Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Food Crises Hit the Developing World

As more countries dedicate resources to producing crops for biofuels, few have paid attention to the unintended consequences. A food crisis of staggering proportions is looming on the horizon. “U.N. expert: Food crisis ‘a silent tsunami’”, a recent article on CNN, talks about the problem. With more emphasis on foodstuffs for fuel production, prices for grains have gone up around the world.

The New York Times looked at food riots in Haiti in their article “Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger.”

Many of Coffee Kids’ partners are working to help communities create their own sustainable food options. CAMPO has been promoting organic gardening, crop diversification and beekeeping among the communities they serve for years. Program participants working with ICSUR in Chiapas, Mexico, have been raising mushrooms and chickens. These options help the communities reduce their reliance on outside sources for food and also help create economically diverse communities.

This article in the Christian Science Monitor (“How to Ease the Squeeze on Food Access”), presents a variety of options for solving the food crisis, but some of the best options for countries that have the resources seem to be promoting ‘back to basics,’ locally-based agriculture.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Coffee Kids Mourns the Loss of Dedicated Supporter David Williamson

All of us at Coffee Kids would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and co-workers of David Williamson, managing director of Matthew Algie and dedicated Coffee Kid supporter, who passed away last week.

Williamson, a sixth-generation descendant of the founder of the 144-year-old coffee importer and roaster in Glasgow, was dedicated to Coffee Kids’ mission and a firm believer in helping create a more sustainable lifestyle for coffee-farming families.

Williamson was not only a supporter, but also a close friend and will be sorely missed by all at Coffee Kids.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Fences, Neighbors and Immigration

The Christian Science Monitor recently featured a story on the continuing efforts by the United States to build a wall on the border with Mexico.“Where US-Mexico Border Fence is Tall, Border Crossings Fall” talks about the Yuma corridor in Arizona where “800 people used to be apprehended trying to cross the border every day. Now, agents catch 50 people or fewer daily.”

The story reminded me of a book I recently read called, “The Devil’s Highway,” by Luis Alberto Urrea. It tells the story of 26 immigrants who attempted to cross the border near the Yuma corridor in May of 2001. The group got lost on the hike and only 12 of the men made it out alive. Urrea paints a vivid picture of the extremes people will go to for survival of their families.

Many of the men who made the attempt were coffee farmers from Veracruz, Mexico, trying to help their families. The immigrant debate is full of loaded words and rhetorical flourishes. ‘Illegal aliens,’ ‘undocumented workers,’ and many other phrases obscure the problem. They are people trying to make a living. Given viable economic alternatives at home, most people wouldn’t risk their lives.

Coffee Kids partner AUGE is working diligently to help coffee farming families create economic alternatives that can provide for a sustainable lifestyle and a higher quality of life. Check out our the latest pictures from our program trip to the area on Coffee Kids Flickr page.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Point-of-Origin Tours in the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal featured an article on point-of-origin tours on March 11*. “Tours to Fair-Trade Farms Help Coffee Sellers Spread Word” tells about tours to coffee producing regions being conducted by various coffee companies. The article really hits on the transformative nature of these trips. When you have a chance to visit the origin of the products you consume – especially in the case of coffee – you realize how difficult life is in many of the communities that produce coffee.

Coffee Kids member Java Republic from Ireland recently joined us on a point-of-origin trip to visit our partner CECOCAFEN in Nicaragua. The group saw parallels between conditions and life in Nicaragua and Ireland from 50 years ago and returned from the trip even more dedicated to helping improve the lives of coffee-farming families. Carolyn Fairman, executive director at Coffee Kids, chronicles the adventure in the blog “Irish Eyes on Nicaragua.” You can also see photos from the trip on our Flickr site

*Thanks to Derek for pointing this article out.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Rise of the Coffee Machines

A coffee-tasting machine created at the Nestle Research Center in Switzerland was recently featured in the article, “Coffee Tasting Machine Stirs Industry,” on the Scientific American Web site. The machine can only analyze espresso, so coffee cuppers can breathe easy for the time being, but such a device may play an important role in monitoring quality in the future.

Seeing this article reminded me of our trip to Oaxaca in December. While visiting a dry mill just outside of Oaxaca, we saw a machine that used light and small air jets to separate bad coffee beans from the good. Employees at the dry mill claimed it was more accurate than human bean sorters and saved them money by not requiring as much human labor.

