- Food was a central part of FARC life, explains 34-years-old Semillas, who joined the group voluntarily when he was 11. After his father and grandfather were killed due to their pro-union political activism; he, his mother, and siblings had to constantly move to escape death threats, he says. He asked FARC members in his rural town if he could join. They agreed, despite Semilla’s mother’s pleas. “FARC gave me shelter and refuge. It saved my life,” he says. The organizations’ rules forbid him to actively fight until he turned 15. But he started cooking like anyone else.
“I will never forget my first ranchada [cooking shift],” he says. That first day, Semillas had to cook everything from white rice to fried meat and colada, a thick liquid mixed into agua de panela, a traditional beverage. He was guided by an experienced, old guerrilla who taught new guerrilleros all the “little secrets,” such as how to clean the rancha, or artisanal kitchen station, and how to knead and fry cancharinas. “We passed the knowledge from one generation to the next.”
An ecónomo oversaw the operation, painstakingly planning weekly menus, adjusting the meals to account for available ingredients and the intensity of the conflict, and creating individualized menus for sick or injured members. One former ecónomo told Fuenmayor Cadena that the communal pantry included 36 essential ingredients such as flour, powdered milk, sugar, panela, salt, coffee, and oil. Sometimes, despite living mainly in forest and jungle campsites, they even had access to processed foods and alcohol.