News Blog
Looking Beyond a label….
February 27, 2010
Coop SOL AGM Lima Peru Jan 2010
It’s January 10th and we are departing Whitehorse to start our journey south to Lima Peru and beyond! When we departed Whitehorse we could barely make out the plane on the tarmac through the white out making it even harder to imagine that soon we would be enjoying the warmth of the southern sun and some incredible hospitality from our Peruvian hosts.
Lima was the location for this year’s annual meeting hosted by Pangoa Cooperative and Coop SOL where we brought together producer group representatives and roaster members of Coop Coffees. The big topic on the agenda was the future of Fair Trade and where it is heading? As a small family of fair trade roasters and producers our biggest asset is our relationship with each other. Our aim is to think about practical ways to build a tighter network in our fair trade family.
After everyone arrived in Lima we started our meetings off with Helen from Bean North and chair of Coop SOL board and Monika and Shannon from Coop SOL giving us an update on the happenings at our new cupping facility in Montreal. We then reviewed plans to continue partnering with Catholic Relief Services who funds Café Livelihoods and USAID who funds Farmer-to-Farmer programs. Both work directly with small-scale coffee farmers by conducting workshops on understanding the coffee market, managing coffee quality, and related issues.
Once all the updates were completed we opened the floor up and started our conversation about the future of Fair Trade, of particular interest to all the roasters present was what our trading partners were thinking. After some emotional and heated conversation, our discussion extracted some very valuable information about the true impact of Fair Trade and certification on our trading partners and their communities. The mainstream model for Fair Trade certification was created for the right reasons but as it moves forward we clearly heard it has now deserted producers and their communities.
Farmers have been organizing themselves to try and show a stronger voice but few are listening. Many producer groups have been trying to communicate with FLO but in most cases they are not being heard. We were told that the expectations for small producer groups are unreasonable; more rules mean higher costs for them that ultimately defeat the objective of Fair Trade. A good example we heard is that it now takes up to half the salary of a producer coop staff member to do the necessary paperwork to feed the certification body instead of helping improve quality, production etc. To confuse matters even more the current Fair Trade certification body still markets the fact farmers get a living wage yet we heard the opposite. In some cases Fair Trade certified coffee is sold to large corporations below the cost of production, where is the value for the farmer in that?
Some pretty eye opening stuff and a great way to get the conversation going as we head out into the Peruvian coffee lands. We broke up into two groups, Helen and a group of fifteen folks heading north to visit our friends at CEPICAFE/CENFROCAFE while Sasha and I headed off with our group of twenty to visit our friends at CAC Pangoa. What a weird feeling as we crested the Southern Andes at Tiglio during our 16-hour bus trip to Pangoa. This is site of the world’s highest operating railroad, over 16000 ft in elevation. As soon as we departed the bus for a photo, Sasha’s only words were “daddy I’m going down” Before we started our climb we did stop for some cocoa tea which helps with elevation sickness but in Sasha’s case the elevation was to much. Thanks to Esperensa from Pangoa for stepping in and calming my nerves as she revived Sasha with the essence of a local plant and kept an eye on him as we headed down the other side into the Amazon.
It’s important to note that the Pangoa Cooperative was formed not to sell coffee but for the social development of its members and community. They take pride in saying “together we do things better” and in the days ahead we would be getting a good look at why. Day one started off early with a delicious breakfast of eggs, avocado and fresh fruit all raised and grown on the farm of Don Gregorio, his wife Mika and their three children Louisa, Hido and Mika.
The family explained to us what their vision for their farm is and how they hope to accomplish it with assistance from Pangoa Cooperative. After our delicious breakfast and great conversation we jumped back into the trucks and headed to another Pangoa member farm owned by Don Jesus. This area receives higher rainfall making it near impossible to properly dry the coffee. Don with the help of a CAC Pangoa initiative to build solar drying facilities, proudly showed us his newly completed drying facility.
After a cool drink and some conversations around other possible uses for the drying facility we moved on to our next visit to an area opened up for farming just 4 years previous. Never before have I seen such productive coffee plants, it was amazing what virgin soil full of its natural nutrients can produce. Finally to end the day we had an excellent visit with Senor Guaringa who wanted to teach us about his bio fertilizer and bokashi (compost) production techniques and the incredible impact they are having on his coffee.
