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●

Produce high quality cheese and yogurt, and in doing so
fulfill a basic human need of nourishment.
Offer engaging tours demonstrating the cheese-creating
process.
Fair pricing? Fair accessibility?
Created a product previously unavailable locally
The cattle and milk production industry is the only
industry that is supplied 100% locally in Puerto Rico
All of the milk used for the cheese production is sourced
in nearby farms
Closed-loop Water, Material, Substances/Emissions
systems?
Renewable energy?
Environmentally friendly workforce lifestyle &
volunteerism?
The company began with the forgiving of rancher debts,
and an exchange of payments for milk.
Meaningful employment & work activities?
Employment of individuals with disabilities?
Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges?
Healthy (safe and happy) work environment ?Healthy
work-life balance?
Health promotion program offering and participation?
Sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement?
Volunteerism for humanitarian/social causes?

●

Capacity building program offering and involvement?

Economic
Performance

●
●
●

Sufficient revenue generated to cover costs?
Fair/just wages to employees?
Fair/just highest to lowest wage ratio?

Ownership and
Decisions

●

Observation, listening, reflection and learning informing
management and steering practices?
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and
marginalized community participation?
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth?
Enterprise size and structure complexity align with
human capacity?
Sustainability planning?
Promotion of sustainability beyond enterprise boundaries
leveraging power and influence?

●
●
●
●
●
Situation in Regional
Economy

●
●

Created a product previously unavailable locally, in the
only industry that is supplied 100% locally in Puerto
Rico.
Any other regional economy offerings?

Exemplary Case #7: Plenitud PR

https://www.plenitudpr.org | (787) 247-1966 | Las Marias
Non-profit educational farm and community dedicated to service and sustainability, engaging
in multiple community-serving programs for the marginalized community of Las Marias such
as rainwater harvesting, bio-construction, and community gardens. Engage with multiple
cross-sectoral project partners for high quality project delivery.
Product/Service

●
●

Environmental
Performance

●
●
●
●
●

Human/Social
Performance

●
●
●

●
●

Teaching and sharing sustainable technologies
(permaculture theory, rainwater harvesting,
bio-construction, eco-agriculture, etc)
Sell fresh produce and meats
Engage in rainwater harvesting, bio-construction, organic
farming
Engage in agroecology and permaculture practices
Learn and implement traditional farming practices from
elders
Use solar energy
Closed-loop Material & Substances/Emissions systems?
Host university groups from several universities in the
US for academic and service-learning trips
Collaborate with UPR-mayaguez to provide students
with internships, summer practices, and coop programs
at the teaching center
Provide space for employees to develop arts and skills
that complement their mission of health and wholeness
(yoga, holistic medicine, dance and music, vegetarian
cooking, etc.)
Every day on the farm the staff puts all work aside and
eats lunch together
Work with students and teachers from schools locally
and in surrounding municipalities, providing workshops

●

●
●

and trainings on organic farming, healthy food
preparation, and holistic education, and help to design
and maintain school gardens
Serve a community wherein 57% of the population live
below poverty levels by:
○ Installing rainwater harvesting systems for over
1453 people and engaging in regular testing and
monitoring of local water sources
○ Engaging in the construction of 4 SuperAdobe
emergency shelters post disaster
○ Training the new generation of farmers and
installing over 24 community gardens throughout
the region
○ In response to COVID-19, sewed hundreds of
masks and since the start of the program
distributed over 2760 plates of hot and nutritious
food to community elders
Employment of individuals with disabilities?
Sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement?

Economic
Performance

●
●
●
●
●

Major funding sources: grants and volunteers
Annual budget 150-250k per year
Offer CSA and sell fresh produce and meats
Economic viability?
Fair/just wages to employees? Fair/just highest to lowest
wage ratio?

Ownership and
Decisions

●

Co-owned and founded by two members, with 17 staff
members and a 6-member board of directors
Observation, listening, reflection and learning informing
management and steering practices?
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and
marginalized community participation?
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth?

