This Day’s Encouragement

Posted on May 15, 2008

Quote: “The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual — for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost”. –M. Scott Peck

Today is a busy day for me at the cafe. I try sitting down to write my blog but wasn’t able to focus and complete it. I am happy its a bright sunny day and I have visitors visiting me from the neighborhood. It is such a heart warming experience when friends come and visit me while at work. I am encouraged by their support and each visit helped me through moments of self- doubt and stress of operating a new business (and I spend all my time at the cafe!).
I am thankful of every opportunity at the cafe to meet with friends; for customers to call it their second home and for us to build our community around each other and the neighborhood.

Today is a day of encouragement and I am going to steal a page I found on the net regarding ” Gandhi’s Top 10 fundamentals for changing the world“.

I am encouraged by many today. I am encouraged by many who came into the cafe and tell me how delicious our coffee is and encouraged by people wanting to buy my beans even when I am not ready to sell them. I am encouraged by the community passing words out about the cafe and some customers helped put up flyers at their buildings. Am encouraged when they dropped in to see how I am doing and one even dropped me a truffle as a perk me up.

This is a day of encouragement!

Presenting Coffee

Posted on May 13, 2008

Coffee is the second largest traded commodity in the world yet it continues to be a market lacking improvements and knowledge to those who cultivate it. Most farmers do not know anything about how the market is operated, do not know the value of coffee and do not have any idea the prices coffee is fetching.

On the other hand, till recent years, not much was taught about coffee to the customers as well. Till a bunch of coffee connoisseurs broke into the market and make coffee a premium product - appreciated just like wine. There became a specialty market for gourmet coffee and smaller micro roaster popping up and specialize in roasting coffee in small batches, to its best quality. If you have yet the chance to know the difference; I beg you to find a local micro roaster and learn the differences in each variety of coffee and regions where coffee comes from. Learn how different roasting affects the chemistry of coffee and how coffee is best cup fresh.

The more I learned about coffee, the more I realized there is more to it. From the land to the trees; the flowers to the fruit and the hands that picked it. Then there is the milling, the roasting, the cupping, the technical aspect of pulling a great shot. All in all, a lot of things go into the cup before it reaches into your hands.

Now, when I pull a shot of espresso, its like a Holy Grail to me.

(these photographs are taken from a farm from my recent visit to El Salvador)

Is Fair Trade beneficial?

Posted on May 12, 2008

I remembered a conversation I had with one of the farmer from Guatamala last year. I remembered our discussions on how fair trade is giving the local community a chance to help themselves and also create a foundation for self sustainability. I remember his passion when he mentioned how some innocent farmers were in harm’s way when they try to help themselves. To some farmers out there, they do pay a price to fight for their rights. Some sacrifice their lives to achieve the right to farm, right to have a fair and just existent side by side us.

8 months later, I opened my own fair trade cafe. I sell mainly fair trade coffees and I am passionate about social justices and how I through my cafe can contribute to a fairer way of trading and business operation.
Since the fair trade movement and the push by masses, coffee prices has risen and this in return allow farmers to work in their land and not travel over to North America and work in factory or grow narcotics on their farms.

Fair trade is a movement, its a conscious decision on how we consume, where we consume and consciously thinking of how our actions affected others locally and globally. The world is no longer as separated as we think it to be.

Fair trade started as a very noble effort to help support farmers be self sustainable. Now, fair trade has slowly gone mainstream. Many coffee shops have since opened and sell fair trade coffees, teas, sugars and cocao. And in return, it has gotten fair trade a bad rep. Saying it no longer is a social justice effort but became commerical. Even Walmart sells fair trade coffees now. Is it bad?

I can go on a separate discussion on this but we have to look at the positive side. As long as the farmers are promised a fair price for their coffees, they should be allowed to trade with anyone they desire. - its call progressive. As long as everything is traded fairly to the farmers; if they have already learned to understand market prices and already learned how to defend for themselves and learned the skills of trading - then no one can take advantage of them. And they can go on and become successful and run a successful co-op. Isn’t this what we are all aiming for?

We use the free market ground to sell fair trade products, hoping to make fair trade equal to that of any merchandise on the market. Fair trade products should be competitive, should be of quality but most importantly, we hope the mass market has learned to raise the bar of what is fair, what is just and what it is to treat others and the earth with respect. Then fair trade has done its job!

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