His farm yields about 3000 pounds per acre, which is unheard of for the majority of organic coffee farmers around the world. This is just another great example of “together we do things better”, Pangoa actively collaborated with others from the organic coffee movement in Nicaragua sharing information and innovation that now shows farmers that organic production can be sustainable.
On the final day of our filled visits we jumped back into the pickups and headed off to tour Issac Cotachi’s coffee farm and botanical reserve. Issac walked us through the beautiful forest preserve and coffee farm showing us his incredible foresight and knowledge of the lands around him.
Issac has been purchasing lands adjacent to his for many years now letting, and some times assisting it to return to natural forest. Two families of monkeys have reestablished themselves on his property. After a delightful breakfast including some of the farms fresh pineapple it was back onto the roads as we headed farther inland to the indigenous community of Mazaronquiari. Just as we arrived the tropical rains started, locals hurried for shelter and we were huddled under a small awning. Eventually everyone was hurried into the community hall were we were welcomed to the community and then learned about some of their incentives in developing eco-tourism related projects.
We woke early the next morning to have breakfast with our friends at CAC Pangoa. It was great to actually spend a day in the community seeing the operational side of the coop. The previous evening some members of our group stayed at some of the eco lodges/homes of farmers so the family could get feedback on their experience. The day before one of our friends from Colombia lost his passport so all the producers decided to leave their passports in our hotel not knowing that on their return to the community the next morning they would be pulled over by the drug eradication squad. As we waited their arrival, Esperensa informed us of what happened and requested Monika (CC producer relations manager) and Tripp (Member of CC) to head to the police station to see if they could correct the situation.
In the end everything worked out and to our surprise later that afternoon we received a visit by a representative of the police and army, they came to apologize for the incident saying there was a state of emergency in effect related to cocoa eradication and if they had looked further into the situation they would have understood why we were all visiting the community. On their departure they thanked all of us for our work in their community. After finishing the presentations on CAC Pangoa we got an excellent review of how they manage their Fair Trade and Organic processes. It’s always an eye opener when we realize how much work all this requires. Its here where we found out that the certifying body for Fair Trade requests that a coop spend 10 cents per pound on projects the farmers may not need or want. It was clear to us what the farmers need is more money for their coffee and we are lucky as consumers to be getting any coffee at all. Finally the day ended with running, dancing, smiling and laughing and more dancing. You could feel the excited energy as the celebration continued.
Our last day at Pangoa we spent time cupping in their cupping lab before wrapping things up so we could all get ready for the overnight journey back to Lima. Looking back at our amazing visit I’m really impressed with our gracious hosts CAC Pangoa. Not only did we get to see and learn about the wide variety of the many projects that are under way for coop farmers it was even more impressive to witness the professional, competent and friendly style from all the staff at CAC Pangoa, no wonder the community is prospering! All the staff at CAC Pangoa are cross-trained so everyone can perform a large variety of tasks, the things we can learn!
Sasha is already asking when are we going back? No wonder Sasha just had 5 amazing days of riding in the back of a pickup through the Amazon with a bunch of friends, his mom nowhere near and his dad always in another truck some miles away. We saw a terancila, met heaps of great families, spent time in the jungle, saw some amazing examples of organic coffee production, chased chickens and ate some of the best Peru chicken and potatoes ever, danced and smiled then hugged and said hope to see you again soon?
Back in Lima it was time to get everyone back together and review the previous week to see if we could depart with a plan on how to get Fair Trade going in a direction we could all be proud to be part of. It’s clear many in the industry have a different understanding what relationship transparency means. Fair Trade for farmers was supposed to provide small farmers with a living wage but that no longer is a guarantee, current pricing does not support the real cost of production. Fortunately well-managed cooperatives like CAC Pangoa, CEPICAFE and CENFROCAFE have been able to provide vital support to their members however they are constantly competing against the market and the coyotes/ middlemen it supports. Actually everyone along the chain tends to protect their profit yet the producer cannot do this ultimately they could end up selling below their cost of production.
