An Afternoon of Agroecology Games
Saturday, Feb 21
1-6pm
Washtenaw Food Hub (4175 Whitmore Lake Rd)
- Lunch provided!
- RSVP to Lilly (finkshap@umich.edu) by Feb 17
A lady beetle eats an aphid, a group of ants tend aphids, a caterpillar munches cabbage, a bee pollinates an apple flower… these are all ecological interactions that farmers observe on their farms daily. However, hidden from plain sight are other interactions that we can’t see directly. For example, the mere presence of a tiny wasp causes a caterpillar to hide, reducing the damage on the cabbage (even though the wasp does not kill the caterpillar). These, and many other ecological interactions are constantly occurring in nature but remain hidden from plain view.
Azteca Chess is a game developed by Luis Garcia Barrios (ECOSUR, Mexico), Ivette Perfecto (UM) and John Vandermeer (UM) based on Ivette and John’s research on coffee farms in Chiapas, Mexico. The game uses what they have learned about these hidden ecological interactions among insects within the farms to teach the concept of ecological complexity. By playing the game, one begins to understand the complexity of nature and how biological diversity can be an ally to farmers.
Join us on Saturday February 21 at the Washtenaw Food Hub from 1-6pm. It will be an afternoon of play, camaraderie and good food. Come to play, and in the process learn a bit about what might be going on in your farm when the insects get together.
