Processing Center

As I mentioned in a previous post, last week I worked with the Development Office of the Episcopal Diocese of Santiago. One of their most recent projects is the Processing Center.

They found that farmers weren’t able to sell all their vegetables because it may have one, small bad spot or there’s too much supply for not enough demand or another reason. The Development Office thought of a way for them to utilize their extra product and still gain a profit. It’s exactly what the name, Processing Center, implies. The center processes the extra veggies into other products like chips or peanut butter to be sold at markets or at the center’s store.

Me working at the Processing Center

Last Wednesday, I spent the day with Cindy and Penny making veggie chips. While the chips are made with carrots, when it is all said and done, I wouldn’t say there is much nutritional value left. But they are delicious!


The day was long and rewarding. I enjoyed standing for once, not constantly sitting behind a desk, and seeing the end result of my day’s work. I found the repetitiveness and monotony of it to be quite relaxing and allowed time for reflection. However, I wouldn’t say being a professional chef or baker is in my future. I think I’ll stick to doing it as a fun, hobby. It’s hard work in a hot, humid environment. It didn’t help that we had to wear facemasks and hairnets.

I took a long, refreshing shower and crashed once we were done!

Here’s a photo story of how we went from carrots to veggie chips:

{Get together all the ingredients: Carrots, Egg, Flour, Salt & Oil}

{Penny preparing the flour} 

 {Blend together Eggs, Carrots, & Salt}

{Mix Blended Ingredients together with Flour}

{Roll little balls of dough flat}

{Put them through the food processor multiple times until smooth and flat}

{Cut into slices}

{Weigh}

{Put through the processor again making little strips}

{Heat up the oil}

{Fry the Chips}

{Before & After Frying}

{Sprinkle 100g of Cheese Powder of the Fried Chips}

{Measure out 100g of chips into bags}

{Ta-Da! After sealing you have bags of Veggie Chips to sell}

Thanks for reading!