Clearly it seems that the system now embraces multinational companies at the expense of small third world farmers and grass root fair traders. With the intent to help farmers we do not want to end up hurting them so we have to step carefully. We concluded that this was just the start of the conversation and appointed a task force with two roaster members and four producer reps so the conversation and planning can continue. The goal of the task force is to also come up with an example contract that is truly a fair trade. This task force really has a lot of challenges ahead but I think we all left Peru feeling confident that these folks are really up for the task.
Thanks to all of our trading partners and the roaster members who could attend, I know we feel pretty honored to have joined with you all on this incredible journey through the coffee lands of Peru. The many great conversations, smiles and laughs along the way make it hard to imagine were now home were the magic happens to make our vision of Fair Trade a reality. Stay tuned for updates.
By Michael King
Coffee of the Month - February
February 01, 2010
Bean North’s newest coffees of the Month are wonderful brews from 2 cooperatives in Peru. Cenfrocafe and Pangoa. We are offering the Cenfrocafe in a medium roast. It is down to earth, full bodied with rich cherry highlights, good acidity and a sweet finish.
We are also offering the Peruvian Pangoa in a dark Roast. It is rich and dark with berry highlights, full bodied with a smooth aftertaste.
Click the link to purchase Peruvian Pangoa Dark.
You are not going to want to miss this chance of having a wonderful coffee in your cup!
- As a special fundraising drive to help support and rebuild lives affected by the devastating rains in Peru, Bean North will be donating $3.00 from every pound of Peruvian Coffee sold.
For a more detailed account of our Peruvian partners and the Cenfrocafe and Pangoa stories, please click here.
As a special for the Coffee of the Month, we are pleased to offer a 100gram bar of Ambriel Dark Chocolate with the purchase of 4 pounds of Peruvian Medium or Dark coffee. A $5.99 value!!
Click here to buy the Peruvian Cenfrocafe Medium roast Coffee
Click here to buy the Peruvian Pangoa Dark roast Coffee
Santiago visits the Great White North
May 20, 2009
Muskox, caribou, elk, bison, and moose — I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore! And even farther from Piura, Peru where Santiago Paz left from in mid-April to catch the annual SCAA, and then to fly up to Whitehorse, Yukon to spend several days with Coop Coffees’ member-roaster, Bean North. With a couple quick detours in Montreal and Toronto beforehand, Santiago’s brief Canadian tour ended in a couple feet of snow and with extremely grateful company!
Arriving to the “little tiny town,” as he called it, of Whitehorse, Yukon, Santiago was quickly immersed into the one-of-a-kind reality of our northern-most member, Bean North. Unlike most producer tours (like the one Santiago did last year) where the itinerary includes visits to at least two to three different roasteries located in populated areas/cities, this year’s visit was quite different. It takes 20 minutes of country-road driving to get to Bean North from the city. Surrounded by fields (all covered in snow at this point), forests, and mountains, there isn’t much more than Mother Nature and fanatical coffee drinkers near the grounds of the roastery.
The visit included a few planned events in which Santiago presented information on Fair Trade and CEPICAFE but he also had the opportunity to experience the lifestyle and environment of a distinctive part of the world and get to know the true “northerners” who buy and enjoy his coop’s coffee.
Santiago’s week in Whitehorse included a whole slew of fun activities: one morning began with an interview at CBC North — who (jokingly?) offered Santiago a job given his smooth and radio-friendly voice. Later in the week, Santiago got a private tour of a nearby fish hatchery as well as the wildlife reserve that borders the property of the roastery. At Bean North, he spoke to a crowd of about 40 people at an evening event that was organized for the staff, customers and anyone else interested in learning about Fair Trade and the Peruvian coop that Santiago works for. Afterwards, they all enjoyed homemade cookies and bread with samples of CEPICAFE’s newly imported jams and coffee. Everyone was thrilled to meet and listen to Santiago; for most of the folks at the event, this was the first experience with a representative from a producer group. Making the face-to-face connection and learning about the coffee process from someone who sees it and works with it every single day is crucial to the Fair Trade movement. Doing it another several thousand miles north of any city allows for an even more gratifying opportunity for all since it’s that much less common.
