Heartland

An old variety of corn in Tepetixpla Seed Bank
(Photo © Chico Sanchez -All Rights Reserved)

The Heartland is an audio-slide show about farmer Tomas Villanueva Buendia, who began a seed bank he calls "Tepetlixpa Seed Bank", to protect and rescue the original varieties of his nation´s corn.

The Mexican governtment is promoting foreign, genetically modified organism (GMOs) corn.

If GMOs enter Mexico, they could contaminate more than 1000 varieties of corn, killing the legacy of the Aztecs, Mayans, and other indigenous civilizations.

GMOs are banned in many countries due to their connection with causing problems, environmental damage and destroying diversity.

If Mexico lets GMOs destroy their milenary culture of native corn, the legacy of their ancient god Quetzalcoatl (Aztec) and Kukulkan (Mayan) will be lost.

 For more of my photography work please enter my website: www.chicosanchez.com

If you would like to buy prints of my work please click here

The Last Cheessemakers

The Last Cheesemakers is an audio-slide show about Quesos Oliva, an artisan cheese making workshop run by a married couple in the small Andalusian village of Villaluenga del Rosario in the mountains of Spain´s Sierra de Grazalema National Park, in the the province of Cádiz. The town is well known worldwide for its exceptional hand made cheese.

The family run Quesos Oliva operation is the last artisanal and organic cheese making operation in this village. They collect the milk every day by milking their own sheep by hand. They only add curd and salt, staying away from chemicals or industrial additives. Their cheese is maturated 60 days before sold, adhering to a recent law.

Many small artisan cheese makers from Villaluenga have suffered the consequences of new sanitary laws put into effect 13 years ago, making it too expensive to stay open. Thus, the number of small cheese makers have dwindled in number from dozens to just one. Only Quesos Oliva remains.

It´s difficult to understand why it has to be so difficult for artisanal food makers from Spain to get the sanitary permission needed to sell a product that´s 100% natural and healthy, while large, multinational fast food companies obtain the necessary government permissions to sell their products, full of chemicals and additives, that are of questionable health value.

To visit the audio-slide show click here: www.chicosanchez.com/cheesemakers

(Photo ©Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved)

For more of my photography work please enter my website: www.chicosanchez.com

We are what we eat

We are what we eat is an audio-slide show about organic agriculture. Antonio Mulero Tamayo, a successful ecological farmer who has been growing organic food for 17 years, shares what's different about his crops compared to conventional, mass produced food. My images show him and his family working on their farm: the Organic Garden Los Tamayos, located on the outskirts of Prado del Rey in the Sierra de Cádiz in Spain's southerner Andalusia.

To watch the story enter here: www.chicosanchez.com/organicfarm

(Photo ©Chico Sanchez -All Rights Reserved)

For more of my photography work please enter my website: www.chicosanchez.com

In Spain

This week I arrived to my homeland in southern Spain for vacation, every year I photograph stories I find interesting while visiting family and friends.

In this post I'm going to share a story I did last year about the Iberian Pig:
http://www.chicosanchez.com/theiberianpig/

(Photo ©Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved)

Carmen Troesser

Carmen Troesser is an editorial photographer with a great website and portfolio. Her pictures of food are really creative. 

I chose two sections from her website, the first one is called 'Savory':
http://www.carmentroesser.com/gallery.html?gallery=savory
The second is 'Away.' In this section she pairs vertical pictures together in surprising ways:
http://www.carmentroesser.com/gallery.html?gallery=away

(Photo ©Carmen Troesser-All Rights Reserved)

For more you can visit her website: http://www.carmentroesser.com