Change for the Better
Organizations improve the lives of coffee farmers and their families
by Jodi Helmer
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Men carry coffee across a river. |
The simple act of buying a pound of coffee or stopping for a cappuccino on the way to work can affect the lives of coffee farmers on the other side of the world. To this end, coffee roasters and retailers are working to improve the lives of coffee farmers and their families in origin countries. Roasters are starting nonprofit organizations to promote social and environmental change. Their objectives range from providing education and healthcare to families in coffee-growing regions to protecting native songbirds and improving access to clean water. But their overall aim is the same: to make a difference in coffee growing regions around the world. Read on to learn about a few of the unique programs brought to life by coffee roasters.
Coffee Kids
Bill Fishbein has spent close to three decades in the coffee business and knows that it can be difficult to get ahead, having struggled to make ends meet for much of his career.
Coffee Exchange, the roasting business and neighborhood cafe in Rhode Island that Fishbein co-owns, was started with small amounts of cash that Fishbein scraped together. It took time before Coffee Exchange began turning a profit, but once the business became successful, he decided to put his profits to good use. Business began to increase, and as it did, I told myself that I was never again going to struggle the way that I had struggled for my entire life, he recalls. But I also felt there was honor in that struggle: Coffee, which had pulled me out of the financial abyss, was not so generous to growers.
In 1988, Fishbein traveled to Guatemala to meet coffee growers. The trip changed the preconceived notions he had about coffee farmers and their families. I met the most extraordinary people who were so filled with life and spirit and joy and community even though they had nothing, he says. I decided during that trip that I couldn't sell another pound of coffee without doing something.
Fishbein returned to the United States determined to remain connected to coffee growers. He enlisted friends David Abedon and Dean Cycon to start a nonprofit organization. The three men founded Coffee Kids in 1988 with the goal of improving the quality of life of families in coffee-producing regions in Mexico and Central America. Its mission is the creation of educational programs, healthcare initiatives, and training and micro-enterprise courses for coffee farmers and their families.
Fishbein thought the organization would get off to a slow start, but once word of Coffee Kids spread to other roasters, the small nonprofit took off. According to Fishbein, companies like Thanksgiving Coffee Company and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters stepped up to support Coffee Kids. We got an enormous response, Fishbein says. The general feeling was that we had all felt the problem and wanted to do something about it, and a lot of people were willing to help.
Instead of offering assistance to coffee-growing communities based on the perception Coffee Kids has of their needs, the organization bases its programs on what the communities have identified as their most pressing issues. Even the growers who are getting fair trade premiums and organic premiums, which are essential to coffee farmers, are not earning enough; poverty still dominates the landscape where coffee is grown, Fishbein says. I started listening, and I heard the farmers telling me that all they had was coffee, and coffee was not enough. Farmers whose only option is to grow coffee are going to grow coffee. When the price of coffee drops, they grow more coffee to make up for their loss, but that is not a cycle that is going to help them get ahead.
Coffee Kids began partnering with local organizations to fund projects that coffee farmers were interested in starting, focusing on funding programs that foster independence and improve the coffee-growing communities. In addition to starting an education center in Veracruz, Mexico, to educate coffee farmers about business development and savings, Coffee Kids has supported schools in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Coffee Kids also has helped families in origin countries start businesses related to the needs of the communities such as fruit and vegetable stands and services for tourists.
We believe that community-based programs are the most effective; solutions that are generated by outsiders generally do not take into account the depth and complexity of the culture, says Fishbein. Our model gives the people in these regions the opportunity to strengthen their visions for their communities. The solutions are not designed in a boardroom; they come from the hearts and minds of coffee farmers.
Grounds for Health
Dan Cox had no idea that inviting his friend Francis Fote on a coffee-buying trip to Mexico would change his life.
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Girl in the community of Xanica |
The pair traveled to the Oaxaca region in 1996. Cox, president of Coffee Enterprises, visited coffee cooperatives. Fote, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, stopped in at a local hospital to learn about healthcare in the region. Fote found that rates of cervical cancer in Mexico and Central America were among the highest in the world due to lack of infrastructure to perform routine screenings. Recognizing that cervical cancer is both preventable and treatable, Fote decided he might be able to make a difference in the lives of women in these countries.
Fote and Cox agreed to combine forces to save lives. Upon returning to the United States, Cox partnered with Jon Wettstein, vice president of operations for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, to start Grounds for Health. The nonprofit provides equipment, technical assistance, training and education to develop effective cancer screening programs in coffee-producing regions.