“The white earth” as Santiago called it standing at the summit that looks over Alaska, was unlike anything he had ever experienced. But at the same time, despite the great differences of life in the Yukon, Santiago got to see similarities as well. Michael and Helen of Bean North welcomed him into their home for the week, just as he has done for other members of Coop Coffees on a trip to Peru. In that way, everyone involved comes away with a better understanding of the people and lives beyond the coffee partnerships. This producer visit was certainly a unique experience for both Santiago and everyone that got to participate in Whitehorse. A big thank-you to Bean North for their willingness and enthusiasm to host such a well-planned and worthwhile tour and also to Santiago for making the HUGE trip from Piura to Whitehorse to bring a bit of his own world to the Great North!
Is Fair Trade becoming Fair Trade Lite
November 01, 2008
Some proponents say the adjustments needed to bring companies like Wal-Mart and P&G aboard warp the goal of helping small farmers. Must standards for certification be lowered for Fair Trade to have any chance of entering the doors of multimillion-dollar corporations like Walmart? Do the necessary compromises undermine the very nature and essence of the movement? Here’s a thought-provoking article about the next step for Fair Trade as it makes its debut in the world of big-box stores and mainstream markets. Business Week article by Pallavi Gogoi June 18th, 2008.
Is Fair Trade Becoming ‘Fair Trade Lite’?
When TransFair CEO Paul Rice sits across from Wal-Mart (WMT) CEO H. Lee Scott, the differences in their backgrounds couldn’t be more stark.
Scott has spent nearly his entire adult life working at the retail behemoth, with a mandate to increase sales and profits and keep costs as low as possible. Rice, after graduating from Yale University in 1983, spent 11 years working with peasant coffee farmers in Nicaragua trying to squeeze higher prices out of coffee buyers. He set up one of the first cooperatives, with 24 coffee-growing families, who sold their first batch of fair trade product to Europe in 1990 for $1.26 a pound, compared with the 10¢ a pound coffee was selling for in Nicaragua then. “It was an overnight legend in Nicaragua,” recalls Rice.
At one time, that gap might have made it easy to place Rice among Wal-Mart’s detractors, considering the criticism of the chain’s treatment of its own workers, its anti-union stance, and the sweatshop issues it has faced for years. Yet these days, Rice is finding a lot of common ground with Scott—especially since Apr. 1, when Wal-Mart launched three house-brand coffees certified as “fair trade,” meaning they provide a fair price to small farmers. It was a crowning achievement for Rice, now chief executive of TransFair, the U.S. fair-trade industry’s labeling organization. And it was a sign that the fair-trade movement has truly arrived in the U.S. mass market. After all, Wal-Mart is not only the world’s largest retailer but also the one with the broadest reach.
For some proponents of fair trade, however, that endorsement of their cause feels more like a co-opting. In trying to boost the participation of Wal-Mart and other large companies such as Procter & Gamble (PG), they fear the whole idea of helping small farmers is getting warped. Many of the beneficiaries, critics say, wind up being the same type of big operations that prospered under the old system.
Take Wal-Mart’s warehouse-club division, Sam’s Club. When Sam’s started offering fair-trade tea, bananas, and roses earlier this year, it seemed like a huge win for the movement, which had already seen sales of fair-trade coffee grow tenfold from 2001 to 2006, to $730 million. “The idea of bringing high-quality items to our members at a great value that were produced in an environmentally and socially responsible way was just too compelling to pass up,” says Gregg Spragg, executive vice-president for merchandising at Sam’s Club, who replied to questions via e-mail.
But all the fair-trade cut flowers and a large quantity of tea, bananas, and sugar imported to the U.S. come from big plantations in places such as Ecuador and Colombia. “The large companies want to continue working with mass producers like plantations rather than going the tougher route, which is identifying small farmers and buying from them,” says Carmen K. Iezzi, executive director of the Fair Trade Federation, a trade group of companies that say they are 100% committed to fair trade.
