Carefully holding my Equal Exchange recyclable paper coffee I lift the lever and watch the dark brown coffee beans fill the ba

Crisis in Your Coffee Cup; Globalization and Coffee

By Jeff Bastian

Exclusive to the Apalachee Tortoise

Carefully holding my Equal Exchange recyclable paper coffee bag in my hand I lift the lever and watch the dark brown coffee beans fill the bag at the New Leaf Market, my local food cooperative. The beans are from Mexico and they are organic and fairly traded. I thought I knew why fairly traded organic coffee was important but now I know why it is important.

In January, I traveled to Mexico on the “Coffee and Globalization” delegation sponsored by Witness for Peace and Equal Exchange to find out more about the coffee that I love to drink. We arrived in Chiapas and traveled up into the mountains to the old Spanish colonial capital of San Cristobal where we held two days of briefings on Mexican history, Globalization 101. We also held meetings with groups including SIPAZ concerning the history of the conflict in Chiapas, CIEPAC about Neoliberalism and with CAPISE about militarization in Chiapas.

The next day we rode north to the town of Simojovel to meet with CIRSA, a coffee grower’s cooperative. They provide loans, technical advice and a better price for coffee beans grown by the farmers that they serve. We also met Father Joel Padron Gonzalez who spoke about the history of the struggle in the community for land and justice.

Then we traveled in the back of a truck to the remote village of Francisco Villa for the two night home stay. This village had never received a delegation visit and they wanted to share their stories with outside visitors and show us how they grow coffee. It was a long trip across two rivers and straight up the side of the mountains to a remote village El Castillo where the road ended. We were not there yet however.

After a steep walk up a muddy path we arrived at the neighboring village of Francisco Villa. It takes a village to greet a delegation and the whole village was there. There was a Mass and a lot of speeches welcoming us and telling their story about how they got title to the land and how hard it is to grow coffee for export. The local Indian dialect was translated to Spanish and then to English for our benefit. A bull was consecrated and slaughtered for the feast in our honor. That evening there was dancing with an electronic synthesizer and marimbas and more speeches then another Mass.

Very early the next morning, some of the delegates made the hard trek up the steep muddy hillside to the coffee plot, as nimble barefooted children raced past us up the trail. The farmers showed us how to dig a hole 14 cm by 14 cm and 14 cm deep in the steep hillside and how to plant a coffee seedling. Then it was our turn to get the clay under our fingernails. With the two trees planted, we were shown how to use machetes to prune the old bushes, to clear weeds and to plant other bushes to make living terraces that hold back the soil. Breaking into two teams, with delegates and farmers working together in a good hearted competition, we picked the red coffee cherries. On the way down the hill, when we finally got to level ground, they let two of the delegates carry the partially filled coffee bags on their backs secured with a head strap.

The next step was to wash the beans and de-pulp them with a machine which removed the bean from the cherry. That night, there was another Mass, some more speeches and beef, and marimba music and dancing long into the night.

The next morning, we hiked downhill to the truck and traveled back to Simojovel. Five farmers followed us down the hill, each carrying a FULL coffee bag. The bags went with us back to the warehouse at the CIRSA cooperative. I tried to lift the corner of a bag in the truck bed and could not budge it. After a meeting with the board of directors and a gift of coffee to each delegate, we went upstairs to the women weaving cooperative OMIRSA. In addition to the colorful bags and embroidered blouses and dresses, they also crafted the amber jewelry for which Simojovel is famous.

We went back to San Cristobol for two days for reflections, a wrap up session, and some free time in the city before flying home.

Now I know the true value of the coffee I drink. I know why fairly traded coffee or fairly traded anything is important. I know the love of the farmer for the soil and why organic agriculture is the best way to grow coffee to protect the soil and the farmer’s future.

If you buy the cheapest coffee at a big box supermarket you only cheapen yourself. Your bargain has cheated the farmers of their livelihood and despoiled the earth. When you support your local cooperative like New Leaf and other coops like CIRSA and Equal Exchange, you make a moral statement with your purchase and you can brew a healthy cup of coffee, with the subtle elusive favor of justice in each sip.

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