coffee + development is trying to pull back the curtain on the secret lives of coffee farmers and help everyone concerned about the future of specialty coffee chains better understand the complex realities of life in the coffeelands. My hope is that by shedding a little light on the dramas that play themselves out here every day in coffee-growing communities, the blog might contribute in some small way to the movement of coffee companies toward more sustainable sourcing practices, or increase the appreciation among the global tribe of specialty coffee addicts for the beverage that enriches our lives.
Damn fine idea for a blog.
The knowledge of the nature of the life of the coffee farmer is a prominent missing link, from where I stand.
We know nothing about the life of the farmer. Weather that farmer lives and works in the same country or not. If we know next to nothing about the people in our own countries that work the land and produce the food we eat then we know absolutely nothing about the people that do the same thing in the many far-off corners of the world.
Inspired by the blogging of Brian Holcomb (http://youngtreecoffee.com/), I’ve expressed interest, on my blog, in there being more of the information that this blog intends to provide pushed out onto the net (shameless plug! – http://www.danielofarabica.com/miscellanea/life-at-origin/).
It’s like you’ve answered my prayers!
Thanks for the encouraging words, Daniel. It means a lot coming from someone with a coffee-geek pedigree like yours.
The truth is that I think this stuff is essential for anyone who is really passionate about coffee to undersant. Some friends don’t share my optimism that there may be people out there who care. I try to remember my life before I moved to the coffeelands back in 1996. I was a serious coffee drinker, but the culture of quality and availability of information about origin in the early 1990s was nothing like it is now. I think that if my B.C. (before coffeelands) self could access the information I have picked up during years in the coffelands, B.C. me would have read this blog. (If there were blogs, that is.)
Anyway, thanks for the note and the shameless self-promotion. I look forward to reading what you and Brian have to say.
M
PS: Yours was the first comment to my blog. I promise I don’t say that to all the boys. Really, Daniel, you were my first.
Excellent theme! I appreciate your outlook and the stand for those without much voice.
Thanks, Daniele, for the encouragement. I hope you are finding some of the content worthwhile and I look forward to your future comments.