Grounds for Health is a wonderful model for dealing with the issue of cervical cancer in Mexico and Central America, where it is the number-one cause of cancer deaths among women, says August Burns, executive director of Grounds for Health. In coffee-growing communities, women are often hours away from the nearest clinic, and even if the services are free, there is no access to transportation to get to the clinic for screening.
Grounds for Health works with regional coffee unions and local healthcare professionals to increase awareness about cervical cancer. The organization provides medical volunteers, including Fote, who work in conjunction with local doctors to educate communities about cervical cancer and to provide regular screenings. According to Burns, the bi-annual clinics see up to 200 women per day. Most of the women travel long distances to get to the clinics, which take place off-season from the coffee harvest. The women are willing to wait, often for many hours, to be seen. We never turn anyone away, says Burns. The women are grateful to have the service, and we encourage them to talk about other health issues so that we can bring them into the healthcare fold.
One of the most important partnerships that Grounds for Health has developed is with local coffee cooperatives. Members of the cooperatives ensure that women from rural coffee-producing villages have transportation to the clinics and return to the villages to find women who have abnormal results and bring them back to the clinics for follow-ups. These relationships have allowed us to be much more effective, says Burns. It helps us to have a measurable impact.
Over the past decade, Grounds for Health has screened more than 10,000 women, and more than 360 women have received potentially life-saving treatment. Additionally, more than $25,000 worth of diagnostic and treatment equipment has been donated.
The bulk of Grounds for Health's funds come from coffee roasters in the United States, including Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Allegro Coffee Company and Coffee Enterprises. Burns says that providing cervical cancer screenings to women in coffee-growing regions has an immeasurable impact on entire communities. Women are the backbones of their families, and their health is extremely important, Burns says. To frame what we are doing in the bigger picture, we believe that healthy women promote healthy communities, and when the women have access to healthcare, everyone benefits.
Cup for Education
During a trip to Nicaragua in 2003, Karen Gordon learned that a coffee-growing cooperative in one of the villages she was visiting had purchased a piece of land to build a school but had run out of funds in the middle of the project. Gordon knew that she had to do something to help. It was obvious that education was important to them and that there was an effort to provide facilities like a school, says Gordon. There was just no money to support their efforts.
Gordon solicited donations from the other women she was traveling with and raised $500 to complete the construction of the school. The village was so appreciative that Gordon was inspired to continue her efforts when she returned to the United States. She held a raffle at Coffee Holding Company, where she works as director of specialty green coffee sales, and raised an additional $800 that was donated to the village to purchase school supplies like chalkboards and books. Coffee Holding Company also decided to sponsor a teacher for one year. The small fair-trade coffee co-ops are working so hard to improve their lives and make a difference in their communities, she says. I wanted to do whatever I could to help make things better.
Gordon formalized her efforts by creating Cup for Education in 2005, which provides school facilities, teachers and educational materials to communities in Central and South America. Improving education in origin countries, according to Gordon, makes good business sense. Roasters expect growers to improve their coffees but offer no resources or education to teach them how to grow better beans. The growers have no idea how to grow better coffee, she says. Most of the growers are not able to read or write, but we expect them to understand soil science and agriculture and other things that can help them grow better coffee; a lot of growers do not even understand the contracts that they are signing.
Gordon believes education is the ticket for coffee farmers and their families to improve their lives and communities, and Gordon is taking a vital role in ensuring that funds are available. Since incorporating Cup for Education as a nonprofit last year, she has sought donations from coffee roasters in the United States, and the project has received an enormous amount of support. Funds have been sent to Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras to repair schools damaged by Hurricane Stan, and thousands of books have been shipped to schools in several origin countries. The organization also continues to sponsor a teacher for the school in Nicaragua where Gordon first had the idea to start a nonprofit organization, and it is sponsoring 37 children in Mexico for an entire school year with uniforms and books for those whose parents cannot afford educational supplies.
In the coming years, Gordon hopes to continue to grow Cup for Education and provide more educational opportunities for children in origin countries. In the meantime, she is proud of the difference she has already made. I am happy to make the small contributions that I have been able to make because I know that every little bit makes a difference, she says. The school is the focal point in most communities, and I see how the children appreciate getting new books and being able to go to school; their smiles are proof that we are improving communities.
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