Lunch Break

A mother shares the lunch brought by her daughter as she takes a break from gathering and bagging maracuya (passion fruit). Widowed, she doesn’t have the resources to work her own field. So she harvests for her brother who, like many Balsita families, is growing passion fruit as a cash crop. The fruit produces continuously and must be harvested weekly. If the price is stable, maracuya can provide a steady income for a family. When this field was planted, the price was 1,200 pesos for a 20 pound bag (about 50¢). It has since dropped to 400 pesos (16¢).