The Difference Between Coffee and Tea
Wal-Mart officials declined further comment about their fair-trade practices. Iezzi and others aim much of their criticism at TransFair USA, which is expanding fair-trade certification at a frenetic pace. They say that to keep up the pace of expansion, the organization is taking shortcuts that compromise the original concept. “When large, conventional plantations get fair-trade certified for improving practices, we consider that ‘fair-trade lite,’ “ says Rink Dickinson, president and co-founder of Equal Exchange, a West Bridgewater (Mass.) company that is committed to buying only from farmer-run cooperatives. “There may be reforms, but it is a kindler, gentler version of the same old thing and falls short of what some of us are advocating.”
Rice, who started TransFair in 1999, disagrees. “The notion that the standards have been lowered is ill-informed,” he says. “Our objective is to help the poor, whether they own a plot of land or not.”
Part of the problem Rice and Wal-Mart face is the difficulty of applying the same standards of equity and economics to different types of crops. While half of the global production of coffee comes from small farms, it takes a larger operation to compete in bananas, tea, cut flowers, or sugar. “The disadvantaged majority would be locked out of the market if I were to look for only small farms for bananas and tea,” says Rice.
TransFair sets different standards for plantations to be certified as fair trade. They have to pay workers fair wages, allow them to organize into unions, and have strong worker-safety measures. The workers form a group and get part of the premium price (8% to 12% of each sale) that comes with the fair-trade label, for social and business-development projects. “There is a rose farm on top of a hill in Ecuador where the workers wear protective equipment against pesticides, they have free health care, and have invested in their own day-care facility with their project money—and I am proud of that,” says Rice.
Ugly Colonial Legacy
Working against Rice, however, is the perception that plantation owners got where they are by exploiting poor farmers and workers in developing nations. Some of these plantations in previously colonized countries are still owned by colonizers—rich white Europeans. And some in Latin and Central America are owned or controlled by large corporations such as Dole and Del Monte (DLM). “Plantations are the legacy of an unfair system where the elite and the wealthy classes denied small producers their land, and small farmers always got the raw end of the deal,” says Jonathan Rosenthal, CEO of Oké USA, which sells fair-trade-certified fresh fruit bought directly from growers.
Also, there are questions about whether TransFair has the resources it needs to monitor worker conditions, as labor-rights groups do. Those labor groups say it’s hard to keep tabs on workers in countries like Colombia, which hasn’t been a friendly place for trade unions and where workers are generally afraid to speak out. Indeed, none of the flower plantations in Colombia that are certified fair trade have worker unions. “We wonder if TransFair is equipped to deal with worker-rights violations, especially as they expand and get into more complex supply-chain industries like garments,” says Bama Athreya, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum, a nonprofit advocacy group in Washington.
TransFair’s Rice says he will continue his push into other areas, even apparel. He says that when faced with criticism, he likes to remind himself of his experience in Nicaragua. The cooperative he started there had grown to 3,000 families after four years. The families’ lives had improved dramatically—they had electricity and water, they could afford health care, and their children were attending high school and even college for the first time. “It was a transformative experience for me,” says Rice. “And I believed that globally, I could have the same kind of impact if I grow that vision in America.”
Gogoi is a contributing writer for BusinessWeek.com.
Arthur is riding for the MS Society of Canada
June 16, 2008
Hi everyone,
Update on the Arthur’s ride:
Arthur did the race in 10 hours and 13 minutes. The weather wasn’t great but he says he had a great time. He has raised over $5000.00 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Way to go Arthur!!
We’re super proud of Arthur who cycled in the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay Saturday, June 21.
Arthur was fund raising for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and he rode the entire race solo which is a distance of 238.3 km/ 148.1 miles. That is no small feat and we cheered him on!
If you are interested in donating to the MS Society of Canada in support of Arthur’s ride, you can e-mail us or call us at 867-667-4145.
Taste for Justice - Amnesty International
June 04, 2008
Drink, Buy, Hoard!!
From June 1-15, 5% of all our cafe sales go to Amnesty International’s work to stop violence against women. Buy beans at shops in town. Visit our Garden Cafe at Km. 9.3 on Hotsprings Road, or call 667.4145
Big Red Roaster Journey
May 09, 2008
Bean North Coffee is donating “Big Red,” a beautiful small-batch coffee roaster, to the SOPPEXCCA Cooperative in Nicaragua.
