Worm Guy

(I have mentioned in earlier postings my ambivalent feelings about being called the “worm guy” in church. After my visit to Venezuela and meeting the real worm guy and hearing his story I am now proud to be called the “Worm Guy.” Here is the story about this farmer in the developing pictorial essay called Risen in Venezuela)

When our Venezuelan-American guide Lisa learned of my interest in vermicomposting — the use of worms for growing food, she said I had to meet the “worm guy” in her agriculture area, Palo Verde in the state of Lara. I had that chance when we went to dinner at Lisa’s house and her neighbors and friends were present. Lisa called me over to meet this farmer, Pedro Segundo Garcia. He is more commonly known by his nickname, Polilla, which means termite (he liked to chew wood when he was a kid). He was there with his wife and family. He told us the story of how he got into organic farming and vermicomposting many years ago, before it was popular and many persons in Venezuela knew anything about this way of farming. His reason was, at first, strictly for health. He had some health problems and when he was tested it was discovered he tested positive for chemicals he used in farming. He had his wife and daughter tested and they too showed signs of this chemical poisoning. So for health reasons he turned to vermicomposting, which is really an ancient system of agriculture with a high yield by use of worm castings and without the use of fertilizers.

Now many years later, after the recent Bolivian revolution and with the ‘bottom up’ government, there is a lot of interest in this way of agriculture using worms, sometimes called vermiculture. I asked him how big his worm-enriched compost pile was and he pointed to Lisa’s house. He said it was about that size. He and his family are now in good health and making a living by producing affordable, organic food. In Venezuela there is openness to new or old ideas which time has come around. Vermicomposting, for a culture that values health and human dignity of every citizen, is certainly the right idea at the right time. While I am an urban gardener he is a rural farmer. What he grows on a large scale I grow on a very small scale. However, what we have in common is worms as livestock that make our soil organically rich. Polilla made me proud to be called a “worm guy”.

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