For the socially conscious coffee lover, the best way to enjoy one’s coffee would be if the beans originate from fair trade practices. In today’s society wherein the less fortunate are being stepped on by the “haves,” it is sometime easy to just ignore the ills of society. Guatemalan coffee – fair trade, I should say – was brought to my attention by one of our readers who recently went on a trip there.
Brian Rogers and his wife went on a trip together and stumbled upon the little town of Nueva Alianza in Guatemala. In their travel blog, they featured this town, their history, and the good coffee that they produce. This incited me to do more research on Nueva Alianza coffee. As it turns out, there is more to this coffee than the beans themselves.
Reading up on the Comunidad Nueva Alianza (I suppose in English this is Nueva Alianza Community), I was impressed at how the families of the community were able to surmount the obstacles that had beset them for generations. They were preyed upon by a landlord and at some point, they banded together to stand up to the unfair practices. Today, the community is owned and ran by the same forty families who withstood the test of time. They are part of a cooperative which grows organic coffee and all the proceeds of their efforts are divided between the community members.
It is really impressive how they reached the point where they are right now. According to Brian Rogers, though, this kind of success is not common. There are countless other coffee farmers who have experienced the same problems and didn’t travel the same road as the Nueva Alianza members. For the Nueva Alianza community, however, their story is something that they would cherish and is something that would touch the rest of the world – through their coffee.
Originally posted on February 23, 2008 @ 5:02 am