- [Narrator] South of Mexico City is Xochimilco,
known for its famous floating farms, or as the locals call them,
- [Farmer] Chinampas.
- [Narrator] Thanks, Lucio! - [Farmer] You got it.
- [Narrator] With the help of this farmer,
and this chef,
this man is fighting to keep some of Mexico’s oldest farms alive.
Meet Lucio. He’s one of the co-founders of Yolcan,
a nonprofit aimed at preserving the chinampas.
- [Lucio] The chinampas are these artificial islands built even before the Aztecs.
So for us, Yolcan is so important to preserve this culture and this space.
- [Narrator] The chinampas have some of the most fertile land in all of Mexico.
And because of that, some of the best produce in the country is grown there.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Narrator] This is Noe.
He’s one of the farmers that works in Xochimilco and still uses the ancient chinampa technique.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Narrator] Because the farmers lack the money to hire workers,
they often leave the chinampas to find better paying jobs in the city.
Lucio knew that the only way to keep the farmers in Xochimilco,
was to get the chinampas fresh produce into restaurants all throughout Mexico city.
- [Narrator] Enter Jorge Vallejo.
- [Narrator] Jorge is considered one of Mexico’s top chefs,
and his restaurant Quintonil is rated #6 in Latin America’s 50 best restaurants.
This guy is the real deal.
- [Narrator] Jorge, along with other Mexican chefs
work with Yolcan to buy the produce from the Chinampa farmers
and include them into their dishes.
- [Narrator] Yolcan has gone on to partner with 50 more of Mexico’s chefs,
bringing work back to the farmers, and providing hope for the future of the chinampas.
- [Farmer] We believe that farmers are the caretakers of the land and also of our health.
So for us, the chinampa is the symbol of Mexican agriculture.
We hope that people will have a glimpse of what Xochimilco used to be more than 800 years ago.