Bean North Coffee Roasting Co. has embarked on an ambitious plan of eco-integrity. They just replaced ‘Big Red’ their small-batch roaster with a big, beautiful blue roaster that will connect to a giant hot water system which will capture the heat produced by the roaster and use it to warm the cafe, storehouse, and roasting room. And this is just the beginning as they plan to heat homes and a year-round greenhouse … a project they are working on with local organic farmers.
This has freed up ‘Big Red‘– a shiny machine worth $10,000 – which Bean North is overhauling, servicing and writing an operating and repair manual for. The challenge now is to get it to SOPPEXCCA who are ready to venture into roasting their own coffee and providing it to tourists, locals and businesses in their own country! So Bean North is looking to their friends and customers to help raise enough money (current estimate is $8000) to send ‘Big Red’ by truck to Skagway, by ship to Honduras, and by train to and truck to Jinotega, Nicaragua.
Members of the SOPPEXCCA Cooperative are coffee growers for Cooperative Coffees, North America’s original and most respected 100% fair trade cooperative (even the Wall Street Journal recognizes their good work and integrity), of which Bean North Coffee Roasting Co. is a founding Canadian member.
650 families are members of SOPPEXCCA. Located in Jinotega, in the northwest region of Nicaragua, SOPPEXCCA has won awards for the high quality of their coffee. They have trained members to be coffee quality inspectors, barristas, and environmental educators and have been recognized for the high level of cooperation of their members.
They are delighted to be getting “Big Red”! Due to the success of their cafe and local sales they could really use a roaster to meet their growing demand for fresh roasted coffee.
Keiran Duncan, our contact with FLO International said: “That is fantastic news about the roaster, the spare parts and possible support on installation. I spoke to the folks in SOPPEXCCA on the phone and they are delighted about being able to take up the roaster whenever it suits you.”
We accept donations of all sizes and types with gratitude. Money will help us get it there. So will an in-kind donation from a transport company. Can you help?
We can be contacted at 1-867-667-4145 or we would love to see you person. Come on out to the shop at KM 9.3 on the Hotsprings Rd.
We can also be contacted via email through this link – e-mail Michael
Take Action - Send an E-mail to Save Nicaraguan Land for Nueva Vida Women's Coop
February 08, 2008
This is an appeal from our friends at the Jubilee House Community outside of Managua, Nicaragua which houses the Nueva Vida Women’s Sewing Cooperative we visited in 2005. Bean North has carried their fair-trade t-shirts & bags since 2005.
The land this cooperative holds title to and where they work is in danger of being stolen. They outline their plight and ask you to e-mail the First Lady of Nicaragua. (scroll down for her e-mail and sample letters in both Spanish and English you can cut and paste into your e-mail.) Please forward this to all you think may be concerned and send an e-mail to support this incredible project and these amazing women.
The letter from Jubilee House
Dear Friends,
We urgently need your voice NOW! Someone is trying to steal our land, and we need you to write in our support! We normally don’t immediate action to help us prevent the theft of the land where we and our projects are located. In the last few days we have been summoned to court to respond to a demand on the part of Señora Yelba Carvajal, a person well known here in Nicaragua to be involved in several fraudulent land deals. We have been investigating, and have managed to find out that she is claiming in the courts that she is the legitimate owner of the property where we are located, even though we have legal title. On the basis of a typographical error in the title, Señora Carvajal is asking the court to invalidate our title and recognize her as the legitimate owner of the property. You will remember that we originally purchased our land from a cooperative in the 1990s, and she later purchased the rest of the land that the cooperative owned. It would appear that this is an open and shut case in our favor; however, as Father Miguel D’Escoto once said to us about land issues in Nicaragua, “You can have the law and justice on your side, and it’s still not enough.”
What does this mean? It means that the Nueva Vida women’s sewing cooperative, the Fair Trade Zone, is in danger of losing its land, building, and free trade zone status, therefore putting 50 people out of their jobs that they have worked so hard to maintain for the last nine years. It means that the fledgling Genesis spinning plant cooperative, only days away from setting its first post in the ground, is in danger of losing the land where they will build their factory, all the work they have put into their project for the last year, and the opportunity to create full-time employment for 60 people and their families. These are only two examples of the negative impact that this would have, resulting in the closing of all of the CDCA’s projects in Ciudad Sandino.
