Combined Food Science/Agribusiness Management Undergraduate Study Tour to Costa Rica

Next tour: Spring Break 2009

Course instructors:

Luke LaBorde (lfl5@psu.edu) (FDSC)
Jim Dunn (jwd6@psu.edu) (AGBM) 

2007 Course syllabus (LINK)

Student Presentations on the 2007 tour
Coffee
Dairy
Fruits and Vegetables

Costa Rica - General Information

• University of Costa Rica Department of Food Technology
• US Dollars to Costa Rican Colon Exchange Rate
• CIA World Factbook
• TDS Costa Rica
• Cost Rica Travel Guide
• Map of Costa Rica (pdf)
• Costa Rica Bruncas
• Costa Rica Handbook
• Lonely Planet: Destination Costa Rica
• Fodor's Guide to Costa Rica
• The Tico Times - Online Edition
• Articles on Costa Rica's Culture
• Costa Rica history and economy slide show
• Current temperature and forecast
• Food Safety Perspectives in Costa Rica: Export and
  Local Markets for Fresh Produce

Accommodations

• Costa Rica Hotel Punta Leona

Costa Rican National Parks

• Irazu volcano
• Poas National Park
• World Headquarters: Costa Rica National Parks
• Costa Rica Map's Biodiversity
• Costa Rica Travel and Tourism Bureau

Costa Rican Flora and Fauna

• Lankester Botanical Gardens
• INBio (Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad)
• Manual de Plantes de Cosa Rica

Dairy industry

• Dos Pinos Dairy Cooperative (select English for translation)
• Virtual enterprise in the Central America dairy industry: a case study

Coffee production and processing

• Doka Coffee Plantation
• Coffee Production
• Coffee Planting, Processing, and Harvesting
• Coffee - FAO Better Farming Series
• Coffee education from Starbucks
• Coffee research (many video clips)
• Cafe Volio (Costa Rican processor)
• TARRAZU Coffee (Valley of Tarrazu grower)
• The Coffee Clash (fair trade marketing)
• Bitter Coffee - How the poor are paying for the slump in coffee prices
• Bitter or Better Future for Coffee Producers?

Banana Production

• Bananas - Production and marketing, United Nations Conference on Trade and Protection
• The Environmental Impact of the Banana Industry: A case study of costa Rica
• The Impacts of Banana Plantation Development in Central America

Pineapple Production

• Get to know the pineapple - Dole foods
• Pineapples - varieties, growing regions from Produce Pete
• Common Tropical Fruits

2005 tour pictures

• Visit to the UCR Department of Food Science and Technology
• Coffee production (Doka Plantation) and processing (Cafe Volio)
• Dos Pinos Dairy Cooperative

This page last updated: November 13, 2007