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The production process in Suriname
- Research
- Marowijne (SR)
- March 2019 — May 2019
- In collaboration with Suzanne Bernhardt
- Thanks to KensliMambo
- Supported by The Mondriaan Fund
In Europe, food is farmed on a large scale. In Suriname, however, food sources such as podosiri (açai berries) are picked in the wild, and processed using traditional methods.
As part of my research into podosiri, I captured the various phases of its production process in Suriname; the harvest (climbing high açaí palm trees, in the middle of the jungle), the processing into food, and the sale in French Guiana. Everyone in this production chain is self-employed, assuring their freedom and autonomy.
In eastern Suriname, producing and eating podosiri is inextricably linked to identity.
To get to the right place for podosiri picking, Kensli and Mambo travel down river
Mambo and Kensli explore the forest to find a spot where a lot of pina palms grow
Kensli looks for a pina palm with bountiful podosiri berries
Kensli climbs about ten to fifteen palm trees in one morning
Kensli clenches his machete between his teeth and ties his feet together to climb up the tree
Some of the palm trees are twenty meters high
Kensli uses his machete to cut off the branches with podosiri
Holding the branches in his hand, Kensli swiftly slides down the palm tree
Kensli hands the branch with podosiri berries to Mambo
All the branches are collected on a blanket
The branches are shook very hard so that the berries come off
The remainder of the berries are removed by hand
The berries in the bag are covered with palm leafs
The podosiri berries are carried back to the village to be processed
Mambo takes two bags of podosiri to his uncle's factory
The small factory in Moengo processes large quantities of podosiri
Visiting a small podosiri processing factory in Moengo
A small machine mashes and sifs the berries
All the podosiri pits are collected on one big pile and later on used for land reclamation
A big bucket full of fresh podosiri. The podosiri is then packaged in small bags for sale
The factory is a small family business
Crushed ice for the cool box is made by freezing a large amount of water and then smashing the ice inside a garbage bag
The cool box is filled with podosiri and ice
The drive from Moengo to Albina takes about half an hour
Mambo takes the berries across the river, to sell them in French Guiana
Across the river, in French Guiana, Mambo sells the podosiri for euros