What can you do? We are asking you to send an email to the First Lady of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, requesting that she, as a strong defender of poor women throughout this country, investigate this attempt to steal from these cooperatives that are made up in their vast majority of poor women who have worked so long and so hard to better the lives of their members. Below we have included an example of an email in Spanish and in English on which you can base your message. If you have the time, we ask that you personalize your message as we feel it’s important that she receive individual emails.* (Feel free to send an email in English only if you do not speak Spanish.)
Please send emails to rosario@presidencia.gob.ni and sign your name and address including country. Please copy the Jubilee House Community on the email at jhc@jhc-cdca.org.
Thank you for all your support,
The Jubilee House Community Inc. – Center for Development in Central America
English Letter
Dear Compañera Rosario:
I am writing you out of a deep concern for an injustice that is being perpetrated on a group of poor women in Ciudad Sandino. Following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch, the newly formed community of Nueva Vida began to reorganize their lives and plan for the future working in conjunction with the NGO Jubilee House Community (a Mission International invited to Nicaragua by Father Miguel D’Escoto in 1993 to work in sustainable development). One result of this grassroots organizing was the formation of several cooperatives to provide employment to the residents of Nueva Vida, principally single mothers. Today these cooperatives include the women’s sewing cooperative Cooperativa Maquiladora Mujeres de Nueva Vida (COMAMNUVI) which now operates under the trade name Fair Trade Zone /Zona de Comercio Justo as the world’s only worker-owned free trade zone; the spinning plant cooperative Cooperativa de Mujeres Hilandería “Génesis”; and the agricultural cooperative Cooperativa de Productores Orgánicos y Tradicionales y Exportadores de Nicaragua (COPROEXNIC) among others. All of these cooperatives are located in a small industrial park which provides over 100 jobs with justice, primarily to poor women.
Now all of this work is being put at risk by the efforts of Señora Yelba Carvajal, who is attempting to have title to the property, which is legally registered by the government of Nicaragua to the Jubilee House Community foundation, annulled and ownership passed to her. The information that I have received is that Señora Carvajal is well known for her unscrupulous and immoral practices in repeated attempts to deprive the poor of Nicaragua of their property rights. As a defender of the poor and particularly poor women, I would request that you investigate this situation and use the full weight of your office to assure that justice is done.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Spanish Letter
Estimada Compañera Rosario:
Reciba saludos cordiales de mi parte. Me dirijo a usted con una preocupación profunda sobre una injusticia en contra de un grupo de mujeres pobres en Ciudad Sandino. Después de la devastación de Huracán Mitch, la comunidad de damnificados de Nueva Vida empezó a reorganizar sus vidas y planificar el futuro, trabajando en conjunto con la ONG Jubilee House Community (una misión internacional invitada a Nicaragua en 1993 por Padre Miguel D’Escoto para trabajar en desarrollo sostenible). Un resultado de este proceso de organización de base fue la formación de varias cooperativas para crear puestos de empleo a favor de los residentes de Nueva Vida, principalmente madres solteras. Hoy en día estas cooperativas incluyen la Cooperativa Maquiladora Mujeres de Nueva Vida (COMAMNUVI) la cual ahora opera bajo su nombre de comercio Fair Trade Zone /Zona de Comercio Justo como la única zona franca en el mundo en manos de los trabajadores; la Cooperativa de Mujeres Hilandería “Génesis”; y la Cooperativa de Productores Orgánicos y Tradicionales y Exportadores de Nicaragua (COPROEXNIC) entre otros. Todas estas cooperativas están ubicadas en un pequeño parque industrial que brinda empleo justo a más de 100 personas, principalmente mujeres pobres.