●
●
●
Situation in Regional
Economy

●
●

In partnership with multiple cross-sectoral community
players to work towards increasing resilience and
sustainability in communities
Collaborate with and highlight the work of other farmers

Exemplary Case #8: HidrOrgánica

www.hidrorganica.com | (787) 598-0240 | Rio Grande
Agroecological farm producing vegetables, fruits, sprouts, spices, and medicinal plants.
Connected with a butterfly cafe focusing on monarch butterfly conservation and education.
Provides farm tours and education on pesticide and chemical-free growing and natural
cultivation through hydroponic systems. Features an online video series/talk show to promote
farmers and educate on agriculture in Puerto Rico.
Product/Service

●
●
●
●

Environmental
Performance

●
●
●
●
●
●

Human/Social
Performance

●

●
●

Production and sale of agro-ecological products,
including vegetables, specialty crops, lettuce varieties,
fruits, sprouts, spices and medicinal plants
Also house a tobacco factory and butterfly cafe
Provide farm tours
Fair pricing and accessibility?
The Butterfly Cafe focuses on the conservation of and
education on the monarch butterfly
100% free of pesticides and chemicals
Promote natural cultivation through land banks and
hydroponic systems
Renewable energy?
Closed-loop Water, Material, Substances/Emissions
systems?
Environmentally friendly workforce lifestyle &
volunteerism?
Host of the show series: Let’s talk about Agriculture, a
platform to promote and learn about agriculture in Puerto
Rico, with the goal of raising agricultural awareness in
the country and motivating people to grow their own food
Meaningful employment & work activities?
Employment of individuals with disabilities?

●
●
●
●
●
●
Economic
Performance

●
●
●

Ownership and
Decisions

●
●
●
●

Situation in Regional
Economy

●

Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges?
Healthy (safe and happy) work environment? Healthy
work-life balance?
Health promotion program offering and participation?
Sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement?
Volunteerism for humanitarian/social causes?
Capacity building program offering and involvement?
Sufficient revenue generated to cover costs?
Fair/just wages to employees? Fair/just highest to lowest
wage ratio?
Redistribution of excess profit to
employees/community/non-profit organizations?
Observation, listening, reflection and learning informing
management and steering practices?
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and
marginalized community participation?
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth?
Promotion of sustainability beyond enterprise boundaries
leveraging power and influence?
Any additional regional economy offerings?

Exemplary Case #9: Siempreverde

https://www.facebook.com/lachocolateracayeypr | (787) 603-7986 | Cayey
Non-profit organization providing education on sustainable farming methods such as
rainwater management, solar energy use, permaculture, food and economic sustainability
primarily to children with special needs.
Product/Service

●
●

Environmental
Performance

●
●
●

Human/Social
Performance

●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●

Non-profit organization which focuses on offering
agroecology workshops to children with special needs
Offer hour-long farm tours and chocolate tasting in the
chocolaterie
Educational farm demonstrating how to self-sustain
using resources of rainwater management, solar panels,
food sustainability and economic sustainability
Offer hour-long farm tours, demonstrating agroecology
and permaculture, from seed to harvest
Environmentally friendly workforce lifestyle &
volunteerism?
Meaningful employment & work activities?
Employment of individuals with disabilities?
Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges?
Healthy (safe and happy) work environment? Healthy
work-life balance?
Health promotion program offering and participation?
Sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement?
Volunteerism for humanitarian/social causes?
Capacity building program offering and involvement?

Economic
Performance

●
●
●

Ownership and
Decisions

●
●
●
●

Situation in Regional
Economy

●

Sufficient revenue generated to cover costs?
Fair/just wages to employees? Fair/just highest to lowest
wage ratio?
Redistribution of excess profit to
employees/community/non-profit organizations?
Observation, listening, reflection and learning informing
management and steering practices?
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and
marginalized community participation?
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth?
Promotion of sustainability beyond enterprise boundaries
leveraging power and influence?
Any additional regional economy offerings?