This got me thinking about the number of people employed in the coffee industry to sort beans. It seems that every movie I see about coffee shows women crowded around a conveyor belt where they sort coffee for hours on end for a paltry wage. But watching this sorting machine made me wonder about what happens to the women it replaces. Granted the wages were low, but some income is better than none.

The economy in many coffee communities is so dependent on coffee that there are few options for people looking for work. If jobs like the harvesting and sorting and processing of coffee are mechanized, it can send waves through the community.

This is why it’s so important to help coffee-farming families create vibrant communities where there are alternatives to coffee. All of Coffee Kids partners are working to that end and making great strides. Check out our latest Coffee Kids newsletter to find out how.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Coffee and Popcorn

We just received a DVD here in the Coffee Kids offices and thought you should check it out as well.

Black Coffee is a three-hour, three part documentary chronicling the history of coffee and the conditions faced by coffee farmers. It gives a great overview of coffee history, the coffee industry and life in coffee-farming communities.

Black Gold is another good documentary to check out. It’s gotten a bit more publicity than “Black Coffee” and gives a good overview of the plight of coffee farmers, primarily those in Ethiopia.

Let us know if you get a chance to check them out and tell us what you think.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

CoffeeGeek holding Fundraiser for Coffee Kids, Jan. 21-Feb. 22

Mark Prince of CoffeeGeek.com, one of the most thorough chroniclers of the coffee world on the Web, is doing a month-long fundraiser for Coffee Kids, Jan. 21- Feb. 22.

Check out www.coffeegeek.com and visit the Coffee Kids link on the left. CoffeeGeek.com is auctioning off several coffee grinders donated by Baratza; donating 25% of their ad revenue for February; donating their Amazon affiliate revenue until the end of Feb; and matching any direct donations made to Coffee Kids through CoffeeGeek.

Check out www.coffeegeek.com and tell them thanks for their help!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Ethical Beans…

In Search of an Ethical Bean This recent article from News Leader in Staunton, Va., gives a recap of local efforts to ensure fair trade for coffee farmers. It’s a nice article covering the benefits of a variety of price premiums for farmers. But in the seventh paragraph, Melissa Scholl, co-owner of Lexington Coffee Roasting Company and a Coffee Kids member, makes a great point.

“Fair Trade Certified coffee is a wonderful program, but it’s only part of the answer,” she says.

Fair trade and other price premiums are all good approaches, but poverty is complex and the real problem in many of these communities is not so much a low price as the complete dependence on one crop. That’s why Coffee Kids is in no way involved with the commercialization of coffee.

We work exclusively in coffee-farming communities, but we really have nothing to do with coffee. Our approach to helping coffee communities lift themselves out of poverty is to help them develop vibrant local economies that can function independent of coffee. Without complete dependence on one crop, coffee farmers can continue raising coffee without the daily worry of how they will survive.

Coffee Kids isn’t the only answer either, but complex problems are solved with a variety of approaches. Check out our programs and find out how you can help.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Food vs. Fuel and the Global Economy

We talked about this issue in a past entry (The Energy Crisis Will Be Solved), but it bears repeating, especially after I read this article in the Christian Science Monitor, The Global Grain Bubble.

An interesting piece that crystallizes the importance of well thought out plans to address the global energy crisis. And once again, check out our partner STIAP who has come up with creative solutions that address their energy problems on a local scale while continuing to meet their food needs.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Stop the Plastic Bag Scourge

“China bans free plastic bags”

According to this article a friend sent me, “the Chinese use up to 3 billion plastic shopping bags a day.” As a result of the number of bags floating through the air and filling their landfills, the government has mandated that shops and supermarkets charge for the ubiquitous bags to encourage the use of reusable bags. I’m not sure how many bags we use per day in the United States or Europe, but I figure it would be a pretty hefty figure.

Before I began putting together my collection of shopping bags, I would collect plastic bags from each shopping trip and leave them on a hook near my door. It was incredible how quickly they piled up. But now I leave five reusable shopping bags hanging by my door and grab them for each shopping trip. It also limits my purchasing because I have to be able to carry what I buy.

Our government may not go as far as banning free plastic bags, but you can do your part to help reduce impact and support Coffee Kids at the same time by picking up one of our tote bags in our online shop.