The Voice of Farm Workers in Coffee – Loud and Clear at SCAA

Today, International Labor Day, this post is in honor of all those hard working people whose labor allows us to enjoy our cups of coffee everyday: farm workers.     Last week, I visited the original Starbucks store near Pike Place Market with four coffee farm workers from Brazil and Nicaragua: Norman, Erwin, Marcos and

“we need to educate the coffee industry”

Last week in Brazil, during a workshop we organized to identify improvements on the Fair Trade standards and processes, coffee farmers and workers from three countries discussed how we could be more effective in educating the coffee industry and consumers about the challenges and opportunities that farmworkers in coffee face every day. To learn more

coffee seedlings and farm workers

coffee farm in Lajinha

coffee on patio

the labor behind our cups of coffee

If the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil were a country, it would be the largest coffee producing country in the world.  That’s how much coffee is grown in Minas.  Of the 280,000 people involved in the production of coffee in the state in 2009, over 230,000 were farm workers according to the Brazilian Institute

ensuring we create significant impact for workers and farmers

Damiao, farm worker in Fair Trade pilot farm in Brazil, talks about Fair Trade Making sure that whatever you do is actually creating the effects you are looking for is vital for any development initiative.  In my case, I am trying to create a system that brings the benefits of Fair Trade to coffee workers

Florinda and the ‘older crowd’

At the end of a sunny and hot day in the coffee fields, I met Florinda and other farm workers in the Mogiana region in Brazil in one of my trips this year. Despite their long day, we had a humor-filled conversation that made us all smile and laugh. When I was talking to her,