Exemplary Case #10: Agroempresarias de Puerto Rico

http://www.agroempresariaspr.com/ | (787) 375-3268
Agro Empresarias de Puerto Rico, a non-profit dedicated to training women farmers and
agro-entrepreneurs for economic independence and increased agricultural production, while
integrating them into the food economy and providing them with empowering connections.
Product/Service

●
●
●
●
●

Environmental
Performance

●
●
●
●
●

Human/Social
Performance

●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●

Education through seminars, talks and trainings
Agrotours - visits to farms and production plants
Professional, legal and financial consulting
Participation in agricultural market-places under the
organization
Marketing and sales orientations
Closed-loop Water, Material, Substances/Emissions
systems?
Renewable energy?
Local sourcing?
Positive contribution to local environment?
Environmentally friendly workforce lifestyle &
volunteerism?
Meaningful employment & work activities?
Employment of individuals with disabilities?
Partnership/employment opportunities with local
universities/colleges?
Healthy (safe and happy) work environment? Healthy
work-life balance?
Health promotion program offering and participation?
Sustainability performance monitoring and
improvement?
Volunteerism for humanitarian/social causes?
Capacity building program offering and involvement?

Economic
Performance

●
●
●

Ownership and
Decisions

●
●
●
●

Situation in Regional
Economy

●

Sufficient revenue generated to cover costs?
Fair/just wages to employees? Fair/just highest to lowest
wage ratio?
Redistribution of excess profit to
employees/community/non-profit organizations?
Observation, listening, reflection and learning informing
management and steering practices?
Collective ownership/steering; workforce and
marginalized community participation?
Qualitative growth strategy with limits to growth?
Promotion of sustainability beyond enterprise boundaries
leveraging power and influence?
Any additional regional economy offerings?

[working section: reflective section on exemplary profiles presented above.]

Part II: Pathways to Success of Regional
Sustainable Farms/Enterprises
Reconstructed Transition Pathways [working section]
The exemplary farms that I have studied in depth, profiled using the Criteria for Farm
Sustainability, and analyzed through pathway transition reconstruction are Amasar, Instituto de
Permacultura de Puerto Rico, and Plenitud PR. The first two exemplary farms/enterprises were
selected by virtue of being on the SARE project team, and the third was selected by virtue of
being the most exemplary of the Exemplary Cases profiled above.
I present the analysis of these exemplary enterprises through reconstructed transition pathway
maps below, from which farm and enterprise data has been collected through a combination of
background research and in-depth interviews. The Forrest & Wiek (2014) framework for
pathway transition reconstruction is a highly valuable tool with which to be able to determine the
success factors of enterprises with the support of evidence, so as to compile and create a basis
for the transferring of these evidence-based critical success factors to other enterprises.

Finca Amasar Transition Pathway
[Describe reconstructed pathway steps for Finca Amasar and discuss results.]

Figure 1. Reconstructed Transition Pathway of Amasar

Criteria for Successful Transition/Development of an Enterprise
Now that critical factors of enterprise sustainability transitions have been reconstructed, it is
necessary to specify a method with which to appraise the overall sustainability of these
interventions at hand, with the aid of key indicators and targets. The Sustainability Appraisal of
Interventions (see Table 2), a tool presented in Forrest & Wiek (2014) for this very purpose, has
been adapted to the case of our exemplary enterprises at hand. Major findings from this
appraisal include…[working section]
Sustainability Appraisal of Interventions
Activity
Domain

Sustainability
Criteria

Indicators

Targets

Enterprise
Appraisal

Working

Wellbeing

Employment

Everyone being employed
who wants to be, in full-time
jobs; providing a living
wage

(Yes, No,
Somewhat, with
1-sentence
explanations)

Wellbeing

Local value
added

Increase in the number and
diversity of locally-owned
enterprises

Environment

Biodiversity

Levels adequate to local,
native ecosystems

Equity

Accessibility

All day-to-day needs
satisfied within the
community and other
essential needs satisfied
locally or regionally

Eating/
Shopping

Resources

Consumerism

Reduce overall
consumption; Consumption
of 100% ethically and
environmentally produced
products

Educating

Citizenship

Civic
Engagement

Open and transparent
governance; high
awareness of, passive and
active participation in
community affairs

Eating

Table 2. Sustainability Appraisal of Interventions (tool obtained from Forrest & Wiek, 2014)