Ahora todo este trabajo está en riesgo debido a las esfuerzas de la Señora Yelba Carvajal, quien busca la anulación de la escritura de la propiedad, la cual está registrada con el gobierno de Nicaragua a la fundación Jubilee House Community, y pide que se le pase la propiedad a ella. La información que yo recibí es que la Señora Carvajal es conocida por sus prácticas inescrupulosas e inmorales en intentos repetidos de privar a los pobres de sus derechos a su propiedad. Como defensora de los pobres y mujeres en particular, yo le pido a usted que investigue la situación y apoye con toda la dedicación de su posición el asegurar que se haga justicia.
Agradeciéndole su atención al presente, me despido de usted.
Atentamente,
Why Bean North chose to do something about our emissions.
January 14, 2008
by Michael King
Purchasing and installing an afterburner/oxidizer is not a simple decision. There is a lot of information to digest and balance before a decision can be made.
Lets start with the craft of roasting coffee. When coffee is roasted a number of emissions are released into the environment. These emissions can be harmful and include volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and combustion products. Some of these emissions are compounds that are released from the green coffee beans during roasting while others come from the process of roasting itself.
The majority of coffee roasters are typically gas-fired, however there are some electric and small solar roasters available. As a result of the fuel combustion necessary to roast the coffee in a gas fired roaster, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions occur. The roaster is also the main source of airborne pollutants, including alcohols, organic acids, nitrogen and sulfur compounds. When all of these emissions mix together, it forms smoke.
The smoke emitted from the roaster stack also contains a variety of suspended particulate matter that includes tars, bean fibers, bean chaff and coffee oils. It is this smoke and odor that can upset close neighbors.
To help control emissions a roaster can use an oxidizer, more commonly called an afterburner. The oxidizer is a gas-burning chamber that uses high heat to break down the odor and smoke converting it into water vapor and carbon dioxide.
Diedrich offers a conventional afterburner and the new DCO Catalytic Oxidizer. In comparison to a conventional afterburner, the Diedrich IR- Series DCO – Catalytic Oxidizer helps to lower operating costs by being energy efficient and dramatically reduces fuel usage by operating at lower temperatures. The oxidizer itself slightly lowers C02 discharge, that along with burning less fuel makes the system one of the most environmentally friendly on the market.
With the information at hand it was time for us to make some decisions. Smoke and odor problems usually occur in urban areas. Our rural location is a benefit, as the smoke does not get an opportunity to mix with vehicle exhaust so it smells like coffee. We have yet to receive a complaint, if anything folks say they enjoy the aroma when they hike or ski on the local trails. Although we have had no complaints we live and operate Bean North on a 2.3 hectares parcel of land with close neighbors and this smoke is hazards to our local air quality even though we currently meet all local air quality standards!
After smoke, the only aspect of the chimney discharge we see is the chaff. We collect the majority of our bean chaff and use it in our compost. What does not end up in our gardens, we collect for a local organic farm that lists it as their only input.
Another thing we had to consider was if we purchased the new DCO Catalytic Oxidizer were there other possible applications? Even though the new Oxidizer is considered environmentally friendly it will add to our fuel consumption and there is also the initial purchase cost to consider. To balance these extra costs, could we harness the heat that escapes up the chimney unused?
We soon discovered if we included the Oxidizer in our purchase many new opportunities materialized. Extracting the heat from the chimney using innovation and existing technology was not impossible. Of course there are some drawbacks. We would be taking a risk with the heat exchange system itself and all the additional costs associated with its design and installation.
Getting optimal use from any non-renewable fuel resource is a must in today’s environment. With the current situation of global fuel resources and the inevitability that prices will continue to rise it makes both environmental sense and business sense to look for alternatives. The opportunity would not only help keep our carbon footprint low it is well within our vision for the future of Bean North Coffee Roasting Company Ltd. and our commitment to the environment. We decided to proceed slowly and in stages.
To start with we installed the necessary tubing in our expansions concrete slab. Off that system we plan to install radiators throughout the rest of the building. The Oxidizer emits enough waste heat to heat all of Bean North throughout the Yukon’s cooler seasons and with the simple addition of more hot water storage tanks we could heat a large greenhouse at no additional cost!
The heat exchange systems operation has yet to commence however its installation is imminent. We are in the final stages of our expansion and the chimney for the roaster and Oxidizer should be installed soon. Once the chimney is in the heat exchange system is next. The opportunities are endless………
