Cauqueva

Farmers' Union 

Visiting Cauqueva in Maimará is an encouragement to dreams, to imagine that wishes must come true. It is another evidence that aspiration is man's strongest engine.

The Cauqueva Project is headquartered in the most unnoticed village of the Quebrada de Humahuaca, whose time to shine is coming. Between Purmarmarca and Tilcara, the two stars that get all the attention, lies Maimará with its striking color formation, known by all as the Paleta del Pintor, of extraordinary beauty.

The town is simple and at the same time grandiose, due to the natural enclave in which it is located and its frank physiognomy. Its cemetery located in a small hill surprises because the pantheons and niches are located on its slope, as if to watch the life that comes and goes down Route 9. Florid as any northern cemetery, it is worth a visit in itself. Just opposite, on the other side of the road, is Cauqueva.

First we visited the Museo de la Vida Campesina, which has a small collection of everyday objects detailing the characteristics of the autochthonous. A glass case displays their main crops, such as corn -in its different variants and colors- and Andean potatoes. A mural explains the cycles of agriculture. Then, in a corner with a portrait in the center, there is a section dedicated to the medicinal herbs of the region and the wisdom of Josefina Aragón, a cook and cooker who masters ancestral homeopathy like no one else. 

To one side, the store offers the products that the Cauqueva cooperative manages with the valuable participation of local producers. There is everything: purple or capia corn noodles, with quinoa, spinach, beans or bell pepper, all gluten-free; Andean potatoes (oca, green, smooth); dehydrated Andean potato puree; quinoa; corn sticks; or the outstanding sweets, such as corn, kiwicha or quinoa alfajores. All products created by the entity that revalues local flavors, organizes the farmers of the ravine and promotes a sustainable business respectful of the land.

A project recognized by the European Union, which also maintains relations with other cooperatives in the country, in an evident and outstanding synergy.

@tripticity_ was not only sensitized to learn about this tremendous feat, but true to his custom, bought an article of each of the variants offered to enjoy them back home, as a symbol of admiration and respect.