According to the Alterna organization, which promoted the activity, farmers and traders made Guatemala's largest organic salad.
About 300 people gathered on Saturday at Spain's honorary consulate, in the city of Quetzaltenango, which is located 200 kilometres away from Guatemala City, to participate in the elaboration of the country's largest organic salad.
The event's main objective was to promote local production and consumption of organic food, said García Zinder, one of the organizers.
The salad, he added, was 1.35 meters wide and 3 meters long. It was prepared under the direction of chefs Stephane Gue (a French chef who lives in Quetzaltenango), Juan Pablo Echeverria, and Madelyn Gonzales.
Among other ingredients, the salad included 11 kilos of lettuce and spinach, and 18 kilos of tomatoes, which shared one thing in common: they were all produced by local farmers.
Daniel Buchbinder, director of Alterna, which brings together some 180 organic farmers in Guatemala, said the trend to consume organic food was growing by double digits worldwide and that western Guatemala ranks as one of the largest producers of organic produce in the country.
He said that Guatemala's weather conditions allowed them to grow fruits, vegetables, and super-foods, such as amaranth and kale, which can only be grown in few places around the world.
According to the organization's estimates, if consumers replaced one in ten products of their daily purchases for an organic product, 2.5 million chickens and cows would be free of antibiotics.
That is, 20 million portions of milk produced every day would be free of antibiotics.
In the case of plants, they said, estimations are we would be able to grow 53 million fruits and vegetables free of pesticides.
Source: eldia.es