ORGANIC IN PRINCIPLE

Rawda, also known as Um Hamza, starts her day at six in the morning with a cup of coffee, the morning news, and then feeding her chickens. Set on a beautiful hilltop, Um Hamza’s house is surrounded by ancient terraces of olive and almond trees.

The only woman farmer in her coop, Um Hamza leads the other farmers in her village with vision and commitment to organic agriculture. When she thinks of people using pesticides or herbicide she feels outrage because she says “Land is our real friend, so how can we poison it with chemicals?!!”

When she talks about how Canaan Palestine impacted her life, her smile widens as she speaks with gratitude. “When living conditions were so hard I almost lost hope in ever being able to market my olive oil. When Canaan approached me, I asked my brother to help me buy more land and I planted two new acres of olive trees. Now I feel at ease, I know that every year someone will come and buy all my crops with a fair price, and that gives me so much emotional and economical stability.”