As part of our tour, I think one of the unexpected highlights was visiting the bean farmers in Hidalgo. They grow our Moro and Ayocote Morado beans and they were a little overwhelmed with our large group, traveling so far to meet them and see how they grow the beans using such traditional techniques.

Everyone in our group was interested in food production and some of us are in the business. Seeing these guys working the horse and plow for real, not just for the "cutes", was amazing.

This is a shot of me with Yunuen and Gabriel (from Xoxoc) and the growers. Notice I'm the only fool without a hat!

The horses mouths are covered with breathable muslin so they don't eat the crops.

Personally, I wasn't expecting much, but I was really touched by the beanfields. These guys are so proud of their crops and I think they're probably a little confused why so many people take their work for granted. Having a busload of gringo fans come to visit and pay tribute to them was pretty wild.

Next, we eat barbacoa.....