As Caribbean waters churn under the influence of climate change, young Puerto Rican
farmers return to their ancestral lands to bring food security to their struggling communities after hurricane Maria left many hungry. With dirt under their nails, dedication, science and indigenous knowledge they’re taking the land back—and vowing never to see another person go hungry again.
The world has just over a decade to get climate change under control, U.N. scientists say, warning that we face a “rapid and far-reaching” transformation of human civilization at a magnitude that has never happened before if we do not take concrete action now.
Nos quisieron enterrar, pero no sabían que éramos semillas—They wanted to bury us, but they didn’t know we were the seeds.
That phrase was one of the rallying cries at the recent protests that engulfed Puerto Rico, resulting in the governor stepping down. And it couldn’t be more appropriate to describe the characters featured in An Uncertain Land. Time and again, the young farmers featured in
this film and their descendants have been pushed down beneath Spanish, American, local and corporate misrule that has dictated what they could do with their land—however, they show that as far down as they are pushed, they rebound with all the more strength innovation, intelligence, capacity and forward thinking policies.
Through their agroecology programs they’re showing that substantial change can be implemented, that it is not just a concept by idealistic youth, and that it can be and IS being achieved—NOW.
With the government in transition, young Puerto Ricans are taking a hold of their destiny. But what comes next? As the seeds they’ve cultivated spread and blossom, their ideas and actions too are coming into their own which will profoundly shape their future and help all of us address the looming climate crisis that we face as an entire planet.
The professional farmers featured in this film, comprising self-determined, modern and forward-thinking women and men who dedicate their lives to pioneering climate and food sustainability solutions, know the stakes are high. By documenting their capacity and intelligence, by sharing their bold and innovative approaches through agroecology, far from Puerto Ricans asking for aid and handouts, they are leading the way in in combating the climate crisis. They have a lot to teach us all and might just help us save the planet in the process.