Fernando Götz is a young man who has carried a love for agriculture since childhood — and who takes pride in being a member, since 2018, of a cooperative that operates in the organic market. He once sold his produce in the conventional market and hopes never to go back to dealing with middlemen once his transition is complete and Ecocitrus begins absorbing the organic citrus from his farm. “I know what it’s like to harvest the most beautiful fruit from your orchard, only to see it thrown away by a middleman,” he recalls. Fernando joined Ecocitrus encouraged by the cooperative’s expansion program, which promotes the growth of organic citrus production in Rio Grande do Sul and the conversion of conventional growers.

His critical view of pesticide use is not just about the final price of a box of fruit being higher — it stems from a serious health incident. Fernando was poisoned while applying agrochemicals to make his fruit meet the aesthetic standards of the conventional market: “I still have blood issues because of that,” he says.

Fernando works in partnership with farmer Lucas Colling, with whom he has been collaborating since 2016 in the town of Maratá, located in the Vale do Caí region. The two are neighbors and have known each other since childhood, when Lucas would spend holidays with his family in the countryside. He is originally from Estância Velha, a city in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul. He decided to stay in the countryside when he temporarily moved to take care of his grandmother.

When Fernando was poisoned, it was Lucas who had to apply the chemicals. “After that, I said that if it were up to me to keep applying them, I didn’t want to do it anymore either,” Lucas sums up. “It’s a terrible feeling. Even with protective gear, you feel dizzy,” he explains.

The decision to become part of Ecocitrus was made by both of them. They are now beginning to implement an agroforestry system and participate in the cooperative’s biodynamic agriculture group meetings. Their desire to do more is so strong that they don’t rule out the possibility of one day investing in rural tourism as a way to spread awareness about agroecology — and share their love for horses.

The two speak fondly of being part of a cooperative, seeing Ecocitrus as a more fair and just market for their produce. For them, it’s also meaningful to witness decisions being made collectively, which reinforces their sense of belonging and being heard. In addition to no longer needing to apply toxic chemicals, they now trade directly with other farmers who understand the reality they live in — and who, like them, are committed to building a better world.