Part III: Education & Training Program [working section]
Constituents of a Training Program
[Define Theory of Change]
Because the issues of food insecurity, food access, and low livelihood opportunity form a part of
a web of complex issues stemming from historic and political inequities and mismanagement in
Puerto Rico, the solution to these issues must be similarly multi-faceted and systemic. In fact,
the long-term goal of attaining food sovereignty through the building of a strong regional
economy as defined by Wiek (2020) involves a wide range of factors, including a significant
level of local food consumption and production, a significant level of healthy food production, the
presence of sustainable food businesses in all food economy sectors, a majority of local food
businesses engaging in sustainable practices, the provision of relevant support functions for
sustainable food businesses by local support organizations, the presence of justice (in terms of
wages, access, etc) all throughout the food system, and the recognition and support of local
food businesses by consumers (see Table 1). While the insights garnered from an analysis of
successful sustainable farms and enterprises are far addressing each facet of regional economy
building, they provide a starting point with which individual enterprises can positively contribute
to its attainment.
When it comes to the most successful models of farmer learning, research shows that farmers
tend to value social learning (or peer-to-peer learning) the most as compared with individual or
institutional learning, and that social learning allows for greater participation by women and
other marginalized groups of the population as well (Laforge & McLachlan, 2018). In fact, in
contrast with its counterparts, this type of learning presents an opportunity for a good balance
between placing due value on local, traditional, or experiential knowledge, while allowing for
collaboration with researchers in participatory research programs (as exemplified within the
University of California agroecological program) that place farmers needs and production issues
at the forefront (Laforge & McLachlan, 2018). Social learning also plays a very powerful role
when it comes to the fabric that ties together players of the sustainable regional economy in that
it has the potential to “demonstrate that new farmers who...are engaging in a variety of
agroecological and alternative practices are not as isolated as they appear or often feel, but
rather are part of a larger food movement working to resist and transform the agro-food system”
(Laforge & McLachlan, 2018).

Training Program: Farmer Learning Community
[Insert learning objectives]
The Agroturismo Agricultor Comunidad de Aprendizaje (A³) or the Agritourism Farmer Learning
Community is a 12-week participatory program that takes place in the summer months of May July aimed at providing peer-based (1) education, (2) consultation and (3) participation in the

local food economy of Utuado, and leaving aspiring or experienced farmers with a strong
network of farming peers and regional economy supporters. The program is directed at a
15-member cohort comprised of at least 80% of women, people of color, individuals with
disabilities, individuals with varying gender and sexual identities, and other marginalized
populations. The program simultaneously allows for collaborations with researchers in the
University of Puerto Rico in order to address farmer needs in research and design projects
addressing salient production issues. Once a week, participating farmers visit a different farm
site where they receive a farm tour and learn specific content, including the following range of
topics:
Week 1: Orientation and rapport building; Visioning for the future of one’s farm/enterprise or for
the future of community agritourism in Utuado; Indigenous knowledge/practice
Rooting with [program leader] from [SARE Project]
Engage in a collaborative visioning activity.
What was the food system here and what can we learn from that? How can we
build on it?
Week 2: Permaculture, organic farming, and agroecology best practices
with Evelyn Ortiz Avilés and Max Pérez Padró from Instituto de Permacultura de Puerto
Rico
Visit the permaculture institute farms and engage with various farming practices
while receiving a tour and viewing live demonstrations.
Week 3: Product development, marketing, and social advocacy & stewardship
with Marisol Villalobos and Jesus Martes from Finca Amasar
<Explanation of content>
Week 4: On-farm activities, developing value-added products, and agritourism
with X from X
<Explanation of content>
Week 5: Business Planning & Disaster Preparedness
with X from X
<Explanation of content>
Week 6: Budgeting & Financing
with X from X
<Explanation of content>
Week 7: Sustainable Operations (Environmental )
with X from Plenitud PR
<Explanation of content>
Week 8: Sustainable Operations (Human/Social)
with X from Plenitud PR
<Explanation of content>
Week 9: Sustainable Sourcing
with X from X
<Explanation of content>
Week 10: X with X from X
<Explanation of content>

Week 11: X with X from X
<Explanation of content>
Week 12: X with X from X
<Explanation of content>
[Insert section: what is needed to implement the training program? Who is needed to implement
the training program?]

Training Program First Iteration Report & Reframing [working
section]
[In the case that I have enough time to work with Dr. Biblioni to test out this program, here will
be a report on how that process went and what can be improved for future farmers based on his
feedback.]

Discussion
Based on all of the data collected thus far on sustainable agritourism enterprises as pathways to
increased resilience, livelihood opportunity, and food security, results of analyzed enterprises
and their interactions with local communities prove to reveal some gaps when analyzed through
a sustainability lens, but are very promising when viewed in conjunction with one another as
demonstrated in a wide array of key exemplary practices. While most of the analyzed
enterprises are located outside of Utuado, their contextual similarities allow for the promising
transfer of solutions to the region. However, in the development of a training program, it is still
very important to maintain a regional economy framing, as capacity building by itself is not
sufficient to ensure increased sustainability entrepreneurship and societal change.
At each point of my project thus far, I’ve had the chance to collaborate with different project
partners and stakeholders, which provided me with a range of feedback on key points and items
for potential development:
In Part I of the project, I have been working in close collaboration with our project partner from
PRTC, Nilda Luhring Gonzalez, to identify, contact, and collect information from exemplary
farms and enterprises throughout Puerto Rico. Ms. Gonzalez reviewed the Criteria for Farm
Sustainability in doing so, and revealed that the list of criteria could be a powerful tool with
which to gain a more holistic understanding of important information on enterprises that has not
been previously considered. An example of this is whether or not an enterprise employs
individuals with disabilities. This kind of information can help create connections and add
support for sustainable enterprises as by professionals like Ms. Gonzalez in their networking
roles.
In Part II of the project involving the reconstruction of transition pathways, Dr. Katja Brundiers
provided valuable feedback on the utility of this tool for increasing the understanding of regional
economy players, their interconnections, and functions among communities and farmers.

Part III of the project involving the training program is incomplete, but scheduled to be reviewed
by Dr. Lisa Chase, professor at the University of Vermont and director of the Vermont Tourism
Research Center. This will set the stage for valuable feedback on the utility of the training
program in the context of agritourism.
Because of certain currently unavailable required project components as well as areas worthy of
expansion, I plan to continue to collaborate with my project partners on the SARE project for a
time period of 2 months past my graduation term until full project completion. These
opportunities for development include: (1) the operationalization and delivery of developed
surveys and interviews upon receiving IRB approval (which had been initiated early in the
semester but experienced heavy delays in part due to the impact of COVID-19 on the UPR IRB
team); (2) the expanding of the pool of exemplary enterprises for which to reconstruct transition
pathways; and (3) the piloting of the developed training program upon completion to better
inform the later program implementation phase.

Conclusion
The United States is a food superpower, the world’s largest food exporter, and one of the world’s
four top food producing countries (Investopedia). Despite this, the people of the US territory
Puerto Rico are dependent on receiving 85 percent of imported food (NBC), all while being at
high risk of a variety of natural hazards in addition to multiple layers of vulnerability (Holladay et
al., 2019). This progression of vulnerability places the Puerto Rican population at high risk for
the incidence of disasters (Wisner, et. al, 2012; Garriga-López, 2019). It is in this context that
the growing movement for the building of food sovereignty by Utuado communities arose, and
specifically the movement towards agritourism (Holladay et al., 2019; Garriga-López, 2019).
Food sovereignty is an empowering yet complex collective state to reach, and at it’s heart is the
building of a strong regional food economy as defined by Wiek (2020). Identifying sustainable
and exemplary regional economy players in a wide array of roles along the food system, and
creating accessible learning outputs rooted in their evidence-based practices allows for the
strengthening of the regional food economy through increased awareness, understanding,
resources, and tools among farmers and communities.

Acknowledgements
In order to successfully complete this project, I have relied on the guidance and support of many
mentors, subject matter experts, project partners, and stakeholders in the US and in Puerto
Rico. I would like to thank my primary advisor and mentor, Dr. Katja Brundiers, who both initially
introduced me to the SARE Project and later patiently guided me along the way. I would also
like to thank Dr. Patrick Holladay and Dr. Pablo Mendez-Lazaro, who welcomed me onto the
larger SARE Project team and supported me with guidance and resources throughout. I’d like to
thank my fellow ASU students on the team, as well as the UPR student team who were all
readily available to share ideas and collaborate, including Anais Roque, Kasey Cretors, and
Laura Cabrera Rivera, among others. Finally, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Nilda
Luhring Gonzalez, a powerhouse of resources and networking and one of my biggest
supporters and guides in Puerto Rico whom I have yet to meet in person.

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